Is it possible to overpack a Fluval 405?

[Gnarls Gnarlington]

I have a 405. It came with BioMax and Carbon.

I was told that Seachem's Matrix was better than BioMax.

I fully expected to fill the canister with Matrix (I bought 2 liters of product) but it only filled two trays to the top.

Also, I packed my bottom tray with poly-fill.

Then, I took the BioMax and poured 95% of it into the top tray (two trays into one).

So I tripled or quadrupled the bio-media and have it packed full(!). It has good output but I am sure it is less that it was before (more friction).

Is this okay? Typical?

 

[Mr. Limpet]

That's why I only fill the biomedia trays at 2/3 to 3/4 and I don't try to over stuff the ploy-fil. A good handful in each section is more than enough IMO/E. One new user to poly-fil jammed his tray full of poly-fil and notice low flow, he reduced the amount and it worked great for him.

 

[jcolon]

I have a 405. It came with BioMax and Carbon.

I was told that Seachem's Matrix was better than BioMax.

I fully expected to fill the canister with Matrix (I bought 2 liters of product) but it only filled two trays to the top.

Also, I packed my bottom tray with poly-fill.

Then, I took the BioMax and poured 95% of it into the top tray (two trays into one).

So I tripled or quadrupled the bio-media and have it packed full(!). It has good output but I am sure it is less that it was before (more friction).

Is this okay? Typical?

Sounds like your good to go ... you'll have plenty of places for BB to grown and you have the bottom tray for Poly-Fill.

 

[eco23]

That's why I only fill the biomedia trays at 2/3 to 3/4 and I don't try to over stuff the ploy-fil. A good handfull in each section is more than enough IMO/E. One new user to poly-fil jammed his tray full of poly-fil and notice low flow, he reduced the amount and it worked great for him.

That would be me, lol. I also have a 405. Thanks to the recommendation from Mr. Limpet I have Poly-fil lightly packed in the bottom basket, bio-media in the middle 2 (Bio-max vs Matrix is highly debatable) and my top basket is filled with random filter media to use as seeding material if needed.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

That would be me, lol. I also have a 405. Thanks to the recommendation from Mr. Limpet I have Poly-fil lightly packed in the bottom basket, bio-media in the middle 2 (Bio-max vs Matrix is highly debatable) and my top basket is filled with random filter media to use as seeding material if needed.

Hehe... I didn't want to name names.

I measure the amount of biomedia in relation to the tank/stock, since only so much bacteria can feed off the ammo/no2/no3 and just because you have a ton of it doesn't mean the bacteria will use it all. But I'm sure others will have a different/better theory.

 

[Gnarls Gnarlington]

I'm not worried about being efficient I guess, I am more worried about frying the motor!

 

[eco23]

I'm not worried about being efficient I guess, I am more worried about frying the motor!

As long as you've got good flow coming from the power head you'll be fine. It was obvious I packed too much poly-fil in the first time. The manual even says you can reduce the flow to 50% power, so as long as things don't appear off you'll be good to go . When I first added too much, you could hear the motor struggle and there was barely flow from the output. The symptoms were obvious and I immediately knew there was a problem.

 

[Crepe]

I've been dying to try seachem matrix but I don't want to shell out another 40 bucks to slowly replace my bio max with. All my trays are about 70% filled with bio max and I couldn't be happier. Living with crystal clear, stable water.

 

[eco23]

I've been dying to try seachem matrix but I don't want to shell out another 40 bucks to slowly replace my bio max with. All my trays are about 70% filled with bio max and I couldn't be happier. Living with crystal clear, stable water.

I read some different articles today about Bio-Max and Matrix. It reminds me of some of the NLS arguments we see here on AA, hahaha! I'm starting to draw the conclusion that when two sides are that passionate in opposite directions...the truth normally lies somewhere in the middle.

I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I'm slowly switching all my biomedia over to Eheim Substrat Pro. Its got great surface area for bacteria and being a round reather than flat media, there's less wasted surface area that bacteria and water can't get to.

 

[eco23]

I'm slowly switching all my biomedia over to Eheim Substrat Pro. Its got great surface area for bacteria and being a round reather than flat media, there's less wasted surface area that bacteria and water can't get to.

I might mix and match soon. I donated a good handful of the bio-max to set up a QT recently and I'm nervous about reintroducing it back to the DT (and I'm too lazy to ensure it's sanitized). You were dead on with the Poly-fil..so you've become my go-to guy with media I think I'll try your recommendation with the Eheim stuff.

I'd still recommend to others though that if you've got an empty basket, throw some strips of random filter pads in there. It comes in great for QT's / hospital tanks or donating to friends. My DT is in my bedroom, so running a second HOB isn't really an option since silence is one of the things I'm striving for (hence the 405 in the first place )