Aquaclear (Fluval) 50 question

[malonbl]

I'm a newbie. I just upgraded to an Aquaclear 50 HOB filter for my 29 gallon tank. Will be a lightly planted and small species community tank (danios, tetras, cory cats, etc) when it is all said and done.

I've read enough on here that I know not to change the mechanical filter sponge every 2 months like it says. Also, I took the carbon out and placed a second mechanical filter sponge (like many on here suggested). I plan to simply clean these sponges in tank water when needed and only change one at a time if they truly need it.

Regarding the biological media, though, I was surprised to see the instructions mention to change this every 3 months. It seemed strange to me that I would ever change out the biomedia. Is this good advice or do people just leave the biomedia alone?

 

[Brookster123]

Do not change any media until it is falling apart, since you are running two sponges you can always swap one out every 4/5 months while seeding the new one..

 

[malonbl]

Thanks. By seeding, I assume that just means putting a new sponge adjacent to/touching an established sponge?

 

[azmodan]

The AC sponges and biomedia never need to be replaced. The occasional swish in some tank water is enough. What many do as well is replace the space the carbon was using with some polyfill/filter floss. This stuff can be discarded every few months or so and it does a great job at filtering out the really fine dirt particles.

 

[Rolance]

My brother has a 29 gallon with a few African cichlids in it which are way too much of a bioload for that size tank. But anyways, he has two AC fluval 50's running on it but they have to be swished around every two weeks or so to keep them clean. I always take the carbon out and replace them with Seachem Purigen and that usually keeps my tank sparkling clear but he had to actually out two purigen pouches in each filter because of the bioload of his fish.
For your community tank I would say it should be enough. If it won't keep it clear try purigen and if that don't work maybe either upgrade to an AC 75 or get another 50 or 30 for the other side of the tank.

Here is a pic of his tank. It's still pretty clear for cichlids in a small tank.

 

[BBradbury]

Tank Filtration

Hello mal...

I use the same brand of HOB. I kept the biological media bag and replaced the others with polyfiber padding. The padding is reusable for a long time. I just rinse it in some of the old tank water and put it all back in the filter. Then, I change out half the tank water and replace that with pure treated tap water. The tank stays nice and clean for the fish and plants.

B

 

[ryan_calif]

I agree about not changing the sponge out, but the bio-media should be changed out as the pores become clogged over time with algae, slime, and gunk. The bio-media that comes with the aquaclear supports both anaerobic and aerobic bacteria (anaerobic occuring deep within the media balls, aerobic occuring near the surface). If you were to just leave the media in indefinitely, you would be losing out on the nitrate processing ability (anaerobic) as well as some ammonia/nitrate processing (aerobic) as the surface area would eventually become "gunked" up with slime and algae.

IMO, it's best to change the bio-media balls out every 3-6 months, but leave the sponge in as long as possible. Once you change out the bio-media with new stuff, the sponge will do the job of processing the ammonia/nitrites while the bio-media is getting seeded.

 

[malonbl]

great information. I think I am going to add poly-fil to take place of at least one of the sponges. I will keep an eye on the bio-media and change it when it appears gunked up.

 

[t4runnr]

I put polyfil in my ac50 as well. However, the fill that I use eventually clogged up enough for the ac50 to overflow the back side of the filter and into the table. So just keep observant if that when doing water changes.

For me I could have also used too much polyfil.