The water should flow through the open or looser fiber side of our premium pad first. This will allow the larger debris to be trapped before entering the tight weaved lower section of the pad.

Your aquarium water should flow first through the FilterFirst pad to remove small to large particles from the water, then through the polishing pad to remove fine particles. This layering method will increase the useful life of your polishing pad.

Most hobbyists rinse the filter pad every two weeks and replace them monthly during a water change. The more often you change filter pads the better your water quality; filter pads remove organic solids before they have a chance to further break down.

Take your original filter pad which came with the canister filter and cut out a piece of card board the exact size and shape. Now put the cardboard on our FilterFirst roll, use a pair of scissors and cut around the cardboard template.

No, you do not need to remove our Premium filter pad when medicating your fish. Our filter pad does not remove any medication or other chemicals from the water. The pad only traps debris floating in the water.

If both sides of the felt pad are soft to touch then water will flow equally through either side therefore, it does not matter which side goes up. However, if one side of the felt feels rough to touch, it has been treated to keep fibers from migrating or piling after cleaning. When using this felt pad, it is best for the water to flow through the soft felt side first.

The smaller number of microns, the smaller the holes in the polishing pad. In this case, the 50 microns will trap much finer particles than the 100 or 200 microns.

Our polishing pads trap very fine debris and can clog up as quickly as 24 hours of usage alone. To extend the life of your polishing pad, place it below a regular pad like our Classic Bonded pad where water flows through the Classic pad first, then the polishing pad can last up to 1 to 2 weeks before cleaning is required.

You want the water to flow through your regular filter pad first to trap larger particles before the water flows through the polishing pad. This will keep your pad lasts longer before it needs to be cleaned or replaced.

You can clean our polishing pad by rinsing it in fresh water, wringing it out, and repeating this process until the water runs clean. If you ever need to deep clean our polishing pads, they are durable enough to be cleaned in a washing machine.

Our Classic Filter pads are designed to flow and filter water exactly the same through either side.

You can rinse our ClassicBlue filter pad in a sink. As water flows through it, you can gently squeeze it and you will see a bunch of trapped particles being rinsed out. Depending on your filtration, it can be cleaned and reused a few times.

Yes, the water needs to flow through ClassicBlue pad then through our polishing pad.

Our ClassicBlue Bonded filter pad has an open fiber network which traps small to large particles while our FilterFirst Premium density filter pad has a layer to trap small and large particles as well as a dense bottom later which traps fine particles.

Blue dye will stay on our filter pads because we mix our dye with waterproof glue not water-resistant glue.

We recommend using a separate mechanical filter pad. Although this will catch large debris, that will clog the carbon and reduce how well it works.

There may be some dust accumulated during packaging and shipping, but carbon dust is minimal. Only a light rinse is needed.

It is 3/8"-1/2" inch thick! You can get rolls that are 10.5" and 18" in width and 36" and 72" in length.

Absolutely, it can be used for any aquarium or pond. It is reef safe and durable enough to use outside in your pond. Depending on your aquarium or pond, you may need something that removes pollutants more aggressively like activated charcoal granules.

Our Coarse Pond Filter Pad is designed to be used in ponds. We have not tested it in marine aquariums. We recommend our FilterFirst True Dual Density Filter Roll for freshwater and marine aquariums.

Our Classic pond Filter pad fibers are not carbon coated. The filter pad is black from a thick coating Of latex which gives it strength and durability. Since our filter pads will last much longer than carbon in a pond we recommend using activated carbon in a mesh bag which can be replaced on a regular basis.

Yes, have the water flow through our black coarse pad to trap leaves and larger particles then flow through our white pad to trap the smaller particles from your pond water.

We suggest you make a template of your old filter out of cardboard then use the template and strong scissors or a utility knife to cut the pad.

Yes, layer our Cream coarse and Carbon Filter pad. 

We suggest these be rinsed before use.

Use strong, sharp scissors or a utility knife to cut this filter pad. (Make a cardboard template of your own filter to easily cut into your desired shape and size)

Our extra thick Cream Filter pad is 2" thick - perfect for Koi and Garden ponds. Also works well in aquariums. 

It is best to take a bucket of water from your aquarium and swish the Bio Balls around in your aquarium water to preserve the good bacteria attached to the surface of the Bio Balls.

