New canister filter issue

[julielynn47]

I did a water change yesterday on my 55 gallon and I will say that I was not at all impressed with the canister filters ability to clean the water. I expected it to be a lot dirtier inside than it actually was. All the filter pads in the bottom 2 trays did not catch detritus the way they are supposed to. It was really the dirtiest right at the top where the biological pads are and where the water goes back into the tank. I was disappointed with that.

I thought all those other pads should have caught that before it got up that far. But maybe I just don't understand what that ick really is. It was always gathering on the biological pad in the HOB I had too, but the HOB did not have all that other filtration behind it to catch the icky stuff. So I am not sure how impressed I actually am with the canister so far.

I am new to canisters. So maybe this is just normal. I don't know. Any thoughts as to why all that filtration did not catch stuff? Or is that icky slimy brownish stuff just something that builds up on the biological pads no matter what kind of filtration you have?

 

[Toney]

Mine was bypassing until I put floss in the bottom tray.

I had melting val stuck in the spray bar...

 

[julielynn47]

I have the larger kind of floss that came with the canister in the bottom along with piece of 50 mircron felt in the bottom tray. In the middle tray I have the same and the top tray I have the biological pads and bio glass spheres.

I would have thought that all that would catch more than it does. But the results were really no better than the HOB

 

[Toney]

Yeah I had them thick felt pads in the bottom.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

In my SunSun I have the fluval prefilter media in the bottom of the canister(not in the tray, this collects a lot of gunk). Then I have three sponges with three different ppi's followed by fluval biorings and then the polyfil quilt batting.

Link to the sponges

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Reticulated...ump-23-/261975453225?var=&hash=item3cfef42e29

Video that helped me lol.

 

[julielynn47]

That is pretty much exactly the way mine is set up, except mine does not have that open spot at the bottom. The 3 trays set in flush.

I have the coarse media in the bottom tray topped with a fine filter felt. Then the same in the next tray up, except I do have a bag of Purigen in it also topped with fine filter felt. Then in the top basket I have the glass bio speres ( that he doesn't think much of, LOL ) and then the coarse black bio filter media.

So mine is almost the same as his. I have a lot more media in mine. So much so to me I don't see how that gunk got through it all. It was almost as if the top tray did all the work. But since that gunk was right before the water went back into the tank that could have caused some issue with the formation of the brown algae maybe

I am open to any suggestions or observations

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Actually, now that I think of it...I have the prefilter media in half the bottom tray, then the course sponge in the other half of it, the the center tray has the medium in the bottom and then the fine sponge on the top and then too tray is the biomedia and polyfil. Lol. I forgot...

Anyway...About the only suggestion I have is maybe get a finer sponge closer to the top instead of that 2nd courser stuff? I don't know. The most I got out of that video, I think...Been a while since I've watched it...Lol. anyway, the thing I got was to keep the actual biomedia as gunk free as possible and to do the courser sponge type stuff on bottom and finer type on top before the media.

Though it is possible it could have caused some of the problem. That is probably organics. You may just have to check that during your weekly water changes and clean as needed. At least it couldn't hurt!

 

[AbbeysDad]

The simple reality is that the courser sponges that see detritus first DOES trap it, but only temporarily. As the water rushes around and through it and as it decomposes into brown gooey water, it moves through the coarse media to be trapped by finer media (or not at all). This can create 'issues' as if not trapped, this 'brown water' can clog the pores of the bio-media, making it less effective. Not to mention that it will reduce the clarity of the tank water - not as pad as serious tannin's, but enough to make the water less than crystal clear.
But the answer is simple....just have ever finer media backing the coarse media. Polyester filter fiber can be a great media to use prior to and/or following the bio-media to trap 'dark water' and polish it. And don't be too alarmed if the return flow is slowed down...good filtration is about how well we filter impruities out of the water, not how fast the water runs through the filter media!

Tank on,
-Mike

 

[julielynn47]

Thank you for that input! I thought that you were not supposed to put anything "after" the bio media. I thought it was supposed to be the last thing the water touched on its return to the tank.

Also....thank you for the " not how fast the runs through the filter media" statement. I don't know why but I was under the impression that it should filter quickly. But that makes perfect sense.

I have the 50 micron polishing felt in the bottom 2 trays. But I can also will try some of the poly in the tray directly before the top tray, which is full of bio media.

Does anyone think this could contributing as well to the growth of the brown algae?

 

[Toney]

I put a pad over my last basket jus cause I was a little paranoid of getting the sand from the biomax into my pump

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Does anyone think this could contributing as well to the growth of the brown algae?

It's a possibility. If organics is the cause of the algae and you had the buildup in the tank and canister. Fixing that might help. Just remember, it may not change things overnight! And it's also a very real possibility that it's something else causing it. A lot that I've been learning about is the tank needs to be balanced and it can be hard to do at times. Most of it is light(duration, colors, intensity) in combination with the nutrients that the plants take up.

Remember, it took time for the algae to become established, so it can take time for it to leave. This is why you change one thing right now, wait a couple of weeks, if it doesn't help, try tweaking something else, wait another couple of weeks, and so on and so forth.

Now...Just trying to remember...Did you say you switched your lights on this tank? Was the algae before or after? (If after how long after?)

 

[flchamp89]

Brown algae is probably diatoms. Filter wont be a big help with them. Manually fight them if it is severely affecting the plant material. Will go away in time.

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[julielynn47]

I have always figured the brown stuff was diatoms. What I don't understand is why they are there in the first place, and why they keep coming back . This is not a new tank. If it were I would understand it more.

Back in the summer I got new lights for this tank because I was told that the old ones could be the cause of the BBA. The BBA is gone now, so hopefully the new lights took care of that. Now if I could just figure out why the darn diatom/brown algae is so persistent....

 

[flchamp89]

Silicates cause diatoms has always been the word. Silicates are said to be one of the most common elements on earth. However, ive read alot of papers stating its really perhaps silicates and light. Because it a closed system and we do water changes we always say they will go away. Which generally do. How long. Varies on alot of factors. My recent tank 2 months. Why would they come back. Silicates still there and something activated them. Substrate disturbance, filter, new light ect.

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[Toney]

My brown alge is mostly gone, still growing some on some stones on the end close to the window in mt 40 to feed my shrimp tank. Got the leds that came with my 55 laying on glass over it, it only grows on the end.

When I changed my 55 over to fluorescent lighting the brown exploded... same with my oldest 10, it was growing a little green before I changed lights, it was bad.