Real Puzzler

[GoldLenny]

Something with the Jewel internal filter systems that I recently learned about:

The way they are siliconed to the back inside corner of the tank, which leaves a small gap, can cause excess detritus/mulm to build up between the filter housing and the tank glass, causing water quality issues. You can keep this from happening by getting a piece of hosing that would temporarily slip over the powerhead discharge from the filter and then use the water pressure to hose out the gap between the filter housing and the glass. Also, when you pull the filter basket out, make sure to vacuum down in the bottom of the filter housing or use the same spray hose attachment to flush out any mulm buildup in there.

 

[Scrappaman]

Something with the Jewel internal filter systems that I recently learned about:

The way they are siliconed to the back inside corner of the tank, which leaves a small gap, can cause excess detritus/mulm to build up between the filter housing and the tank glass, causing water quality issues. You can keep this from happening by getting a piece of hosing that would temporarily slip over the powerhead discharge from the filter and then use the water pressure to hose out the gap between the filter housing and the glass. Also, when you pull the filter basket out, make sure to vacuum down in the bottom of the filter housing or use the same spray hose attachment to flush out any mulm buildup in there.

Thanks for the advice all, and interesting tip Gold Lenny, thankyou, i'll try it out!
I'm waiting to hear back from a structural engineer as to where I can put the fish tank in the house, until then I've bought a Fluval 305 external filter (up to 300L tanks), which for now should help get rid of the nitrite problem in the smaller tank until I hear back from the people in the know.

Thanks to everyone for the great advice, it's really appreciated and won't be forgotten.