Overtime, the porous Lava rocks' holes will get clogged and the rough surface makes it difficult to clean which reduces beneficial bacteria surface area. Whereas Bio Balls have large, smooth surface which is easy to clean.

Bio Balls are used in an aquarium sump for beneficial bacteria to grow. Bio Balls will NOT control algae.

Our Bio Balls are made of 100% polypropylene making them a safe reliable bio filter media for aquariums and ponds.

Our 3000 count box of 1 inch bio balls will fill approximately 10.3 gallons

Our Bio balls are made from high density plastic so they should never degrade or wear out. 

Typically, our 300 pack of bio balls will handle the bio-load of a typical stocked pond. With this said there are variables which effect how heavy a bio-load is in a pond including: how many fish, their size, how often they are fed, and so on. The only way to know if you have enough bio balls is to test your water for ammonia or nitrites. If you detect ammonia or nitrite levels in your pond water ( not caused from overfeeding or a dead fish) add more bio balls. 

Our mesh bag has a fish-safe plastic zipper.

Our Bio Balls are made of 100% polypropylene making them a safe reliable bio filter media for aquariums and ponds.

Our 2000 count box of 1 1/2 inch bio balls will fill approximately 20.6 gallons.

Yes, it requires a very fine mesh media bag. You can use our Fine Mesh Filter Media Drawstring Bags or a similar tiny mesh bag option.

Our premium carbon goes through a cleaning solution to remove trapped ash, then through a final cleaning bath. After this, most of the water is drained and the product is packaged to ensure freshness.

Our premium carbon is intentionally crushed to a small size to allow for greater surface area. The smaller fragments pack tighter leaving less gaps compared to larger carbon pieces. Additional weight is the result of some moisture left over from the special cleaning baths.

Yes, during shipment carbon pieces rub against each other and may produce dust. A short rinse under tap or RO water will rinse away this dust.

Add 1 Capful (5mL) for each 50 gallons of new water.

TankFirst helps in unusual situations such as overcrowding or overfeeding by binding with ammonia and nitrite making them non-toxic to aquatic life for up to 24 hours, until the aquarium's biological filter catches up and/or a partial water change is completed.

Be sure to reduce feeding until ammonia and nitrite is no longer present and any dead livestock are removed. If high levels of ammonia and nitrite are not the result of the initial nitrogen cycle, it is best to reduce the levels through a partial water change and use

TankFirst as directed.

1. Test ammonia with an ammonia salicylate reagent test kit rather than Nessler's reagent to get an accurate reading of amount of ammonia present in water.

2. Add 5 ml (1 capful) per 50 gallons of water to treat entire system for each 1 ppm of ammonia or nitrite measured on test kit. Keep pumps and filters running.

3. Wait 10 minutes; re-test ammonia concentration in aquarium water and repeat treatment if needed.

4. TankFirst can be safely re-dosed every 24 hours.

Our complete conditioner does a great job of detoxifying ammonia in unusual situations such as overcrowding or overfeeding. In such cases, our premium water conditioner will help control ammonia until the aquarium's biological filter catches back up. 1. Test ammonia levels with an ammonia salicylate reagent test kit rather than Nessler's reagent to get an accurate reading of ammonia in your water. 2. Add 5 ml (1 capful) per 10 gallons of water to treat entire system for each 1 ppm of ammonia measured on test kit. Wait 10 minutes; re-test ammonia concentration in aquarium water and repeat treatment if needed.

Treat only the new water you are adding. Simply add 1 capful or 1 teaspoon for each 10 gallons of water being treated.

Fish have olfactory receptors in 2 pits on their snout which are used to find food, spawning grounds, and much more.

We do not add any chemicals to coat the fish or cause fish to more rapidly produce their slime coat. Healthy fish even after being caught with a fish net will naturally produce their protective layer of slime. Therefore, we prefer not to add any chemicals which could pollute the fish tank.

You can find all our dosage charts here.

Treat only the new water you are adding. Simply add 1 capful or 1 teaspoon for each 1200 gallons of water being treated.

No, PondFirst works just as well at making water safe without having the awful sulfur smell. We want our aquatic friends to be happy; we know that fish have olfactory receptors in 2 pits on their snout which are used to find food, spawning grounds, and much more. Your fish will love our water treatment.

