dwayne.aycock
Aquarium Advice Freak
Hi all, I came up with a use for my extra magnum filter. I use it as a vravel vac. You know when you are doing normal vaccuming you are emptying buckets and buckets of waste water. It is a real pain, because when you get underway, it is tome to stop and empty the bucket. In my system, I have a wet/dey filter (1) with a sponge prefilter, a carbon pad of dense mesh and diatom removal resin. I also use 2 ocean clear canisters, connected to a UV sterilizer and finally, a trickle through indian Almond Leaves and Peat before returning to the tank. The tank is heavily planted and has 22 Discus, 14 Cardinal Tetras and 4 green coreys. The issue this the 135 gallon tank has been the pain and time required for vaccuming. I have the traditional vacuum tube and hose like everyone else. I connected this to the input of my Magnum 350 which I filled with charcoal as well as 2 filter sleeves. I used a ball valve to control input flow and went to work. The discharge of the Magnum went back into the overflow chambers where it recycled through step 1 above. This way I didn't have buckets and buckets of water to empty. I never had to shut down any pumps, heaters or air. All the trash went into the Magnum, and clean water came out. I do this once a month along with my 25% water changes. Once I use the Magnum, I backflush it bu taking a 5 gallon bucket and filling it with hot water. I run the Magnum as normal, but it is drawing from a 5 gallon bucket which I keep filling with warm / hot tap water for about 10 minutes. Afterwards, I remove the filter sleeves and toss them in the washing machine. I use the carbon 4 times, then I throw it away. This allows my carbon to last 4 months because I use it once per month. I always preflush the Magnum with hot water and a few drps of formalin 37% to make sure there are no anaerobic organisms in the media prior to use. In the meantime, I keep the Magnum in a dark cool place to prevent algae, mold. My water polishing is taken care of with my 2 ocean clear filters, and the final stage of clarification is taken care of with my 36W U/V sterilizer. So if you happen to have an extra canister filter lying around, you can always use it as a powered gravel vacuum.. This doesn't take the place of regular water changes, but makes your water changes more effective.
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