HOB Power Filter Questions

[Boulder]

To those that have experience using HOB power filters as a means of providing additional mechanical / chemical filtration ... a few questions:

• How often do you replace your filter cartridge?

• Do you rinse / dry them periodically using tap water or RO/DI water?

• I have a mesh bag of carbon inside the power filter along with the filter cartridge, what other chemical filtration materials do you use?

• I have been cleaning the entire filter (body, input tube) every weekend by rinsing and drying to minimize any build-up. Is this schedule overkill?

Thanks for any input!

 

[HN1]

If you are running a HOB on a SW tank, I would run it with just LR rubble. What other filtration do you have? LR? Skimmer? A total cleaning is probably overkill, but the cartridges and other media can become Nitrate issues so I'm not sure which is worse to be honest.

 

[fishmonkey]

i change mine every three weeks. it told me to do it monthly, but i didnt want it ti become a "nitrate factory" as HN1 put it.

 

[thominil]

I agree with HN1, fill it with rubble.

 

[fishmonkey]

just asking, why rubble? i had it in mine, but i never really understood why i had it in there.

 

[HN1]

LR provides a media for beneficial bacteria. The bacteria do far more to maintain healthy water than any filter cartridges, sponges, bio balls, etc. ever can. By having rubble, the surface area is maximized.

 

[fishmonkey]

oh i new it held a lot, but i never came up with that.

and anyways, why would you use that over carbon? dont they hold the same?

 

[Boulder]

If you are running a HOB on a SW tank, I would run it with just LR rubble. What other filtration do you have? LR? Skimmer? A total cleaning is probably overkill, but the cartridges and other media can become Nitrate issues so I'm not sure which is worse to be honest.

As far as other filtration ... 25-lbs of live rock in the DT. No protein skimmer and still contemplating whether to get a skimmer or not.

I have been replacing the filter cartridge every 2 weeks when I do a 15% PWC and every week I have been rinsing the cartridge to clean away accumulated detruis. Sometimes I rinse the cartridge with the old water from the PWC and other weeks I have run it under the facet and rinsed with tap water. I dry it before putting it back in the filter.

I also have a mesh bag inside the power filter with about a cup of activated carbon. I change out about half the carbon every other week with new stuff when I do a PWC.

So far my Nitrates have not got beyond 10ppm between PWC's but then again my bio-load is somewhat light with 3 fish.

Appreciate the replies!

 

[fishmonkey]

only three fish?!?! how big is the tank?

 

[Boulder]

only three fish?!?! how big is the tank?

37-gallon. It's also only 5-weeks old though.

 

[HN1]

oh i new it held a lot, but i never came up with that.

and anyways, why would you use that over carbon? dont they hold the same?

Carbon is chemical filtration. IMO, it's useful for removing meds or toxins from the water but the replacement advice seems to focus on sales rather than positive impact. As far as old carbon leeching toxins back into the water.... another perpetuated myth. I had a carbon sock in a FW setup for well over a year with no ill effects. It just becomes bio media after awhile.

 

[mdaniel2882]

oh i new it held a lot, but i never came up with that.

and anyways, why would you use that over carbon? dont they hold the same?

carbon is chemical filtration LR is biological. activated carbon will not house nitrifying bacteria. carbon does have its uses. i run carbon and phosban on all my tanks.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I run a little Penguin 100 HOB to switch over to a quarantine tank, if required. I change the pads every two weeks, but rinse them off and scrub off all the gunk on them every week. I often run a small bag of carbon on the outlet side of the filter pad, or a Polyfilter from time to time.

I clean the whole unit about once every 6 months, so I'd say your weekly cleaning is probably a bit overkill. Just until recently, my nitrates have never gone above 1.0 ppm. For some reason they always seem a little elevated during the summer months. Right now they're a tad over 2.0 ppm. (46g, 10% water change weekly.)

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I had a carbon sock in a FW setup for well over a year with no ill effects. It just becomes bio media after awhile.

Yup... and that's why you want to replace it every couple weeks. Once it becomes biological media, the carbon isn't doing it's job anymore... darn bacteria is hogging all the pore space that the carbon needs to do its job.

 

[fishmonkey]

couldnt you just, idont know, boil it or somting to get rid of the bacteria?

 

[mdaniel2882]

couldnt you just, idont know, boil it or somting to get rid of the bacteria?

no but I don't know and can't find(google) why. activated carbon "sizzles" when you add water. Kurt probably knows why....he seems to know everything else I want to know.

 

[HN1]

Yup... and that's why you want to replace it every couple weeks. Once it becomes biological media, the carbon isn't doing it's job anymore... darn bacteria is hogging all the pore space that the carbon needs to do its job.

You only want to replace it if you want to run it in your system. It has uses and is personal preference. I prefer to use it only when I want to remove something specific from the water, not full time.

 

[joy13]

Right now I am running HOB filter on a tank with the ceramic noodle type things in it and sponge filter stuff. Once I get everything gathered up I plan on doing something like this Reef Central Online Community - How to DIY an AC 70 fuge I am trying to decide how to do a low cost light for it. The one I have is an AC70 I will beable to put my heater in there to keep it out of the tank if I want.

 

[buddha_red]

I have two hob, one filled with rubble and one with a filter cartridge i change monthly. It keeps my water clear from the mechanical side.

Please do a post about your conversion of the ac70 into a fuge, Thats interesting stuff.

 

[joy13]

I am not good with a camera, my friend saw me taking some pictures and told me I am trying to shake my camera to death. At least I know the cause of by blurry pictures it me not the camera.