Filter Help Pleaseeeee!

[millie1]

thanks for the advice

rick A thanks for spending the time writing that out!



atm is like 'humming' but a really gentle hum..... so i assume thats ok?


theres a bit of leaves at the top of the tank just spinning round gently - is it supposed to be more powerful that that??? be able to pull them in etc???


*much rather have an internal filter!!!*

 

[waterdrop]

Rick A: Very nice cannister maintenance write-up, thanks!

The only minor things I thought of the add/change are the following (general to all cannisters, not Fluval specific that is):

1) I like to have the cannister placed in a plastic kitchen container type box at all times when it is in the cabinet under the tank. This catches minor water misshaps or might help if a leak occurred. This is helpful at maintenance time because you can disconnect the water tubes at the top and then either take this extra plastic tub with you (if you have water on the cannister itself) or you can leave the plastic tub there (if the tubes are still wet/dripping.) Many will find it easier to take the entire cannister with pump head with them to the tub or laundry sink. There they don't need an extra dish for the wet pump head, and its good to examine the impeller anyway.

2) Just prior to putting the pump head back on the cannister box you should coat the entire O-Ring that seals these two main parts together with Vasoline (usually your manual will recommend this I believe and I'm assuming that here.) Back at the tank, remove the two small O-Rings that seal the water tubes to the pump head and coat them with vasoline. In each case you just put vasoline on two fingers and run the entire O-Ring through them and then have a paper towel handy to clean up, its easy. If you do this every time the rings will last forever (hopefully, 'cause replacements are expensive!)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Rick A]

thanks for the advice

rick A thanks for spending the time writing that out!



atm is like 'humming' but a really gentle hum..... so i assume thats ok?


theres a bit of leaves at the top of the tank just spinning round gently - is it supposed to be more powerful that that??? be able to pull them in etc???


*much rather have an internal filter!!!*

No problem, the manuals are basically 'rubbish' from the manufacturers. In my experience, with two different types now, they don't adequately cover how to maintain them effectively - maybe they're afraid of highlighting problems with their designs It took me quite a while to discover a way of maintaining my canisters effectively. It did help me to understand the value of maintaining canisters more frequently after reading these articles, but they are very long and wordy:

http/www.badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article73.html

http/www.badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article68.html

my advice would be to do as often as you're comfortable with - I do mine once a week

Anyway Millie, if it hums a bit you shouldn't worry about it - might be worth checking that the canister's not leaning against the back of the tank stand as the vibrations might be being amplified by the cabinet...

theres a bit of leaves at the top of the tank just spinning round gently - is it supposed to be more powerful that that??? be able to pull them in etc???

Could you reword that as I'm not clear on what you're trying to ask?

And finally, an external is more hassle to maintain, but believe me its worth all the extra work - both for water quality and fishy health.

Water Drop, now I've learnt something else... I didn't think of sealing ring maintenance, thanks.

 

[rabbut]

Those links to the other forum are against our rules, Rick A, so don't be too supprised if they vanish and a Mod gives you a wrist slapping....

Good filter write up though. I agree that Fluvals are a royal PITA to maintain, often not priming correctly and being noisy. They also have a habbit of clogging more quickly than other brands IME....

That said, I find exturnals easier to maintain than internals. Internals IME dump most of the mank they have removed back into the water when you remove them for a clean, meaning you have to do another gravel vac shortly after filter mainatnace to remove it again.... Also, most exturnals won't need touching for 6months at a time. Once a month to me indicated a poorly designed filter to me if it needs the clean that offten. Remember that a well cared for filter sponge will be permanantly discoloured. If it isn't, you are keeping it too clean

The white balls in the Fluval inlet pipe are supposed to make priming easier by stopping water leaving the inlet tube when the primer is pumped, but allowing it in... They don't stop debris getting into the filter caursing other problems, as that is the job for the inlet strainer. I ran a 404 without the white ball for a few months before it started giving electric shocks to me when I placed my hands into the tank.

IMO Fluval are one of the worst brands of exturnal filter out there ATM, and they are only kept alive by the discounts they offer retailers for bulk buying them...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[fishyfeet]

thats rubbish, lol, i have 3 external fluval 304's and they are easy peasy, the ball should osolate, after a period of time the ball will become stuck over the pipe restricting the flow of water, if you remove the end of the pipe - containing the ball, you will find it become full of gunk and stuff - plants, snails, etc, so you need to clean in all out under the tap, take quite a bit of time, if you shake the thing up and down and you cant hear the ball rattling around its stuck and you need to keep rinseing and popeing about til its clean and free. di

 

[millie1]

ok thanks guys!

 

[Rick A]

Those links to the other forum are against our rules, Rick A, so don't be too supprised if they vanish and a Mod gives you a wrist slapping....

OK, point taken, though I would have thought that dissemination of useful info would have priority over forum rules. I don't think it will lose us any people, this is still by far the best forum I've come across, and I've registered with quite a few...

I agree that Fluvals are a royal PITA to maintain, often not priming correctly and being noisy. They also have a habbit of clogging more quickly than other brands IME....

