Fluval 404 question

[cplawrence]

I am working on setting up my filter on a 75 gallon tank. The manual says that in order to start the filter, the ouput needs to be above water. Hence, they show the ouput being placed just over the lip of the tank. However, from what I understand, one of the advantages of the canister is that there is less surface agitation. As such, is it OK to place the output lower in the tank?
Thanks.

[electrikat]

It says to start it with the output above water. I would think then you could put it wherever you want it after it gets it's suction started. I don't have one, this is just a suggestion and observation.

[Meredith]

It needs to be out of the water just to get the syphon going. I cant handle the splashing noise if the output is too high while the filter is running. I have mine sort of half in half out of the water so there is lots of surface movement, but no sound.

[Jchillin]

On the initial start up, the "water" line is an artificial location. In regard to the tank, so long as the output hose is equal to or greater than the water level, it will work fine. I started mine with half a tank of water just to get an idea of what the flow would be like without it being submerged. The attached pic demonstrates this.

[mattrox]

I run mine just under the surface of the water due to noise. Plenty of surface aggitation though.

[cplawrence]

Nice pic Jchillin--that helps a lot!

[Jchillin]

Glad to help...it does get confusing.

[Franco7]

Heres a question also, i set mine up fine and everything is going good thanks to alot of you guys out there, but in the book it says don't run the filter less than half the power level. to me i think even halfway makes alot of noise if the out flow is even half way out of water and halfway in water. Does anyone run less or all the way power on the fluval 404? where do you guys keep your flow level?

i have mine just under the water level so theres no noise but alot of movement.

[mattrox]

I have mine fully open and I worked out it is about 81 gallons. Always assumed 75 don't know why...... I just have the outlet just under the water surface so there is minimal noise and enough surface agitation.

If you want to slow the flow, pack some filter floss into one of the chambers. The tighter the pack the slower the flow and the cleaner your water.