finally got a fluidized filter.

[terror]

finally got a fluidized bed filter:)
questions.
should the sand inside be cleaned?
what kind of sand is used inside?
will the sand flow into the tank if there is a power outage?
will the filter decrease the available oxygen in the tank?

[mogurnda]

Hi Terror,
Congratulations.

>should the sand inside be cleaned?
Dump it. It's probably been sitting, anaerobic, for months.

>what kind of sand is used inside?
The best sand I have found is that sold for Rainbow Lifeguard filters at your LFS. More expensive, but fluidizes better than silica sand.

>will the sand flow into the tank if there is a power outage?
no, it will settle at the bottom of the filter, and will become a dead, smelly mess within a few hours.

>will the filter decrease the available oxygen in the tank?
Yes, but probably not noticeably.

As I said before, I am dubious that this will make your life better, but post a thread in a few months to let us know how it's going.

[skeletalmachine]

The rainbow lifegard sand if very fine and would work very well in a FBF, but I think pool filter sand will work just fine. I'm using it in my filter and it seems to fluidize very easily. It also has the added benefit of being the same sand as my substrate so if a little of it escapes into the aquarium I won't even notice. It may not, however, have the same surface area of the finer sand and therefor your filters capacity may be slightly decreased. I'm not sure what kind of tank you are using it on, but some people use crushed coral sand in thier FBF's as well. This would buffer the water well for rift lake cichlids in addition to filtering.

I've read that a FBF with a slow enough flow rate and a good source of nitrite/ammonia will strip virtually all oxygen from the water which passes through it. I think it would be very important to find a way to replenish it, either through some sort of surface agitation or an airstone. Remember, with a FBF you are aiming for the slowest flow rate wich will still fluidize the water since the longer the water stays in the filter the more time it comes in cantact with the bacteria.

Also, be sure to add a prefilter to the intake of your FBF. These filters do not provide much in the way of mechanical filtration, if any.

I think FBF's are excellent filters, especially in tanks with a large bioload.