Filter Question

[MyanRan]

I have an AquaClear 70 HOB attached to my 55 gallon corner tank. I have the coarse sponge, charcoal, and biomax media installed in the filter. Is there any one of those that shouldn't be in there? Is there anything that is missing? And I heard that I am supposed to do maintenance on the filter only once a month to swish the media out in old fish tank water?

 

[Sambo7475]

I don't use the charcoal at all, I keep a pack of it in case I need to remove meds, but it sits in a cabinet. Instead of the carbon, I use some quilt batting (polyfil) and purigen.

Check out this thread:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/how-do-you-stack-you-aquaclear-hob-filters-243676.html

 

[Andrewz00]

I have an AquaClear 70 HOB attached to my 55 gallon corner tank. I have the coarse sponge, charcoal, and biomax media installed in the filter. Is there any one of those that shouldn't be in there? Is there anything that is missing? And I heard that I am supposed to do maintenance on the filter only once a month to swish the media out in old fish tank water?

1. Most everyone on here will agree that charcoal is only good to remove meds, other than that its a waste of money.

2. You basically need mechanical filtration (coarse sponge) and biologocal filtration. Bor that, BB will grow on the biomax media. So from that view you are golden. Some people choose to run a very fine pad last to "polish" the water, you could do that also but dont need to.

3. You are spot on for filter maintainance. during a pwc save some tank water and swish the dirty filter media in it. Never use tap water and almost never replace filter media.

 

[MyanRan]

I guess this is a dumb question, but the charcoal can stay in the filter right?

 

[Andrewz00]

I guess this is a dumb question, but the charcoal can stay in the filter right?

Sure can.. It will only be effective for a short time, not sure how long exactly, somone may chime in for that. But yes it wont do any harm, just dont waste your money to replace it...

There are no dumb questions. But if you want more detailed answers, use thesearch. A lot of ppl have dedicated a lot of time writing very detailed answers to a lot of common questions

 

[MyanRan]

I was looking into the polyfil, and purigen. It looks like people put the purigen in one of the sacks the carbon comes in. Is that the best way to do it? And the polyfil just clears the water of even the finest debris right? My tank still has minir levels of ammonia and nitrite, with 50 mg/L of Nitrate. I think the purigen would benefit me.

 

[swifty]

I've been using purigen for a week or so, and its starting to get brown, so I have another 2-3 weeks I'd think before a recharge/new pack.

I personally just bought the 100ml sack that already came with the bag. I have an AC 50 and the pack is just a bit bigger to place in snug, so I had to adjust it a bit. Since you have an AC 70 I doubt you'll have any issues fitting it in the basket.

I just recently did filter maintenance as it has been running for almost a month. I placed the basket in old tank water, and rinsed the filter box/tube in warm tap water. I then took the media (bio bag, purigen, sponge) and rinsed them out in the old tank water by squeezing/swirling them around in the water; the water got considerably more brown after I did that.

As far as polyfil, I use quilt batting so I just tossed the piece out and replaced it with a new one, since my sponge/biobag are where my BB is housed.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Morning-Glory-High-Loft-Batting-45-x-60-4-pack/19397505

That's the one I ended up getting, and just cut it to fit over my sponge. I barely experimented with it last week, and noticed it picked up quite a bit of debris and waste my sponge didn't catch in the week I placed it, so I'm planning on using this from now on.

 

[MyanRan]

I think I am going to buy Purigen for my filter then. I don't need to buy more when it turns brown though, correct? I heard all that was needed was to bleach it. I'm not sure I really need Polyfil, or similar product, my filter does a good job of keeping debris out of the water successfully.

 

[jcolon]

I think I am going to buy Purigen for my filter then. I don't need to buy more when it turns brown though, correct? I heard all that was needed was to bleach it. I'm not sure I really need Polyfil, or similar product, my filter does a good job of keeping debris out of the water successfully.

I'm running two AC-70's and IMO, all you need is the sponge on the bottom, polyfill in the middle and ceramic media on top. My water's clear, fish healthy and happy.

 

[DavidAl]

My Aquaclear filters each have two sponges and the ceramics. That's it. Also make sure you clean out the impeller housing at least once a month. Stick a q-tip or two down into the motor assembly/impeller housing and then flush it out with tank water. These Aquaclear filters will last a mighty long time if maintenance is kept up with.

David

 

[MyanRan]

I have had some undesirable levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in my tank recently though. The Purigen would help remove it right? I have had readings of 0.6 mg/L of Ammonia, 0.1 mg/L of Nitrite, and 50 mg/L of Nitrate. I want the Ammonia and Nitrite to be 0, correct? And Nitrate to be <20 mg/L?

 

[boadams87]

For that size tank, IMO you need another filter. You really need a minimum of 3x the filtration. I'm with everyone else about the charcoal, is really a waste of money. I use the polyfill on every filter I've got. It filters well plus it will hold tons of BB.

 

[MyanRan]

When I clean my filter out using old tank water, what about the slime covering the tubes and the whole filter? Do I scrub this with a brush, or just leave it, and just make sure I swish the media out?

 

[DavidAl]

When I clean my filter out using old tank water, what about the slime covering the tubes and the whole filter? Do I scrub this with a brush, or just leave it, and just make sure I swish the media out?

I use a tube brush to clean the intake tubes and then swish the tubes in tank water. You can also swish the media in tank water.

David