Internal pumps suck - external diffs

[andywatkins]

Hi all,

Had my tropical fish for a good 8 months or so now, lost a couple in early days before I realised that no matter what water tests you carry out etc, it all seems to come down to the filter, stupid FLuval 3 seems to need cleaning 1-2 times a week!!

I have bought a descent external pump sure it's called a proflow 1 or powerflow 1 or something like that.

Instructions said it must be filled with TAP WATER which I did, and the indications again are to clean it with tap water. This seems to be the opposite of internal filters.

To try and keep bacteria levels up I have also left my crappy old internal filter going (just) as the one thing it must be full of is bacteria!

Idiot question - how should I maintain an external filter, with tap water or tank water, replace ALL the filter medium at one go or in phases as per the internal filter?

Thanks

Andy Watkins

 

[fufanu360]

first off, what do your water tests show?

secondly, if your tap watter has chlorine or chloramin in it you cannot add that to the tank water unless its in small amounts... what size of tank is it aswell?

 

[Dorkhedeos]

well, i hate my internal filter too. it has to be filled with water so the impeller can start the siphon. ive never had to clean my filter, ive had it for a year. unless you have really messy fish, i dont think you ever need to clean it

 

[sammydee]

Is it a fluval 3+? The new ones are not as good as the old ones for being cleaned/replaced from what I have heard.

 

[alpha_wolf]

i have a small internal pump, forgot brand, but it looked nice at first-but it sucks. The filter is really small and the power of sucking is probably lacking-but it can get to places the external cant-such as bottom. Externals are way better. Also they wont be full of algae and guck from being IN the water. I have two old Whisper ones, still work great after all the years.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

oh, the stuff i said after i hate my internal filter was for my external cheapo topfin filter

 

[smithrc]

All our Fluval internals work great (we have a 2+ 3+ and 4+) - but if you stock heavily they do need cleaning regularly.
our External Fluval 304 is ok and goes a lot longer between cleans (2-3 months)

BUT how you clean them dosnt change (why would it) if you want to keep the bacteria alive DONT use tap water. and dont clean it all at once.

I normally rinse one half gently in tank water and then the other half i clean really well under our electric shower. the first half keeps enought bacteria to stop a spike and the other half ends up lasting a LOT longer before it clogs up.