Me and my filter addiction.

[threnjen]

Lots of people acquire strange preoccupations/addictions. Mine is for filters. Why do I get so preoccupied with what is, by and large, the most un-glamorous and uninteresting part of our hobby?

I just love trying different ones because I love making different configurations and seeing how I can customize the filter media. What can I fit in it?? Can I do something fancy or special with it?? I get VERY preoccupied with filter media customization.

I seriously have a box of filters that I have used and moved on from (for now) because I just wanted to try something different.

It's so stupid because they all do the same thing and have the same functional purpose...

My newest filter is a Marina S10 slim HOB for my 5.5g which is not one I have ever seen recommended or talked about. It has a really slim profile but a lot of room for customization which is great! I even fit a purigen packet in there! And I like that it has the motor IN the tank so NO PRIMING after water changes. For some reason that annoys me so bad. It was really cheap too!
The filter I replaced was an Azoo Palm 60 which was perfectly functional, not a thing wrong with it lol. I just wanted to "try something else"

Now that I like this one I am like, maybe a Marina S20 slim for my 10g?? I had an AQ20 but I just hated it, and now it has one of those cheap Aqueon filters that come with the kits. Hrm hrm

I also bought on a whim a mini external canister filter that I have never even hooked up to anything at all I have more than one filter that has never, ever been used ....

 

[irishdaisy]

Lots of people acquire strange preoccupations/addictions. Mine is for filters. Why do I get so preoccupied with what is, by and large, the most un-glamorous and uninteresting part of our hobby?

I just love trying different ones because I love making different configurations and seeing how I can customize the filter media. What can I fit in it?? Can I do something fancy or special with it?? I get VERY preoccupied with filter media customization.

I seriously have a box of filters that I have used and moved on from (for now) because I just wanted to try something different.

It's so stupid because they all do the same thing and have the same functional purpose...

My newest filter is a Marina S10 slim HOB for my 5.5g which is not one I have ever seen recommended or talked about. It has a really slim profile but a lot of room for customization which is great! I even fit a purigen packet in there! And I like that it has the motor IN the tank so NO PRIMING after water changes. For some reason that annoys me so bad. It was really cheap too!
The filter I replaced was an Azoo Palm 60 which was perfectly functional, not a thing wrong with it lol. I just wanted to "try something else"

Now that I like this one I am like, maybe a Marina S20 slim for my 10g?? I had an AQ20 but I just hated it, and now it has one of those cheap Aqueon filters that come with the kits. Hrm hrm

I also bought on a whim a mini external canister filter that I have never even hooked up to anything at all I have more than one filter that has never, ever been used ....

Lol that's awesome. In the beginning when I started keeping a few Bettas I was obsessed with trying to make my own diy sponge filter and hob filter ad ons etc so what is your fave filter media to use?


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[threnjen]

Lol that's awesome. In the beginning when I started keeping a few Bettas I was obsessed with trying to make my own diy sponge filter and hob filter ad ons etc so what is your fave filter media to use?

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Well when I started, so before I even had a running tank, we decided to do our 90g with a custom designed sump. So my very first filter was designed ground-up by me and I still think it is totally awesome. It has trays of various pass-through media from coarse to super fine, then hits the bio balls, then has a waterfall so always oxygenated!

I have never tried a filter media that I thought was bad. I have bio balls in the sump, eheim pellets in the canister and in an HOB, AquaClear pellets, sponges of all types and coarseness/fineness, micron pads, filter floss, purigen.... It all has a good use.

I have a sponge filter in the 5.5g along with the new Marina. I think sponge filters are great, they are just too noisy for me, most places, so I don't end up using them. I used to have two running in my sump all the time just so I would always have a cycled filter. But I have so many tanks now that I figure I could take a little media from every one to cobble together an emergency working HOB for just about anything.

I cleaned out my kid's canister for the first time yesterday and I was floored by how CLEAN it really was inside! I expected so much more scum and gunk.

I love taking an HOB and tossing aside everything it came with and doing something totally different with it!

 

[Rpeinhardt]

I've a similar fascination with float valves. I'm planning my future (realistically obtainable and sustainable) dream tank which will use a sump but no overflow. They don't make float valves that deliver 15 gallons a minute at 1 psi (gravity) so I've been buying them to dissect them and learn their nuances. My goal is to eventually build a custom float valve for my needs.

You learn a LOT when you really dig into the overlooked minutiae of this hobby.

 

[threnjen]

I've a similar fascination with float valves. I'm planning my future (realistically obtainable and sustainable) dream tank which will use a sump but no overflow. They don't make float valves that deliver 15 gallons a minute at 1 psi (gravity) so I've been buying them to dissect them and learn their nuances. My goal is to eventually build a custom float valve for my needs.

