In what way your water flows trough your medias in your Filter ?
- Thread starter MaloK
- Start date
I go coarse to coarse, with no mechanical element. It's biological all the way, with the siphon for physical removal.
Ok, like some kind of fluidized bed. And you remove the mulm from the bottom with the siphon.
But, lets talk small home sloppy hobs and such.
I'm switching everything to matten filters now. The benefit of the much larger footprint and the possibility of eating nitrate once the bacteria colony gets to it's peak along with me being lazy and their low maintenance needs is all win win for me.
My FX6's would be the only filters to directly apply to this thread. I've tested many different combinations over the years. Right now I use a course filter pad on the entrance followed by stacks of seachem matrix and a fine filter for water polishing on the out. It just doesn't make sense to use something fine on the intake as it's gonna plug faster meaning I'll have to provide more maintenance. As it sits now I can go 3 months before pulling them apart and the fine filter pad on the out side isn't nearly as plugged as it was when it was installed on the intake side. My water clarity has also improved and stays near perfect like this at all times.
Rounding it out with a correct light cycle and pothos and monstera my water is beautiful. It didn't happen overnight though..
Hobs I don't think you can win with those and they have to be cleaned at least bi-weekly regardless
LOL I keep editing this.
Mattens also don't require any additional electricity. I'm using an LPH80 linear piston pump to supply air to my fishroom and it powers all my mattens, bioreactors, breeding boxes etc etc. The only thing I'm using power for is the pump itself, heater controllers & heaters and wave makers. The majority of my tanks needs though can be met with the linear piston pump
My FX6's would be the only filters to directly apply to this thread. I've tested many different combinations over the years. Right now I use a course filter pad on the entrance followed by stacks of seachem matrix and a fine filter for water polishing on the out. It just doesn't make sense to use something fine on the intake as it's gonna plug faster meaning I'll have to provide more maintenance. As it sits now I can go 3 months before pulling them apart and the fine filter pad on the out side isn't nearly as plugged as it was when it was installed on the intake side. My water clarity has also improved and stays near perfect like this at all times.
Rounding it out with a correct light cycle and pothos and monstera my water is beautiful. It didn't happen overnight though..
Hobs I don't think you can win with those and they have to be cleaned at least bi-weekly regardless
LOL I keep editing this.
Mattens also don't require any additional electricity. I'm using an LPH80 linear piston pump to supply air to my fishroom and it powers all my mattens, bioreactors, breeding boxes etc etc. The only thing I'm using power for is the pump itself, heater controllers & heaters and wave makers. The majority of my tanks needs though can be met with the linear piston pump
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I have all HOBs or air driven box filters. mostly homemade. Very low tech. The bed that got fluidized here belonged to our puppy, and that bed had to be thrown out.
I'll never understand how such a troll like you
could become moderator anywhere...But you sure have a way to put things in perspective. Your post makes me smile all the way.
You remind me of one of one of my uncle... Too much to be true... But always with this always truthful twist...
Take it as a compliment I really miss that guy.
But still appreciate your input and will try to decipher in dead time.
Oh, I googled and found hamburg matten filters and this is very versatile, They don't seems to provide multi stages filtration but with the good media coarseness it looks great.
I'm not trolling. I actually have box filters filled with Japanese filter matting, and use the same basic material in my few remaining HOBs. My fishroom is largely air driven, and relies on water changes weekly, light stocking and a lot of live food use to keep it working. The filtration is essential though.
For my fish that need moving water, I have HObs, and a couple of canisters and powerheads running. For killies, I run two box filters (usually) per 10 gallon, lightly stocked and often planted tank.
A few of my HOB boxes have minimal media, but operate as continuous flow flowerpots, with plant roots in them. A number of terrestrial plants are rooted in the filters, protected from the impellers.
I've worked with high tech filters, but don't need them.
Matten filters are excellent though - well worth exploring. I have a friend whose fishroom is dedicated to Anabantoids and plants, and her tanks have always done extremely well with the matten filters she's made. I'll make some someday.
If I kept larger Loracarids, I would need a different system, but I avoid those fish, as they aren't an interest. I keep no large fish, and no salt tanks.
I know every forum has some older guy who swears his system is the best. Mine can easily be improved upon, but it works for my choices. It's energy efficient, and I keep and breed very difficult, uncommon fish in it.
