Things to watch for in planted aquariums...

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, I learned another lesson today. I was watching my 75G, and noticed the temp was getting pretty low. Normally it held around 80 degrees. But it was down to 75, and when it broke below 75, the alarm started going off. I looked at my heater, and it was on, then turned off. I thought, hmmmm. I'll check it out after my PWC. So as I was taking the water out with the Python, and when the water got below the spraybar, I noticed, almost no water flow at all. So I removed the XP3, and opened it up. It was jammed full of crud. Pretty nasty, lol. And I cleaned it out a week ago. This is strange. Then I thought, maybe adding the 2 MaxiJet 600 powerheads is keeping more crud waterborn til the filter removes it. So it looks like til things stabalize, I need to pay more attention to the filter output. And do maintenance as necessary, even if it's mid-week. This could be a good thing, lol.

 

[Peyton]

I had to do maintenance on one of my filters this past week. It was clogged up so bad it was barely running. The really bad thing is it is the one I run my CO2 hose into so needless to say I had a drop in CO2 levels .

 

[JustOneMore20]

I have a small sponge over the intake of my XP3. It helps keep the plant leaves and nasties out. You can buy sponges from Big Al's...their brand, made for the Aquaclear mini filter and just hollow out the middle so it will fit over the intake. Works like a charm!

 

[Thebluyak]

the only bad thing about my xp3 intake is its located right behind a ton of plants to hide it and thats my piranhas favorite spot to "keep it real" at.

 

[Jchillin]

Ok, now that someone else had experienced this. Awhile back, I was doing a PWC and when the water level went below the spray bar, to my utter amazement, no outflow at all.

Opened the fluval and to my chagrin, the filter was clogged with...java moss! It was everywhere and still growing. There was a bit of plant matter in there as well, which is expected. I had to remove a nice amount of moss from the impeller as it was wrapped around there pretty good.

I don't know how long it had stopped running but was extremely happy that it resumed normal functions after the cleaning.

I now watch the current to make sure there is some flow.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I have a small sponge over the intake of my XP3. It helps keep the plant leaves and nasties out. You can buy sponges from Big Al's...their brand, made for the Aquaclear mini filter and just hollow out the middle so it will fit over the intake. Works like a charm!

I used to use a sponge that I snipped a hole in big enough to slip over the intake, then cut it to shape. But too much gunk kept building up under the intake, and is hard to get to with the python to clean up. I may do it again though. The only thing is if the gunk gets sucked into the filter, it's removed from the tank, where when I had the sponge on the intake, the gunk was still in the tank.

As for the Aquaclear Quickfilters, I have them, and used it on my breeder tank when I had my babies. They are great filters to put over the intakes of HOB's in fry tanks. I also have the Quickfilter attachment for my Aquaclear powerheads. Have a box full of the cartriges, lol. I'll never run low on those filters, lol.

Edit:

Java moss in the filter? hehehe....

Kind of sounds like my Emperor 280 on my 26G. ever since doing the 5 minute Excel dip, my java moss is not only clean, but is very full-looking. I would say it's a good 4 inches deep now, and fluffy. Not mucky like before. And I have strands that reach out from the driftwood a good 6-8 inches as well. The stuff has taken off since the dip.

 

[Zezmo]

I have the spraybars for my two Fluval 303's mounted vertically in one corner of the tank. Since it was hard to tell how much they were flowing, and I also needed some more surface agitation. I drilled a small hole in the pipe above the water line. This lets me see how much each filer is flowing and it gives me just enough surface agitation to keep the water aerated.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

That sounds great. That may be exactly what I'm looking for. I have 2 powerheads covering the front of the tank for circulation, but it's still dead behind my swords. Maybe I should place my spraybar vertically, pointed across the back of the tank rather than flowing over the top of the swords like it currently is.

 

[SCFatz]

I guess i missed something along the way,but why do you need more circulation?I would think the xp3 would be plenty on a 75g.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

It is if you aren't densly planted, lol. The plants create a lot of dead spots, especially as thick as my swords are, lol. All the current is up front, and none in the back.