DIY "canister filter"

[t-dizzle]

I kick up a lot of sediment and detritus whenever I siphon or perform a water change in my 26g. I have a skimmer and I float carbon, but I don't have a canister filter or any other means of mechanical filtration. Does it make sense to pump my aquarium water through a DIY "canister" packed with filter floss whenever I kick up a storm? Specifically, I'm thinking of packing a covered Ziploc plastic bowl with filter floss and cutting out holes for water to be pumped through. Would this be effective if I ran it for a couple hours, or would I need to run it continuously?

Thanks!

 

[Pandora]

I don't think this would make much sense...

First off, why are you kicking up so much debris when you do a water change, how do you do it, and how much? You shouldn't be stirring the sediment up at all. I only siphon from the top of the tank, unless I actually see pieces of rotting material or uneaten food (pick that up rather than try to go after it with a siphon, I would only do this if you have a bare bottom tank). What kind of substrate do you have?

A lot of us don't have any mechanical fiter at all and do fine.