AquaClear 110 questions

[gwand]

I purchased an AquaClear 110 HOB for my 60 gallon tank. This filter is huge. But I’ve never had a tank larger than 20 gallons before. The instructions say to replace the foam filter every two months, activated carbon Insert every month and the bio max insert every three months. Is this a marketing gimmick or should I follow these directions religiously for proper maintenance of the HOB system? Can’t I just wash the foam and bio max components in tank water every month and do replacements at longer intervals?

 

[Uberhoust]

The instructions say to replace the foam filter every two months, activated carbon Insert every month and the bio max insert every three months. Is this a marketing gimmick or should I follow these directions religiously for proper maintenance of the HOB system? Can’t I just wash the foam and bio max components in tank water every month and do replacements at longer intervals?

I have 2 110s and an older Aquaclear 400 or 500. You do not have to change the sponge and you can put the charcoal pad into the garden or with your orchids, they like charcoal. I use mine with only the sponge and some type of biomedia, whatever is handy. Depending on your bioload you typically only rinse the filter every week to every month. I do not buy replacement media of any sort. I did have to replace the sponge on one but that was because I left it in the sun and it became brittle.

The size is why I like them.

 

[Uberhoust]

The one thing with the AC's that I don't like is that they don't always startup well after an interruption, ie power outage, cleaning. This seems more prevalent the lower the water is in the tank.

 

[Ed Pursell]

Get rid of the Carbon, buy a bag of filter floss. Use sponge at the bottom, handful of floss on top of the sponge, then the bio balls on top of the floss. When flow starts getting slow, pull out the basket and rinse the sponge in water from your water change and re-assemble. Sponge and bag of bio balls should last almost forever.. Pretty flawless system and takes only minutes to clean… And it takes a while before you need to do this. My AQ’s every couple months.

 

[GaryE]

I have 110s running with the same sponges they came with, and most of them are reaching the end of their impeller life, in their teens. I rinse the sponge about once a month, or less.
The newest version is supposed to have solved the restart after power cuts issue. I haven't seen them yet.

I put Japanese filter matting into the lower level, and have a sponge on top. If the sponge clogs, you'll have backflow and a wet floor, potentially. You'd need to leave things about 3 months for that issue.

I have my disclaimer that I do freelance work for Fluval. But the 110 is the best filter I've run for efficiency and longevity.

 

[gwand]

No one seems to like carbon. Why?

 

[gwand]

I have 110s running with the same sponges they came with, and most of them are reaching the end of their impeller life, in their teens. I rinse the sponge about once a month, or less.
The newest version is supposed to have solved the restart after power cuts issue. I haven't seen them yet.

I put Japanese filter matting into the lower level, and have a sponge on top. If the sponge clogs, you'll have backflow and a wet floor, potentially. You'd need to leave things about 3 months for that issue.

I have my disclaimer that I do freelance work for Fluval. But the 110 is the best filter I've run for efficiency and longevity.

Japanese filter matting! What’s that? Something I get from a Zen Buddhist monastery?

 

[Fishfunn]

No one seems to like carbon. Why?

What I read is that carbon works for a short time to remove toxins, then afterwards it will release stored toxins back into the water. So it is not like bio-media that just grows nitrification bacteria on its surface.

 

[GaryE]

Carbon/activated charcoal's often an artifact from another era/approach. When water changes were frowned upon in the search for the 'balanced aquarium', many tanks smelled like algae encrusted armpits. So carbon was necessary. Now, we don't need it, but a lot of hobbyists expect it.
My fishkeeping grandfather would be horrified we don't use it now.

Japanese filter matting! What’s that? Something I get from a Zen Buddhist monastery?

I think it'd be more available in a medieval style Christian monastery, because if you tried to lie down on it, you'd think your horse hair shirt was a sinful luxury. It's a tangled of ugly blue hard plastic fibres sold in mats (on Amazon now) that provides an excellent bio media surface. With difficulty and sturdy scissors, you cut it to fit, and it lasts forever. I bought a sheet on 2007, and it looks brand new when it's rinsed.

 

[gwand]

You are a funny man. Have you
ever considered stand up?

 

[Colin_T]

For the OP, it's a marketing gimmick and I'm disappointed AquaClear would do that.

Sponges last for years (10+) and only get replaced when they start to break down (fall apart). If you replace the sponges regularly, you get rid of the beneficial filter bacteria living in the sponge and you end up with ammonia and nitrite problems that kill the fish. So leave the sponges alone and only take them out once a month to clean. You clean them by squeezing them out in a bucket of tank water and then putting the sponge back in the filter. The bucket of dirty water gets poured on the garden or lawn outside.

If you have a new filter, do not clean it for the first 6-8 weeks. This allows the filter bacteria time to establish and attach themselves to the sponge. If you clean the new sponges too frequently, you can wash the good bacteria off the sponge and mess up the filter cycle.

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Carbon is used to remove chemicals and heavy metals from the water. It s not normally needed in aquariums and I don't recommend using it unless you have chemicals or heavy metals in the water. And if you do have that, then you should filter the tap water through carbon before adding the water to the aquarium.

Leave the carbon filter in the box and don't bother using it.

Do not throw the sponges away and replace them unless they fall apart.

If you want filter media in the AquaClear HOB filters, get 2 or 3 sponges and leave it at that. Or have 1 or 2 sponges and a back of the ceramic beads. However, I think sponges are much better filter media than the ceramic beads.

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AquaClear HOB filters can have problems restarting after power failures if the water level in the aquarium is lower than the motor. If this is the case, the intake hose will drain the water out of the filter and there won't be any water left for the pump (motor) to suck into the filter. An AquaClear 110 is a decent size filter and the motor should sit at least 6 inches below the top of the tank so it's unlikely to run dry unless the tank has a really low water level.

HOB style filters do need to be turned off when doing water changes on the aquarium. After the water change is done, you fill the filter with aquarium water and turn the filter back on.