Aquaclear 70

[Thumper828]

Look at what this dern filter did to my water.........



Can you believe that...I mean who wants crystal clear water right....

Needless to say ...I Love It!!!

 

[bob mccoy]

i use them in all my tanks and love the clarity it gives the water. i will never use another hob

 

[Paul1792]

Congratulations on having truly "polished" water

Look at what this dern filter did to my water.........
Can you believe that...I mean who wants crystal clear water right....
Needless to say ...I Love It!!!

********
Yep ....... that water is undeniably "polished." What a great demonstration of the fact that you don't need the expense and mess of a canister filter to have pristine water !!!!!!

Looks like you made the right choice between fluval & aquaclear going with your "gut."

Hey, in your other post, you stated:

"First is the original sponge it came with, Second is that blue backin' stuff. I wasn't real sure but I put the blue side down,where the water hits it first. Third is filter floss,Then my purigen. On top is another layer of filter floss, then I took the plastc blue thing (bio-filter) from my aqueon and laid it down. It was covered with the BB,thought I could use that for seed.Then on top I laid the Bio-Max. Thoughts?.....Advice?..."

Three questions for you:

1) What is the "blue backin" stuff you are referring to? Is this the equivalent of a polishing pad that comes with the aquaclear? Or do you think you are getting the "polished look" from the filter floss.

2) Does that aqua clear sponge have the same level of "coarseness" throughout or does it go from coarse to fine as the Fluval polyfoam pads do:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/members/82012-albums13125-picture62190.html

3) What is the distance needed between the back of the tank and the wall for an Aquaclear 70 ? I have heard 4.0 inches. Is that correct?

[The reason I ask is that although my Fluval C3 on my 29 gallon keeps the water polished, I am thinking about replacing it with an Aquaclear 70 when I put in a new filter system on my 38 gallon. I have exactly 4 inches of room on the 29 gallon and only 3.5 inches on the 38 gallon and I plan to use a two filter system ........ the Fluval C3 from the 29 gallon plus a new aquaclear 50.]

I am going to replace my aqua-tech 30-60 on the 38 gallon in the not too distant future. Although it keeps water polished with assorted home-made media & pre-filter ... I am tired of the absurd level of time and "pain" it is to maintain ..... over an hour of frustrating/water spilling/messy maintenance per month vs 5 minutes with aquaclear or fluval.]

 

[Thumper828]

********
Yep ....... that water is undeniably "polished." What a great demonstration of the fact that you don't need the expense and mess of a canister filter to have pristine water !!!!!!

Looks like you made the right choice between fluval & aquaclear going with your "gut."

Hey, in your other post, you stated:

"First is the original sponge it came with, Second is that blue backin' stuff. I wasn't real sure but I put the blue side down,where the water hits it first. Third is filter floss,Then my purigen. On top is another layer of filter floss, then I took the plastc blue thing (bio-filter) from my aqueon and laid it down. It was covered with the BB,thought I could use that for seed.Then on top I laid the Bio-Max. Thoughts?.....Advice?..."

Three questions for you:

1) What is the "blue backin" stuff you are referring to? Is this the equivalent of a polishing pad that comes with the aquaclear? Or do you think you are getting the "polished look" from the filter floss.

2) Does that aqua clear sponge have the same level of "coarseness" throughout or does it go from coarse to fine as the Fluval polyfoam pads do:

Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community - Paul1792's Album: Paul1792's 29 gallon - Picture

3) What is the distance needed between the back of the tank and the wall for an Aquaclear 70 ? I have heard 4.0 inches. Is that correct?

[The reason I ask is that although my Fluval C3 on my 29 gallon keeps the water polished, I am thinking about replacing it with an Aquaclear 70 when I put in a new filter system on my 38 gallon. I have exactly 4 inches of room on the 29 gallon and only 3.5 inches on the 38 gallon and I plan to use a two filter system ........ the Fluval C3 from the 29 gallon plus a new aquaclear 50.]

I am going to replace my aqua-tech 30-60 on the 38 gallon in the not too distant future. Although it keeps water polished with assorted home-made media & pre-filter ... I am tired of the absurd level of time and "pain" it is to maintain ..... over an hour of frustrating/water spilling/messy maintenance per month vs 5 minutes with aquaclear or fluval.]

