Particles in the water

[Esra]

Hey guys I'm having a bit of trouble.

My water is generally very clear.
I have very good filtration with 2 canister filters on my 120G.
They are 1500L and 1000L

I bought both filters second hand and both have very good throughput.

The problem i have is that there are a lot of floating particles in the water.
I have good current in the tank (you can see the particles moving) but they don't seem to go away. I'm worried they're going through the filter without being caught. Not sure how this could be happening.

The filters are a Fluval 404 and a Aqua One CF1000

The Aqua one just has some bioballs then a spongeand the next two layers are filled with small ceramic tubes for the bacteria to grow on.

The Fluval has a sponge prefilter builtin to the unit and then a I have some carbon and then some more media for the bacteria to grow on.

Maybe replace the carbon?

Any suggestions on the stacking of the canisters?
Or could it be the placement?
I have one at each end so there is an inlet and outlet at each end so the water gets moved around pretty well.

It's annoying the crap out of me cause besides these particles the water is very clear.

 

[kansei]

The 405 has a finer foam availible for it also.

 

[Burks]

Could you maybe use pillow stuffing to clean the water? I've used it and it seems to really catch a lot of debris.

 

[Esra]

What order do you have the media in your fluval?

 

[MarkP]

Wow, you have a lot of bio media. Do you have a heavy fish load that requires this?

I would replace one of the chambers with filter floss- As burks mentions, filter floss is often sold as pillow stuffing at cheaper prices in larger packages. Look at the stuff labeled filter floss at your LFS and find the same thing in the Arts and Crafts area at Wal-Mart or similiar store. Your choice on which chamber you might replace, but unless you have a specific reason for all that bio media, I'd replace one of those.

You have suspended particles in your water. Active Carbon removes chemicals- Primarily Tannins and Phenols that make your water yellow and smell bad. Bio media removes ammonia that kills fish. Mechenical media, such as sponges, filter floss, and diatom filters remove suspended particles. Generally, you want a sponge first or two first, to remove the large and medium sized particles, followed by a very fine sponge, or filter floss, or a micron filter to remove the very small ones. This allows you to remove very fine particles, without your fine media becoming quicking clogged with large and medium sized ones.

 

[Esra]

Ok so if i set the canisters up with say Coarse sponge filter, then some of this filter floss and the a level of the bio media that should help?

If so i'll go and get some tonight.

As far the fish in the tank:
14x Neons
4x Silver Dollars
1x Spotted Silver Dollar
4x Clown Loaches
4x Emperor Tetras
5x Balloon Mollies - and 1 Fry!
1x Betta
4x Bristnoses
1x Khuli Loach
2x Swordtails
1x Rainbow Shark
2x Angels
1x Black Ghost Knife
3x Glass Cats
4x Assorted Discus

 

[rich311k]

That is how I have my filters set up. It is worth a try, it just may do the trick.

 

[Esra]

Alright so I'll have:

Fluval 404:

Prefilter - Sponge Filter
Level 1 - Filter Floss
Level 2 - Filter Floss
Level 3 - Bio Media
Level 4 - Bio Media


Aqua One CF1000:

Bottom - Sponge Filter
First Tray - Filter Floss
Second Tray - Bio Media

So that should help with the particles?
It's annoying casue some of the are large enough i thought the filter would have caught them.

I'll set it up like this and let you guys know how it goes.

 

[Sicklid]

Could these "particles" be micro-bubbles, or maybe a micro organism? You say they are moving in the water column?

 

[Esra]

No they are definitely just particles of poo and food etc.
Just the normal stuff the filter should pick up.

I have changed the contents of the filters to inlclude the microfilter floss but that didn't seem to help.
This was the last stage on each of the filters and also quite thick.

I have now moved the outputs so that they are at the one end of the tank.
Water is moving around nicely but after 2 days there are still particles.

They are big enough that they should definitely be picked up.
I'm going to give the filters and tubing a good clean to see if that helps as I've seen some of the particles get pretty close to the intakes and not be sucked up.

Hope this fixes it beacuse other than that the water is very good and the fish are very happy.

 

[Esra]

No Ideas on this one?

It's driving me nuts.

Most of the stuff is strings of poo.

I've removed a bubble rock i had near the intake and I've also cleaned the filters and piping.

Anyone had the same problem?

I turned off the bubble rock this morning to see if maybe that was pushing stuff away from the intakes?

Anyway i'll update if there is any change.

 

[BrianNY]

It's good that you've got 2 filters on that tank. Even so dead spots will occur in a tank that large. Here's some things you can do:

1. Increase the gravel vacs to a few times a week. Pay special attention to the corners and front of the tank. That's where there is typically the least water movent.

2. Install sponge prefiters on you intake tubes. These are easily rinsed clean and do a great job of collecting fine particulate matter.

3. Get yourself a diatom filter and run it 45-60 minutes per week. This is the best way to keep your water crystal clear.

 

[Esra]

I think the main problem i'm having is that the filter intakes and outputs are in the same spot.
So by the time the particles get near the intakes they get pushed away again.

I've bought 2 1500L power heads and I'll position them to move the water better.

That should sort it out.

Thanks for the advice, if the power heads don't work I'll look at getting the diatom filter like you said.

I'll post pics once i have the PH up and running.

 

[kaz]

did you fix your particle problem?

 

[tropicfishman]

the cheap and esay way out would be to buy some water clarifier, I've used this stuff before, actually works really well

 

[SparKy697]

I have no experience with either of these filters. I noticed on the data for the xp filters they brag about the fact that there can be no bypass of water. I take this to mean that some other filters do allow water to bypass when the media gets clogged.

Could this be the case with your filters or maybe with one filter?

It does seem odd that neither filter is picking up the debris. Could you consider the circulation in your tank? Is the discharge blowing the debris away from the intake so that it never gets sucked into the filter?

Just trying to explore some options.

 

[neilanh]

I've got this too... no fish even... but floating particles.
I'm only running a HOB with the normal mech filter, filter floss, and ceramic rings. I can't get rid of it either. I just assumed I'm underfiltered.

I think I have good flow, the particles and being pushed all over the place, so there's definately current there.

 

[Purrbox]

the cheap and esay way out would be to buy some water clarifier, I've used this stuff before, actually works really well

Water clarifiers work by causing particles to clump together making larger clumps which are easier for the filter pick up. The problem with them is that they can affect the gills of fish with this same action causing them problems.

 

[squeekness]

My Magnum canister filter comes with a micron water polishing sleeve and I run that all the time (I have an Aquaclear running also). Does the Fluval not come with such a sleeve?