Personally, I think they're s**t. I bought two on the strength of sales-driven info and subsequently found out the hard way that they are poor... Here in the UK you can buy AquaPro externals and they are cheaper and much better at cleaning, don't get so clogged up and are easier to maintain and restart - most comments aimed at Fluval are at their poor restart capability...

Also, most exturnals won't need touching for 6months at a time. Once a month to me indicated a poorly designed filter to me if it needs the clean that offten. Remember that a well cared for filter sponge will be permanantly discoloured. If it isn't, you are keeping it too clean.

OK, though I keep Malawis and believe me they are far too messy to leave filter cleaning for more than a month, I know from experience... Also, I did point out that you don't attempt to remove all of the bacteria through cleaning. My filter sponges are discoloured, just not full of mulm.

IMO Fluval are one of the worst brands of exturnal filter out there ATM, and they are only kept alive by the discounts they offer retailers for bulk buying them...

I agree, I have now bought an AquPro 3 it cost me £59 online instead of Fluval's £120 plus for an equivalent! However, this post was to help yet another poor individual who has already bought a Fluval...

Poor old Millie is going to be a bit shocked: not realising that many posts get hijacked by sub-plots! Nothing like a bit of healthy debate eh?

 

[millie1]

debatings all part of aforum!!!




my filter now seems to be working ok - i have the air pump on as well which looks ace (even with no fish in the tank haha)!

sooo glad i have to wait before i put fish in! cant decide which to have!!!!

im thinking alot of guppies (or like 4 which will multiply like mad i know!)




one question though about cycling etc..... when do i do water changes?? or do i not

 

[waterdrop]

Hi milli1,

For fishless cycling (which is what you've started doing, right?) there is a generalization I like to tell people (although there are not such hard and fast rules about this and you don't have to follow it if other advice seems better at the time (whew! like a legal disclaimer!)):

First Phase: It seems to help to -not- do water changes during the "first phase" when you are mostly focusing on ammonia and its before the big nitrite (NO2) spike.

Second Phase: Then, after the nitrite (NO2) spike where nitrite test results are as high as the test can go (which I call the "second phase"), it seems to actually -help- to do water changes, including gravel cleans. The reason I think water changes help in the second phase is that you can lower the nitrites (which helps you to be able to see a trend across days, whereas if they are all off the chart you can't see any trends) and you can lower the nitrates (lowering both nitrites and nitrates is thought to possibly be a better "soup" for the N-Bacs, the Nitrite-oxidizing-bacteria, to grow in). Yet another good thing about water changes in second phase is that it keeps debris and nitrates from building up unneccessarily and being too high right after your cycle finishes. And still another benefit for beginners in particular is that it starts to get you in the good habit of doing your gravel-clean/water-change maintenance routine and lets you work out the best ways to do that in detail.

Turning Point: The turning point between first and second phase of fishless cycling can be recognized by the first Nitrite (NO2) test result that is as high as the test numbers will go. Before that you are usually getting no nitrites at all or small readings of nitrite even though your ammonia is going from 5ppm down to zero ppm in sometimes less than 24 hours.

Fishless Cycling Water Changes: Fishless cycling water changes can be as large as is convenient. Small percentage water changes have little meaning during fishless cycling.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[millie1]

ok thanks!

atm imy tank is cloudy as ive added some bacterlife

so im planning to levae it a few days and test.... also add some more plants as its really dull atm!!!

then after ive tested,, start adding ammonia??

then water changes???

 

[rabbut]

Waterlife's Bacterlife contains an ammonia source (supposidly) which makes this product very unusual. Could you test for ammonia imediately after dosing please, as the only thing I know about it is the ammonia source is there (supposidly) and it has the wrong filter bacteria. I don't know how much ammonia is added at a recomended dose, as that is pretty much all the information given by the company rep at work.... (Note, he does not state that it contains the wrong filter bacteria, just just listed the bacteria that used to be thought to do the filteration in a tank before Dr. T. Hovanec's recent research into the area)

Depending on what the ammonia readings are after dosing bacterlife, you may or may not need ammonia. Ammonia is cheaper than bacterlife, so essentially it is an over-priced bottle of ammonia to fishless cycle, if the company rep's information is correct. Adverage cycle time is supposed to be 2 weeks, so I suspect it won't raise the ammonia that high realy. Other than testing the ammonia, for now follow the directions on the bottle and then we can review the situation when we know how much ammonia is added when dosed We may recomend increasing the dosages to acomodate the ammonia level being lower than usualy recomended for a fishless cycle... Alternatively, you may find the rep is wrong, and that a full dose of ammonia is needed realy.

All the best
Rabbut

 

[millie1]

hiya -i did test today - nitrite was less thatn 0.3 and ammonia was 'normal' it was in one zone - i havent checked properly but thats what its said

 

[rabbut]

Sorry, could you clarify what you mean by the "one zone" a reading of 1 or the lowest reading on the card?

All the best
Rabbut

 

[millie1]

ive just re-read that - i must be drunk pmsl!!!!!

sorry!!!!


the ammonia was less than 0.3 - i have put my test results on another thread

appologies for the confusion - i htink i had a 'moment'

 

[rabbut]

OK, was this directly after adding the porduct, or did you leave it for a while?