White floss in fluval filters

[Country joe]

Just spoke to a fluval technician on where to put white floss in their 07 series external filters, and was surprised when he told me floss should only be used if you need to clear water, only for a short period, when it has done this take it out and don't use in your filter unless needed, as small pieces can break of and wind up in the impeller,

 

[Colin_T]

Charming, dear customers, buy our white filter matt so it can damage the impeller

 

[Country joe]

Colin he also told me, if using the fluval floss mat, just use till your water is clear then discard it, or you can wash it, then don't use it, unless you have to, so he wasn't pushing to use their product, he said you don't need any kind of floss in the filter.

 

[GaryE]

I'd agree with him. I use white floss (pillow batting, or 'the guts of unmade stuffed animals') to polish water if for whatever reason it gets suspended particles in it. I take it out after it's done. It isn't because of fibre in the impeller, but because it clogs too quickly.

It doesn't always rinse well.

Plus, ecologically, I'll take a sponge that lasts 5 to 10 years over disposable but indestructible floss.

I haven't bought a flucal filter since they started offering that mat - I haven't seen it. My filters are all older.

 

[hamfistUK]

I also completely agree with the FLuval tech. Floss will clog and reduce filter flow very quickly indeed. Only use if you desperately want or need that removal of the finest particles, and then only for a short time. Personally I don't own any and would never use any.
Clear water is generally not about filtering out fine particles with a fine filter medium. Fine inert particles will generally settle on the bottom or get removed by water changes, or settle at the bottom of whatever filter you are using. 30ppi sponge seems to filter out all I have ever needed over decades.
CLoudy particles that won't clear are generally due to an algal or a bacterial bloom and its the cause of those that need to be addressed generally, rather than just trying to filter them out.

 

[Fishfunn]

Just spoke to a fluval technician on where to put white floss in their 07 series external filters, and was surprised when he told me floss should only be used if you need to clear water, only for a short period, when it has done this take it out and don't use in your filter unless needed, as small pieces can break of and wind up in the impeller,

I agree with the technician too. I used the mats but they get clogged fast and I always discard when the water flow starts to suffer. You can continue to use them but you will have to clean the pads all the time. The high flow rates of the canisters are too much for a dirty mat. That goes for filter floss as well.

 

[Colin_T]

Well if the people from Fluval think the white mat is bad, why do they put it in the filter?
If they seriously don't like it, why not just leave it out of the filter when they are packing them?

 

[Fishfunn]

Well if the people from Fluval think the white mat is bad, why do they put it in the filter?
If they seriously don't like it, why not just leave it out of the filter when they are packing them?

They say it is for polishing

 

[GaryE]

Maybe you want to photograph your fish. That's become a big part of the hobby, and suspended particles from new substrate or digging fish ruin photos. I imagine they're responding to that.

When I was young and frisky, there was an entire type of filter sold for this - diatom filters.

I have to go with full disclosure - I do freelance writing and video work for Fluval, but have nothing to do with product testing or the decisions behind these things.

 

[Colin_T]

Maybe you want to photograph your fish. That's become a big part of the hobby, and suspended particles from new substrate or digging fish ruin photos. I imagine they're responding to that.

I used to photograph fish and never used anything to polish the water. I wipe the inside of the glass down and do a big water change and gravel clean the day before I take pictures. Run a squeegee over the outside of the glass and that's all you need to do.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have used floss almost since day one. I use is in all my AquaClears where I place it between two foam blocks. Every week I remove it and replace it. It can be cleaned but when I had 28 ACs running it was faster to throw it out and put in a clean piece. I use the a rigid floss that I can cut to size, I never use the stuff that is like cotton. I cut the rigid stuff to size for all the various ACs and have a box full of pre-cut pads.

I also run floss pads in my Canisters. In fact I make extra ones and stack them. I only clean my canisters twice a years and replace all the floss then. All of it is absolutely filled with brown gunk. I have one canister with all Poret foam but it needs one floss pad near the top as there is a plate that is the final piece. The floss makes it sit at the proper height to make the filter work correctly. So I could not do without it. But I only clean that canister ever 4 -5 years when the flow has slowed markedly.

I have never ever had floss get into any impeller. I have never had any filter stop because of the floss pad clogging because I do regular maint. where needed on the hang-ons. But I also pre-filter all of my intakes and these will clog before the floss. I rinse pre-filters weekly. I do this even when I have to skip the full rinsing. Those pre-filters take a lot of the load away from the floss.

The fined any filter media, the sooner it might clog. Floss is one of the materials than clogs the fastest. Floss should be as close as possible to the final media in the flow though a filter. It's job is to catch the stuff the other media does not. there is no reason not to use floss in most filters unless you do not do weekly maint. almost religiously. The amount of media in my canisters before the floss is massive. This puts a lot less strain on the final floss pad in the flow through he filter. My favorite media to put in my canisters is foam/sponges. You can keep all those noodles and bio-media "rocks" that come with many filters.

 

[MaloK]

I Keep front glass clean, in and out. Never touch the rest.

I polish my water with a small fine sponge and the result are the same as floss. Just a lot easier to maintain, no unwarranted plastic waste, it even last longer between forced maintenance.

Maybe you want to photograph your fish. That's become a big part of the hobby, and suspended particles from new substrate or digging fish ruin photos. I imagine they're responding to that.

I would also add tint in the water, tannin really makes my camera mess the colors of everything, And I also think that if you have WRGB Led light it can also have some influence in the pics.

But for the clarity of the image. 100% clean glass (both sides) is a must, if not the camera wont focus on the subject but on the glass instead.