hood with built in filter???

[nuttyfishgirl]

my new aquarium has a filter built into the hood has anyone else used one of these and if so are they any good ... it consists of 3 tras with filter material in them and a spray bar running over the top of them

 

[The-Wolf]

does it look like this?

 

[nuttyfishgirl]

very similar ish lol

 

[Apocalypse]

You must have an Eclipse System, by Marineland.

-Apoc-

 

[nuttyfishgirl]

nope its an Ai.m AR850 by some jap or chineese company and thats the only part of the inctructions i can read

 

[The-Wolf]

I've never heard of them; however I found this concerning setting up the filter

There's no 'standard' set up. Every shop seems to do it differently, but here's how I did it while it was a freshwater setup:

The ceramic noodles (or alternatively Bio-Strate) is filled into the longer compartment. Lay the black filter foam over the top. The spray bar (plastic tube with plenty of holes)goes over the top of that. In the second compartment lay the shorter white foam bits - I weighed them down with some stones.

The logic behind this setup is that black foam catches the larger detritus (eg dead plant matter) where it is easily cleaned. The smaller particles go through to the noodles where the bacteria develops to 'eat' the ammonia and nitrites. The water then finally passes through the white filters to give it a final scrub and catch any break down of the noodles.

Ideally you would have a pad under the noodles too, but there is not enough room and the resistance to flow causes the water to back up.

I hope that is of some use

 

[nuttyfishgirl]

sure is thats how i did it lol

 

[Airli]

i have an AR380. but mine is an aqua one tank. I have been trying to find out information about this filter as well. mine has the spray bar over the top of two filter pad type things. They are black plastic with slits in the bottom and white foam stuff on top with noodles sealed in between. my filter just has two of these, and i think i was supposed to replace something roughly every 8 weeks. but wouldnt that get rid of my good bacteria?

 

[nuttyfishgirl]

your set up sounds very similar to mine

i been onto manufacturer ( oh what fun!!! he didnt understand me at all at first ( jap i think ))and the spray bar goes over the white pad as long as the water hits that first everything else is ok

the noodles and stuff under should be rinced occasionally in the tank water apparently ... so all good bacteria goes into tank and filter cleans it again ... only replace when they start to powder ... now thats what ive been told ... whether its correct i dont know im new to it all ??? can anyone else help

 

[StevenAu2]

Hi everyone sorry to dig up an old thread.Just needed to find out afew things for a simpleton like me.I have a similar style tank,an Aqua Vital 620,i then moved all the noodles into the longer section on the left,covered by the black sponge,which all sits below the spray bar.Now the next section on the right i have removed the noodels(placed into left section) and now only have the white filter wool layed down first and then a layer of the black sponge.Now that i have it setup like this water is flowing through the filter section and back out the return snorkel and hole very fast.
Any ideas please?