Fluval canisters in series

[Richie30]

Hi
I have a juwel rio 240 and removed the internal filter and installed a fluval 407.
To allow extra filtration is it possible to link it to another in series (207) without the pump running.
I could then fill the main with mechanical filtration and the other with biological.

Has anyone done this? Is it a stupid idea?

 

[lnsaneM]

Yes you can definitely run two canister filters parallel, one acting as a booster filter. Just connect the outlet into the inlet of the other filter and you’re done. But you should probably connect both these filters onto power so you have enough water flow into your tank. I’m running a sunsun 704b with a 603 as a booster, I did notice the flow slow down after installing the booster filter. I have one sunsun hw3000 ordered on the way and hope this increases the water flow.

 

[malfunction]

Do you mean connecting two canister filters together? I don’t think that’ll work as you’ll have problems with either flow into the filters or flow back into the tank.

Why do they need to be connected in a series? I’m guessing there’s a reason you can’t just set up a second filter in the normal way. Are you trying to increase flow or do you want more media for bacteria to colonise? If it’s the first then a wavemaker would be simpler

 

[lnsaneM]

Yes, I mean connecting them together. The first filter water passes through is mechanical filtration, then the second one is biological filtration, I don't like having 2 sets of intake and outtake tubes in one tank. You won't have any problems with flows as long as you connect them the right way, look up the Pond Guru's guide on booster filter and you'll know what I'm talking about. For me, it's mainly more area for bacteria to colonize in the second filter. Are you trying to achieve this or are you trying to run 2 simultaneously?

 

[Richie30]

Im wanting to increase the area for bacteria and want to connect them together and not have 2 inlets and outlets.
Ive seen the boosters and thought this way would be the same method but using another canister.
So id go from tank in to 407 over to 207 then back to the tank.

Should i run the second pump?

 

[malfunction]

How do you know you need more bacteria or more area for them? Are you having issues with your tank? Or are you planning to dramatically increase your stocking?

 

[lnsaneM]

It's always better to have more room for media. I would run water through the smaller canister first then the larger one then back to the tank. Only using the second filter to feed water back into the tank, and let gravity pull the water into the first tank. If the flow rate slows down, then you can plug in the other filter

 

[Uberhoust]

I would not recommend running the canister filters in series. The maximum flow through the filter system will be reduced to the most limiting filter. Whereas two separate systems running in parallel will give you the combined flow giving more chance for the bacteria to treat the water. If you combine the two your reliability of the filtering system is reduced to the combine reliability of both canisters, whereas two in parallel gives you redundancy in your filtering, one can fail without affecting all the other. Finally the nitrifying bacteria live not just in the filters but on all surfaces in the tank that come in contact with oxygenated water.

 

[Richie30]

Thanks for your replies everyone.
I dont think its heavily stocked have 40 ish fish
Tetras, couple of platys and endlers and 2 dwarf chain loaches and a common pleco.

I recently changed the gravel to sand (over 2 months ago) and was abit worried about losing all that bateria in the gravel but also i now see all the poop.
It was there before though
I was just thinking because of all the poop it might cause a problem but as above it was there before just buried in the cracks of the gravel.
The sand makes cleanup so much easier though.

Ive done water tests with my nt labs kit.
Ammonia nitrite and nitrate are all good (yellow and clear) ph showing 7.5 to 8
The kh was 7 drops 1 drop says its 17.8ppp and the gh was 9 drops as above.

I think im going to leave the 2nd filter/canister

 

[malfunction]

I think it’s a good idea to leave it as is. If your parameters are still good two months after changing your substrate then you’re probably gonna be fine. If your concerned about that you may have lost beneficial bacteria then it makes more sense to add bottled bacteria than getting more media. But again, if you’re tearing your water and having notice le any issues after two months then it’s probably a non-issue.

Gravel vacuuming the sand regularly will deal with the poop that’s now visible