mechanical filtration

[Sahabo]

I use sponge filters in my 5 and 10 gallon tank, and they work wonderfully for biological filtration but aren't too good for mechanical. I've been thinking of adding a mechanical filter like an aquaclear 20. But then I thought, all that nice mulm and detrious might be good for my plants so maybe I should leave well enough alone.

Any thoughts?

 

[OldMan]

If you drive your sponge filter with a suitable sized power head, the flow will be high enough to give decent mechanical filtration. No filter will pull loose debris from one end of a tank to the other without having such high flow that your fish have trouble swimming.

 

[Sahabo]

hmmm. I run the sponge filter with a tetra air pump.

 

[Sahabo]

any other thoughts?

 

[buddha_red]

I Always run a hob on my fresh tanks. I like the option to load it with carbon if i need to polish the water. Aquaclear makes a good filter so i say go for it. The flow shouldnt be a problem with a ac 20.

 

[Sahabo]

Ok. If I do that, would the hob take over the biological filtration, too, or would the two filters share the job?

 

[bs6749]

Do you have the shrimp that I sent you in those tanks? If you do, you won't want to use a HOB filter as they may get sucked in. The young ones are especially prone to being taken in by the filter. In my experience, sponge filters do a pretty good jobo of removing stuff from the tank but not nearly as good as HOB or other filter types. The mulm would in fact be great for plants and I'd leave it in there personally.

Any filter that you have will be a bio filter as well unless it is purely chemical filtration. The bio filters work by having ample media on which beneficial bacteria can live and grow. Any surface in the tank is a home for these bacteria.

 

[Sahabo]

Shrimp?? I don't think you sent me shrimp, but you did send me some plants

Thanks for the responses so far everyone. I'm still debating. I really like the idea of being able to ad carbon and to get the water nice and clean. But would I be doing a disservice to the plants with that much filtration? My other thought is that I don't want too much current for the betta.

 

[buddha_red]

i know of a person that has a wonderfuly planted tank that uses a large aquaclear hob on their 20 gallon. i always use a hob so i can remove waste and provide water movement. My betta didnt seem to mind the added flow when i added a filter. for my 5 gallon i have one of those in tank filters. keeps the water clear.

 

[bs6749]

I guess I didn't send you and shrimp LOL. I've sent to quite a few members on here that I figured I sent you some but I remember now that it was 5 golfball portions of java moss.

I wouldn't add any carbon to the tank. The only real reason to use carbon is to remove meds after they have run their course. Activated carbon is generally good for no more than 5 days. It won't "polish" or make your water look clean but it will remove the chemicals and meds that I've already said. If you want a "polised" look to your tank you will need something more along the lines of a diatom filter.

 

[OldMan]

If you use a HOB filter, you will need to run both the HOB and your sponge filter together long enough to establish the HOB as a biofilter. Usually 3 or 4 weeks of both running together would be long enough.

 

[Sahabo]

Thanks for the tip. I went ahead and decided to get the aquaclear 20. It has 3 filters that come with it, foam, carbon and biomax. They are supposed to go in the filter basket in that order. I'm wondering if it's necessary to put the carbon filter in there for the filter to work. Anyone know?

 

[ElvisMinnow]

what goes in the basket...

I just got the same unit as you have. One reads so many negative comments & opinions online about the carbon elements in filters, that it makes you want to leave it out.

However, carbon adsorbs a lot of different types of molecules--it is used in drinking water filters--and it will function as a bio-filter, eventually, as well. I left mine in, but I will experiment next time and do what I am about to recommend: if you are determined not to use the carbon, buy some replacement Aquaclear bio-filter ceramic media, and fill the basket above the spongey material with just the bio-media. You could put loose media on the sponge, and top it off with the bagged media to keep it in place, etc.

FWIW, I pre-soak overnight the ceramic bio-media and sponge in tank water and a concentrated solution of several bacterial start-up products like Hagen's Cycle, API's Stress Zyme, Top Fin's Bacterial Supplement. You should of course inocculate the new filter with some media from your old filter to bring some bacteria with it. I won't mention how quickly my tank "cycled" and stabilized because nobody would believe me.

Thanks for the tip. I went ahead and decided to get the aquaclear 20. It has 3 filters that come with it, foam, carbon and biomax. They are supposed to go in the filter basket in that order. I'm wondering if it's necessary to put the carbon filter in there for the filter to work. Anyone know?

 

[Sahabo]

thanks elvisminnow. fyi I am adding this filter to an already cycled, established tank that has a sponge filter in it. I think i will leave the carbon out for now. I've put the foam and the biomax in.

 

[BillD]

Add an extra foam element to the AC and you will increase both the bio and mechanical filtration. Use the foam pieces to wipe down the inside of the tank to innoculate the filter.

 

[Sahabo]

hey, excellent tip BilD, thanks!

 

[buddha_red]

really good idea, i like that!