My Tank is Eating Filters Left and Right

[meegosh]

That is exactly what I did with my 'good' AC50. I also got a AC70 prefilter and it fit my AC50. My LFS didn't carry the AC50 one so I figured for a couple bucks I would try the AC70 one - worked perfectly.

 

[toddnbecka]

I've found that the replacement prefilters for penguin powerheads are the best to use. The mesh is coarse enough that it doesn't clog up as quickly as other types of foam I've used. It still needs to be rinsed out weekly, but the flow rate in my heavily stocked tanks is still fairly strong before rinsing.
Pool filter sand or a fine grade of gravel is also better than playsand or other fine-grain types.

 

[Twoapennything]

The replacement parts for the Marineland Eclipse 3 arrived - and not a moment too soon! My fourth filter punked out tonight. So tomorrow the dh is going to help me empty out the 40 gallon tank and I'm going to swap out the sand for gravel. I like how the sand looks, but it gets dirty really easily and it's hard to clean. Oh, and it EATS FILTERS!

I'm getting the small QT ready for the fish, to hold them while we do the big clean. I'm not looking forward to trying to catch my neon tetras. I will be thrilled when all this is done! Now, to go test the new motor and impeller.