Hey bud!! Gonna try and answer your questions as thoroughly as I can:

1:The "blue backing " stuff is this Aquarium Filter Media: Drs Foster and Smith Blue Bonded Filter Pad

2: The sponge is the same texture all the way through. So if you flipped it over after a rinse it would not matter.

3:I pulled my tape measurer out and measured the exact distance from the back of my tank to the furthest point on the filter. It measured exactly 3 3/4 inches. That is three and three quarters of an inch. one quarter shy of 4. The width measured exactly 8 5/8 of an inch.

On the filter floss I got this Aquarium Mechanical Filtration Media: Sera Filter Wool

I also use this prefilter Fluval Edge Pre-Filter Sponge - Filter Media - Fish - PetSmart

Best of luck with your decision. Hows that C3 doin ya? Just curious....

 

[Paul1792]

Hey bud!! Gonna try and answer your questions as thoroughly as I can:

1:The "blue backing " stuff is this Aquarium Filter Media: Drs Foster and Smith Blue Bonded Filter Pad

2: The sponge is the same texture all the way through. So if you flipped it over after a rinse it would not matter.

3:I pulled my tape measurer out and measured the exact distance from the back of my tank to the furthest point on the filter. It measured exactly 3 3/4 inches. That is three and three quarters of an inch. one quarter shy of 4. The width measured exactly 8 5/8 of an inch.

On the filter floss I got this Aquarium Mechanical Filtration Media: Sera Filter Wool

I also use this prefilter Fluval Edge Pre-Filter Sponge - Filter Media - Fish - PetSmart

Best of luck with your decision. Hows that C3 doin ya? Just curious....

Thanks. That is exactly the information I wanted.

Interesting ....... I kinda figured the reason you got the polished look (fish swimming in air) ..... from something other than the standard media sponge. The answer was there ..... the "blue stuff" on the blue bonded filter pad. That is what is doing your "polishing" together with filter floss.

The AquaClear will not polish the water out of the box .... but the Fluval C series will because instead of a sponge .... it has a coarse pad followed by a polishing pad ..... built into one media poly/foam pad that comes standard with the unit.

That being said, I much prefer your setup with your AquaClear. The problem is that the C series polishing portion of the poly/foam pad becomes clogged quickly and the entire pad must be replaced which means you lose too much BB.

My C3 lives "on the edge" when it comes to polishing. That is, when I replace the entire pad, the water turns from polished to just crystal clear for a few days while the tank goes through a mini-cycle despite the fact I have a Fluval Edge Pre-Filter which also contains BB and my carbon chamber has floss and Purigen. My AquaTech does not do that due to the extreme media I have in it. In addition, I think the "trickle chamber" of the C series (stage 5) is nothing more than a gimmick.

So ....... my plan is to move the C3 to the 38 gallon and add an AC 50 for a two filter system. (I'll probably do that right after Thanksgiving.)

Then I'll put an AC70 on the 29, run it at 200 GPH while still getting the benefit of 300 GPH filtration.

Thanks Thumper828 for taking time to share your experience and going to the trouble to do the measurements. Now I can go forward with conviction and without looking back. I have wasted more mental energy planning my "new" filtration system for the 38 gallon than I care to admit.

 

[trkchezz]

I love my AC70, the ability to chose what goes in and the how easy to change the media. Would highly recommend!!

 

[Thumper828]

Thanks Thumper828 for taking time to share your experience and going to the trouble to do the measurements. Now I can go forward with conviction and without looking back. I have wasted more mental energy planning my "new" filtration system for the 38 gallon than I care to admit.

No problem at all. I didn't really try the manufacturer way of stacking the media that comes with it, well the charcoal any way. So I don't know how good it would polish the water. Its actually a pretty big bag of charcoal........

 

[Gizzepi]

Do you know how high above tank aquaclear 70 is?

 

[Thumper828]

From the top of the aquarium to the top of the ac is 2 inches exactly

 

[Gizzepi]

Thanks that helps