You can add it before or after. Both ways will give the same great results as long as there is good water flow throughout your entire pond.  If you do not have adequate water flow, add PondFirst as the clean water is flowing into your pond to allow our treatment to quickly make your water safe.

If an extra amount of KloudAway was used, the water may become brown for a few days. Do not worry since this is not harmful and will dissipate in a few dyas.

Yes. You must have a mechanical filter to trap the floating particles or else those particles will not be removed and your aquarium will stay cloudy.

No! Please do not use in saltwater aquaria. Our active ingredients are not compatible with saltwater aquariums.

Please watch our video to see if KloudAway will fix your cloudy water.

You want to use KloudAway when oxygen levels are at their highest. When the aquarium light is on the plants and algae consume carbon dioxide and produce oxygen during photosynthesis. When the light is off fish, plants, and other creatures in an aquarium will consume oxygen and produce carbon dioxide. This means no oxygen is produced when the lights are off as well as the pH drops. In addition, the process of coagulating the particles floating in the water consumes oxygen. This is why you want to use KloudAway when the lights are on. Make sure your filter and pump are running to keep oxygen levels at their highest.

The lower the micron rating, the more floating debris it removes hence the filter socks clog up faster. Many hobbyists have both the 100 and 200 micron filter socks which allow them to swap out their 200-micron socks from time to time.

No, it does not fit any Red Sea Reefer System.

It depends on the tank load, but generally you want to change your filter socks once a week or every two weeks. The more often you change your filter socks, the better your water quality; it removes organic solids before they have a chance to further break down.

Ideally the filter sock should be hanging in the water without touching or laying on the bottom of the sump. If a shorter sock is above the water line there may be more noise as water drains from the sock side and splashes into the water In your sump.

Our socks are untreated. The felt is soft, flexible, and perfect for trapping floating debris from the water.

We have personally tested our filter socks in the reefer sliding shelf sock holder. Our filter sock material is thick and our plastic ring is slightly too large to drop through the hole in the shelf.

Owning an aquarium store and service company for 25 years meant that we had to test countless filter socks to find the best ones. One stood above the rest giving consistent and repeatable filtration performance in freshwater, saltwater, and reef tanks.

Some of our customers clean our filter sock with a pressure washer. For our aquarium service company and personal use, we collect a group of dirty socks and clean them in a washing machine with a little bleach. You will find our exact steps on our Aquatic Experts website https://www.aquaticexperts.com/blogs/faq-resources/64782659-how-to-clean-filter-socks-and-filter-bags-faq This cleaning methods saves time and ensures the organics are removed

Our Fine Mesh Bags are 450 Microns. We also have our extra fine mesh bags at 150 microns.

Our bags will fit in almost any filter. We have several sizes to fit whichever filter you are using.

The fine mesh media bag is perfect for medium to small granulated filter media like Carbon, PhosGuard and larger resin pellets.

The bags have a tight drawstring. When tied correctly the bags will not leak or spill into your aquarium.

In some bottles of Purigen, there can be very tiny resin balls. To ensure all resin stay s in the media bag

Although we have not officially measured it, the mesh is less than 150 microns. The mesh will hold onto very fine media like Purigen.

Our bags will fit in almost any filter. We have several sizes to fit whichever filter you are using.

The Extra Fine mesh bag is perfect for super fine biological filter media like Purigen

The bags have a tight drawstring. When tied correctly the bags will not leak or spill into your aquarium.

Our High Flow mesh media bags are approximately 1000 microns. We also have our Fine bags at 450 Microns and Extra Fine Bags at 150 Microns.

Our bags will fit in almost any filter. We have several sizes to fit whichever filter you are using.

The High Flow bag is perfect for biological media and other larger media granules like pelleted carbon & Phosguard. We recommend fine mesh bags for our granulated carbon.

The bags have a tight drawstring. When tied correctly the bags will not leak or spill into your aquarium.

No. For smaller media granules or pellets like Chemipure or Purigen, we recommend our Extra Fine mesh bags!

We had ponds in mind with this bag! The tough nylon holds up to outdoor use. It is perfect for either ponds or large aquarium sumps or wet/dry filters.

The Bio ball mesh bag is meant for large bio balls. It can also be used with lava rock. For chemical media, choose one of our Fine or Extra Fine mesh bags.

The bags have a plastic zipper that closes the bag without any danger of rusting or leaching into the water.