You learn a LOT when you really dig into the overlooked minutiae of this hobby.

I don't even know what a float valve is, but now I want to learn

 

[IllusionX]

I'm sort of collecting filters now (too), but most of them are different Aquaclear filters.

I had a Marina s10 too, but my wife decided to gift the kit to a friend before I had the chance to mess with fitting media to it.

Actually, what I enjoy to do is customize intake and exhaust pipes for canisters.

Right now, I have an AC110 HOB and an Eheim 2217 canister waiting for me to toy with. They are probably going to be installed on a 20g when I find the space to put that.

 

[PassengerTN]

I guess my weird thing with the hobby is trying to make every thing I can myself. I seem to have this problem with any thing that get into honestly. I'm just a DIY type of person. Not so much because it's cheaper, but because I like the satisfaction of being able to say "I made that" I've done small fluidized bed filters, sponge filters, water polishing filters, diy lighting for small tanks, and several other things. Current working on a project for my 65g hexagon tank that's 31" deep


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[threnjen]

I'm sort of collecting filters now (too), but most of them are different Aquaclear filters.

I had a Marina s10 too, but my wife decided to gift the kit to a friend before I had the chance to mess with fitting media to it.

Actually, what I enjoy to do is customize intake and exhaust pipes for canisters.

Right now, I have an AC110 HOB and an Eheim 2217 canister waiting for me to toy with. They are probably going to be installed on a 20g when I find the space to put that.

I love doing plumbing stuff. I just built a spray bar on the return to my 90g because my old return was super lame-o.
I have an Eheim 2213 it is such a great canister!!

 

[threnjen]

I guess my weird thing with the hobby is trying to make every thing I can myself. I seem to have this problem with any thing that get into honestly. I'm just a DIY type of person. Not so much because it's cheaper, but because I like the satisfaction of being able to say "I made that" I've done small fluidized bed filters, sponge filters, water polishing filters, diy lighting for small tanks, and several other things. Current working on a project for my 65g hexagon tank that's 31" deep


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DIY is awesome. I bought my tank used and it had the ugliest stand which I refinished and refaced. I also designed and built my whole sump from scratch like I mentioned, that was a fun project. I love DIY!!
What are your plans for the hex?? that is DEEP, that would be hard to light!!

 

[PassengerTN]

Trying make a shelf/ledge around half way to help provide more territories. Plexiglass cut to shape, PVC as the legs/risers. Phase 1 of the project was put into the tank today. No one seems interested in going up there. Its covered in substrate and has plants/caves on it. May just take time, we will see.

 

[threnjen]

I would really like to see some pictures of that, it sounds totally awesome

 

[Gillie]

I hated the slim, functionally there was nothing wrong with it, but the pump being in the tank drove me nuts.

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[PassengerTN]

Posting pictures in the what did you do to your tank today thread


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[threnjen]

I hated the slim, functionally there was nothing wrong with it, but the pump being in the tank drove me nuts.

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That's so funny! I love that part because I hate having to prime filters. Something for everyone!

 

[Coyne]

I'm with you. While I enjoy a relaxing sit while I watch my fish, ultimately it's playing with new hardware that gives me the most enjoyment. For me, figuring out how to get the most efficient filtration with an optimal flow is oddly entertaining.


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[threnjen]

Posting pictures in the what did you do to your tank today thread


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That is reaaaaally awesome. I am a fan!!!

 

[sinibotia]

I should show you a picture of the huge, awesome aquaponics filter system on the sturgeon tank in the Aquaculture Research Center. Actually you'd probably appreciate a whole bunch of the massive filter systems in place there.

 

[threnjen]

So I'm looking at the Fluval C2 or C3 for my 10g (why? title says it all)... and I can't figure out how it is configured. Everyone is praising the modularity. are the red baskets two separate baskets? So it seems like the baskets themselves take up a lot of space!
Can I fit a purigen packet in there? It seems like there are only 2 cartridge "slots"

Is there more room in here than in an Aquaclear 30?

Does anyone have pics of it taken apart?
Edit: Off to YouTube I go!

 

[threnjen]

The Fluval C series actually look pretty awesome. I like how they are designed to direct the flow very specifically, which is one of the issues with the Aquaclears.

 

[IllusionX]

Water flow actually go to the back of the HOB. Where the large foam filter reside and then go up the carbon (you'd replace the carbon with purigen.. This is the 2nd basket) and then go up the fine filter/bio max media before coming out as a waterfall.