With the fish and plants I keep, I see zero value in mechanical filtration. With non air filters, I often put a sponge over the intake to stop debris from getting into the media.
You just asked about media. You have to admit that....
For my fish that need moving water, I have HObs, and a couple of canisters and powerheads running. For killies, I run two box filters (usually) per 10 gallon, lightly stocked and often planted tank.
A few of my HOB boxes have minimal media, but operate as continuous flow flowerpots, with plant roots in them. A number of terrestrial plants are rooted in the filters, protected from the impellers.
I've worked with high tech filters, but don't need them.
Matten filters are excellent though - well worth exploring. I have a friend whose fishroom is dedicated to Anabantoids and plants, and her tanks have always done extremely well with the matten filters she's made. I'll make some someday.
If I kept larger Loracarids, I would need a different system, but I avoid those fish, as they aren't an interest. I keep no large fish, and no salt tanks.
I know every forum has some older guy who swears his system is the best. Mine can easily be improved upon, but it works for my choices. It's energy efficient, and I keep and breed very difficult, uncommon fish in it.
With the fish and plants I keep, I see zero value in mechanical filtration. With non air filters, I often put a sponge over the intake to stop debris from getting into the media.
You just asked about media. You have to admit that....
I'll never understand how such a troll like you
But you sure have a way to put things in perspective. Your post makes me smile all the way.
You remind me of one of one of my uncle... Too much to be true... But always with this always truthful twist...
Take it as a compliment I really miss that guy.
But still appreciate your input and will try to decipher in dead time.
Oh, I googled and found hamburg matten filters and this is very versatile, They don't seems to provide multi stages filtration but with the good media coarseness it looks great.
The big shrimp breeders almost exclusively use matten filters. A lot of breeders in general do. One of the most attractive features is simply the lack of maintenance. Once the water on the backside of the matten isn't the same level as the fish side it's time to pull the sponge and clean it which could be as little as a year or as much as 5 depending. Twotankamin says he could go years by just using his siphon hose to go over the filter on the fish side while he was doing water changes and then sucking out the mulm/silt on the backside.
Swisstropicals sells the jetlifters/superlifters which are powered by air and they pump a lot of water. The superlifters pump 4-500gph. I had to dial mine back by adjusting the airflow to them it was too much. The jetlifters/superlifters never go bad and can be used for years to come. It's a really a simple/neat fix for something so basic. The only drawback is the way it looks so if this is a display tank in your living room or something like that I could see not wanting to use a matten. You can also use a matten to divide a tank in half.
The bioload of beneficial bacteria these make is enormous. Once it gets to a certain point it produces bacteria that also eat nitrate. You can install your heater behind it so it's not directly in view of your display area and you can also put other filter media behind it. I have bags of matrix and purigen behind mine. The matrix is there just so I can use it to jump start cycles on other tanks.
No cleaning of filters, no squishing out sponges, washing off filter media none of it.
Speaking of improvements, are you using an autowater system in your fishroom? I've been researching the heck out of autowater and it's the next project I want to tackle.
Energy efficiency was something that was weighing on my mind fairly heavily. My plan is to be running 17 tanks all dedicated to breeding in this room. I can't even imagine 60! Air makes things a lot easier for sure. What are you running as far as pump(s)?
Uberhoust
Fish Herder
If I had as many tanks as @GaryE I would use air powered filters just for the convenience of it.
My canisters start with the basic coarse foam they provide then, through a bacterial substrate, whatever I have on hand (ceramic shapes of some sort). Additionally I always like to have a pre-filter in the tank to capture things like uneaten food particles. This means uneaten food doesn't end up in the filter it ends up on the prefilter, which the fish pick at for hours sometimes after a feeding. If the pre-filter is dirty I am feeding too much.
My foam filters don't have anything other than foam, same goes for them as well, if the surface is dirty, I am likely feeding too much.
FYI - I have pulled out the media in the canister filter monthly to check but have not rinsed or cleaned it in over 6 months now.
My canisters start with the basic coarse foam they provide then, through a bacterial substrate, whatever I have on hand (ceramic shapes of some sort). Additionally I always like to have a pre-filter in the tank to capture things like uneaten food particles. This means uneaten food doesn't end up in the filter it ends up on the prefilter, which the fish pick at for hours sometimes after a feeding. If the pre-filter is dirty I am feeding too much.
