Filter Wool, Where Do I Put It?

[IAmATeaf]

Got some filter wool for my Fluval 305 to fill the space that was occupied by carbon bags.

I've got the 4 main coarse sponges and have ceramic rings in the other 3 trays so am wondering where the filter wool should go. I was thinking of moving the rings to the top 2 trays and putting the wool in the bottom tray, does this sound fine?

 

[haowin]

Got some filter wool for my Fluval 305 to fill the space that was occupied by carbon bags.

I've got the 4 main coarse sponges and have ceramic rings in the other 3 trays so am wondering where the filter wool should go. I was thinking of moving the rings to the top 2 trays and putting the wool in the bottom tray, does this sound fine?

it goes at the top doesnt it? not sure what system or w/e u got is, but generally the bigger the filtration its purpose is for it goes on top. like the top layer will get the biggest parts like poo, dead leaves or something, then as the layer of filtration goes down the finer the particles its meant to filter will be. that what i think, not sure tho, so just use your intuition on this one

 

[IAmATeaf]

Got some filter wool for my Fluval 305 to fill the space that was occupied by carbon bags.

I've got the 4 main coarse sponges and have ceramic rings in the other 3 trays so am wondering where the filter wool should go. I was thinking of moving the rings to the top 2 trays and putting the wool in the bottom tray, does this sound fine?

it goes at the top doesnt it? not sure what system or w/e u got is, but generally the bigger the filtration its purpose is for it goes on top. like the top layer will get the biggest parts like poo, dead leaves or something, then as the layer of filtration goes down the finer the particles its meant to filter will be. that what i think, not sure tho, so just use your intuition on this one

The top in my case would be the bottom as the water comes down 1 side of the canister, then passes through the coarse sponges and then comes upwards from the bottom tray to the top before being returned to the tank.

 

[kaivalagi]

My tetratec filter filters from bottom to top and the floss goes in the top i.e. at the end of the media before water is pumped back in the tank. Hope that helps?

 

[kelly528]

I always put mine right before my biomedia so that it filters out any fine debris that could get trapped in the biomedia and decrease its surface area.

 

[kaivalagi]

So which way is right, I can understand the pros and cons for both? My filter came with the media in place and it filters at the end of the media, so I always assumed this was the correct way....

Maybe I should put some floss in at each end

 

[OldMan47]

Have a look at the flow path through your filter. Most canisters flow from bottom to top. Once you know the flow path, put any fine filter media, like floss, as the very last stage of filtration. In a filter that comes with a fine media, they call it a polishing filter for a reason. It is there to polish the water that is about to return to your tank.

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

Mine goes - fine media, coarse media , ceramic noodles. Maybe it ought to go the other way round with the mechanical filtering? Catch the big bits first, filter out the little bits THEN biological. Still easy to maintain... got me thinking now

 

[kaivalagi]

Have a look at the flow path through your filter. Most canisters flow from bottom to top. Once you know the flow path, put any fine filter media, like floss, as the very last stage of filtration. In a filter that comes with a fine media, they call it a polishing filter for a reason. It is there to polish the water that is about to return to your tank.

Glad you've said that, I thought I was doing it all wrong for a moment...I'll leave it as is now

 

[IAmATeaf]

So I should put the wool in the top most chamber and move the rings down, thanks guys/gals for your help.

 

[kaivalagi]

So I should put the wool in the top most chamber and move the rings down, thanks guys/gals for your help.

Yep, the flow of water is from bottom to top therefore floss/wool on top (at the end of the media "chain")

 

[OldMan47]

In my larger canisters I start with a coarse sponge, then a finer sponge. That gets most of the bigger stuff out of the water. Then I follow that by various biological media, no two filters have the identical biomedia load. Last of all is the polishing pad. The biomedia stays fairly clean because I have the coarse and medium mechanical media first in the filter. The polishing pad keeps any dust or other components that come off of my biomedia from being returned to the tank. The first thing that plugs up is almost always the polishing pad, even though it is the last thing in the flow path. The sponges get fairly heavy with dirt but are still passing water well and the biological media is never very dirty, in terms of solids. The polishing pad usually determines when the flow will drop enough for me to decide to clean my canister.

 

[kaivalagi]

I was wondering OM47, have you ever heard of anyone putting two canisters together in series?

i.e. tank out->filter 1 in->filter 1 out->filter 2 in->filter 2 out->tank in

I was just thinking it might be a good idea if you wanted more mechanical filtering in the first and then more biological in the second maybe? Would make for easier maintenance in somes ways I guess as the biological filter wouldn't get so much crud in it...but I would expect that the 2 filters would need to be the same flow rate...

Would it just make more sense all round to do the usual and have 2 filters running independantly? For reliability it would for sure but I am not so sure for efficiency..

Just thinking out loud Any thoughts?

 

[IAmATeaf]

I was wondering OM47, have you ever heard of anyone putting two canisters together in series?

i.e. tank out->filter 1 in->filter 1 out->filter 2 in->filter 2 out->tank in

I was just thinking it might be a good idea if you wanted more mechanical filtering in the first and then more biological in the second maybe? Would make for easier maintenance in somes ways I guess as the biological filter wouldn't get so much crud in it...but I would expect that the 2 filters would need to be the same flow rate...

Would it just make more sense all round to do the usual and have 2 filters running independantly? For reliability it would for sure but I am not so sure for efficiency..

Just thinking out loud Any thoughts?

Wouldn't the second filter get overloaded (in terms of flow rate) due the first filter pumping it's output into the second, or wouldn't this make a difference.

Logically thinking though the rates of the water coming in to that going out must get equalised by the fact that output is pumped and with no air in the system the pump has no other option except to suck the water in from the tank faster.

Sorry for waffling on and not even answering the question

 

[kaivalagi]

Wouldn't the second filter get overloaded (in terms of flow rate) due the first filter pumping it's output into the second, or wouldn't this make a difference.

Logically thinking though the rates of the water coming in to that going out must get equalised by the fact that output is pumped and with no air in the system the pump has no other option except to suck the water in from the tank faster.

Sorry for waffling on and not even answering the question

It's alright

I am waffling too

I think it would work, the flow of water could be fairly consistent throughout, although it would depend on the type of media in each...it might be that the 2nd filter would need a faster (by default) flow rate to equal the actual rate with varying media...if that makes sense.

I'm just curious as to whether anyone has done this really, or if it would be more trouble than it's worth or just not be worth it at all...

Maybe better just to get the biggest filter possible and use the canister to it's fullest...if the flow is too high then chuck more tighter media in it maybe...