Filter Set Ups And Experiments

[Boids-n-more]

I would like to know how you all set up your filter systems and if you set them up according to the direction or if you modify. Also have you ever experimented with not so common media or filter set ups. When i set up a new tank i like to use canister filters and have them drawing fron an UGF . It seems to the UGF clean and i use the roch as my mech filter and the canister as my main biological filter. just curious at what others do that is a lil different. Thanks

 

[dylema]

Hi,

Your idea of using the gravel as a mechanical filter seems strange to me. I am sure the gravel does a reasonable job and would also be doing a large proportion of the bio-filtering as well but as a result of this set up you are sucking all the waste into the gravel where it is harder to get out. I prefer to have a sponge or filter wool (which I house in an internal filter) to do the mechanical filtration that way you can easily remove and wash/replace the sponge/wool. Along with this media I use both ceramic noodles and bioballs in my canister for the bulk of the bio-filtration.

 

[Boids-n-more]

As strange as it may sound it works surprisingly well. I do vacuum my gravel every week wehn i do water changes and it stays clean. Out of curiosity do you have any of the tanks that have the built in overflow devices on them. The reason i ask is i am looking at them and my current way of setting up filters wouldn't work if i was going to utilize the over flow. The ones i've seen in operation use wet dry filters for fresh and salt ( I have only seen a few in operation ) , If a person was going to use a wet dry system on that could they put those blue balls ( can't think of the name to save my life lol ) in the over flow for extra filtration.

 

[dylema]

The blue balls? do you mean bio-balls, the plastic balls with lots of little rods or similar to make a large surface area.

I don't have any tanks with a built in overflow but I know what you mean and have seen several examples. I believe the plumbing for fresh and salt water is the same just the layout/media differs.

If you had a sump (like wet/dry system or variation) then I doubt you would need to fill the overflow with bio-balls. You can set up a sump in many ways and use all kinds of media to do whatever job you want.

You could probably run a canister filter and have the hoses plumbed through the bulkheads (the screw in fittings through the glass) but this might be messy if there is an overflow box inside the tank.

Hope this helps

Dylan

 

[andywg]

To use bio-balls to their best efficiency you want them out of the water in a trickle tower.

You also need a layer of filter floss across the top of a drip plate to stop the bio balls getting clogged up too quickly. And you will be amazed how quickly the filter floss clogs up when water comes out of a pipe on to it (I have to rinse mine out at least twice a week).

Sumps with a trckle tower are very effective, however. I use one for my 6x2x2 and one to run 3 other tanks.

I personally would not use rgavel as a mechanical filter as it is just about impossible to get all the crap out from in all the gravel.

 

[Ava_Banana]

I have a number of tanks..........and try to do this fish keeping lark on a budget....

OK.....the tanks:

The 55 gallon corner tank has an eheim 2328 in the cupboard under it. When I got the filter (second hand) it had no media with it and as I was moving a tank full of fish into this tank I needed it up and running straight away.

I had a variety of foam sheets of various "hole" sizes and used those in one of the trays, I used eheim-filter-wool left over from a bulk purchase in another of the trays, and (here comes the cheaty bit) I filled a stocking (my wife's, not mine ) with gravel from my currently running tank (had been running with a UGF) and filled two trays with that. This tank has been running this way for a year, with no losses (OK, 2 platies and a "runt" angel that got beat up). I have cleaned the filter twice during that time.

The "Long Thin Tank" (5 foot long x 2.5 ft high x 6.5 inches wide...perfect size to fit on a window ledge).

UGF........been running nearly two years now.........recently needed quite a big gravel-vac session as the water flow down through the gravel wasn't too good (it slowed the air going back up the updraft pipes)....
I will try to pick up an external filter for this when I get a "bargain" offered as I recognise the limitations of the UGF in this set up.

24 x 24, eheim 2215.....£20 off a bloke at work.......been running nearly two years, cleaned out every four months or so, mainly eheim media I got with the filter (efi-substrate).


As was mentioned above.......the reason I would come away from a UGF is crap build-up in the substrate (that and the fact that my other tanks have sand and I would like to consider it in the long one too). If you use both a UGF and an external.....you end up with the same result as a ugf.....e.g. substrate full of debris.....just you have more surface area for biological filtration.

 

[Boids-n-more]

how often do you vacuum your gravel ? I vacuum mine every water change and i never get a build up of decaying stuff.

 

[Ava_Banana]

how often do you vacuum your gravel ? I vacuum mine every water change and i never get a build up of decaying stuff.

I am not able to vacuum the gravel as well as I would like because of the design of the tank.

It is planted, and has some rock/slate in it, but it is only 6.5 inches wide (front to back) and is on a windowsill.

See this thread for details:

linky on here of when we first got the thin tank

....in the first photo you see the gap at the top of the tank is only around 3 inches across..........and you have to stand above the kitchen sink to "maintain" it...

...it can be hard work sometimes.......but of course it is worth it.