My foam filters don't have anything other than foam, same goes for them as well, if the surface is dirty, I am likely feeding too much.
FYI - I have pulled out the media in the canister filter monthly to check but have not rinsed or cleaned it in over 6 months now.
I maybe don’t understand the Matt filters, but my goal on most tanks is to look as natural as possible… which as far as intrusion, means hob filters I have a couple old ( very old ) double cartridge hob’s that just have 2 plants in a hang on pots inserted into the sump … I use a ceramic bio media, that the plants root into, and I think that my most effective filter I have no foam, nothing to plug up except roots… otherwise all my other filters are Aquaclear 70’s or tidal 75’s with coarse foam, in front of a coarse mesh bag full of ceramic media, most tanks have 2 filters…. most of my tanks have 2-10 inch air bars, and my smaller tanks, all incorporate coarse foam sponge filters… siphoning removes more solids, than the filters trap, and the amount of terrestrial plants in each tank, probably removes as much ammonia and related, as the beneficial bacteria, and allows me to stock pretty heavily
Country joe
Fish Fanatic
Just a short question on the Juwel Cirax bio flow filter system, Juwel say to replace after a year, I'm always dubious of companies telling you to replace, is Juwel advice correct ?
I don't want to hijack the thread - but I stopped running particulate filters followed by coarse foam years ago.
To wildly overgeneralize, there are two extremes of filtration people - the primitive but it works lot like me, and the engineering minds that love the building of excellent systems. The latter usually end up in the reef world. I have a friend who's a retired aircraft design guy, and his fifteen tank room cost more than my whole set up and part of my house. It's all straightlines, crispness and craftsmanship, even inside the tanks. He used to breed dwarf Crenicichla and blackwater gouramis, which many others can't even keep alive. His filtration system was all precision, which I think is the sort of system @MaloK may be looking at.
I'd go to the guy's place and watch the fish, while he explained the logic behind a complex system to me. I was making sponge filters out of pipe and car wash sponges, and he was building things that looked like stills. His tanks were 40 gallon breeders with one pair of fish in each. There, our minds met.
To wildly overgeneralize, there are two extremes of filtration people - the primitive but it works lot like me, and the engineering minds that love the building of excellent systems. The latter usually end up in the reef world. I have a friend who's a retired aircraft design guy, and his fifteen tank room cost more than my whole set up and part of my house. It's all straightlines, crispness and craftsmanship, even inside the tanks. He used to breed dwarf Crenicichla and blackwater gouramis, which many others can't even keep alive. His filtration system was all precision, which I think is the sort of system @MaloK may be looking at.
I'd go to the guy's place and watch the fish, while he explained the logic behind a complex system to me. I was making sponge filters out of pipe and car wash sponges, and he was building things that looked like stills. His tanks were 40 gallon breeders with one pair of fish in each. There, our minds met.
Manufacturers always say to replace media on a regular basis. That way they make money. Wash the cirax box by swooshing it in old tank water and replace when it starts to crumble.
Back on topic -
I have just sponge in my filter and it's all coarse.
as far as coarse to fine, or fine to coarse... I voted coarse to fine... just because that decreases maintenance frequency...
when I was restarting tanks from 20 years ago, all my old Magnum canister filters were still functional, but I couldn't find one of the mesh intake ends, so I was using slip on foam ends, & on pumps in the range of 330 gallons per hour, the foam tips plugged up every week, with the surface area of just a foam tip, & restricted the filter, & required removal & cleaning every week... that was more maintenance than I was willing to do... whatever coarseness you are using, is going to trap solids ( as well as provide beneficial bacteria a surface to grow )... and is going to need maintenance sometime... coarse to fine, won't need maintenance as often as fine to coarse... & maintain the volume of flow your pump is rated for...
when I was restarting tanks from 20 years ago, all my old Magnum canister filters were still functional, but I couldn't find one of the mesh intake ends, so I was using slip on foam ends, & on pumps in the range of 330 gallons per hour, the foam tips plugged up every week, with the surface area of just a foam tip, & restricted the filter, & required removal & cleaning every week... that was more maintenance than I was willing to do... whatever coarseness you are using, is going to trap solids ( as well as provide beneficial bacteria a surface to grow )... and is going to need maintenance sometime... coarse to fine, won't need maintenance as often as fine to coarse... & maintain the volume of flow your pump is rated for...
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