Newbie to canisters (Magnum 350)

[bazil323]

Okay. I'll try to make sense. I have a 75 gallon tank that I got used with a Marineland Magnum 350 canister filter. It looks to have everything with it, including the instruction booklet. I am a little confused about media though.

I was under the impression that canister filters have multiple trays so that you could have several media choices running at once. But this looks like you have one at a time. I don't have a micron cartridge yet. I'm planning on running deNitrate media in there as my tap water already has 20+ nitrates in it. Otherwise, I'm okay. I also picked up some ammonia remover, just in case, but I don't think it will be a problem. All my other tanks are perfect except for nitrate.

Anyway, is it possible to add those bio-balls or something to help the biofiltration? Or should I run a second filter? I do have a hob Tetra Whisper 60 power filter that I could use, if needed.

Also, I wanted to run the filter on one of my established tanks to get a kickstart on biofiltration, but the largest of my freshwater tanks (which is what the 75 will be) is 20g. I have a 16g tank with 2 small plecs and a bunch of mts that all of that will be going into the 75g, except for gravel. Would it be too much if I put either the Magnum 350 or the Tetra Whisper 60 either of those? :help:

[The Zigman]

Bazil,
the mag 350 is unique that it is a canister that uses cartridges.
There are 2 types available for it, the pleated paper type water polishing, and the carbon block type cartridge. You can use a foam pre filter sleeve to add a small amount of bio filtration, or what I think most people do, is add a bio wheel to the output of the mag 350.

If you filled the canister with bioballs or something, they would probably become plugged up with debris from the unfiltered water, and it would be a PITA to change the cartridge. I thought about making some type of canister, like a whole house filter housing, and filling it with bioballs, and plumbing it into the output of the canister but have never tried it, athough I dont see why that wouldn't work too..

[dixienut]

you can use the blue sleeve made for the basket cartridge, and put ceramic rings for biofilter just make sure you put them in a media bag so you can take them out now and then to rinse them,.. but use the blue sleeve material to pre filter some of the junk that comes into the canister... that way you can put a small bag of carbon or what ever in there also.

if you leave even carbon in there it gets junky after a month or too,. so at least monthly maintenance is required..

the micron filter is only for polishing and should be removed after a day or so...... not left in there all the time, unless you have many and change them every so often,.. i have around 8 micron cartridges to change out if necessary, they came with all the mags i have got 2 with each filter and i have 5 mags..

[bazil323]

Okay, so I can put a couple different kinds of filter media into the "carbon basket" but I should put them also into filter bags? I had forgotten about the blue filter sleeves. I do have several on hand. I should change those out every so often too, right? I knew that I only need to clean the filter every month or so.

So will the Magnum 350 be adequate for the 75 gallon tank? I will have 15-20 Congo tetras, 15-20 Diamond tetras, two L387 plecs, mts, 6 honey gouramis, 2 kribs, one angelfish, and one Bolivian ram. Maybe later on I'll add a bamboo shrimp, but that would be months away.

Oh yeah, and where can I get the Bio-Wheel attachment? I think that would be a good idea. I have a Bio-Wheel on one of my other tanks (brackish), and it works great.

[dixienut]

well its just eaiser (cleaner) when maintaining....to be in bags

i just have a few sleeves extra around and when i have a few dirty i throw them into the washer alone w/no soap ar anything and let it run till done and they are clean and ready to go the next time
this can be done for a while till they streach from use and then are not tight around the basket, i used a rubber band at top and bottom but band broke after a while it breaks down in there..

i have my mag on my 90g and a penguine hob for extra insurance but it will be fine i always have 2 filters in most tanks..

the bio wheels are no longer avaliable new / by themselves from manufacturer.

scan ebay for them, people buy the delux kit and never use the biowheels and they sell them i got 2 different setups from ebay, mags use 2 with a t connector and mag250's use 1

they are the same, but i had my 350 hooked to 1 for a small tank and it was fine just turned very fast,.. but i broke it by accident the peice that squirts out the water became very brittle and when i tried to remove to clean it with a brush it snapped off instead of comming out .. oh well,.. just havent gotten a new one

or you can order all the parts to make one in most places that carries a parts list,.. just use you book and list them,..

[bazil323]

Oh cool! So as long as they are in good shape, I can keep reusing them. No soap, bleach, etc. Just hot water. Can do. I think I will pick up some filter bags. That way I can run a couple different types of media if needed.

I think I will use two filters, also. Just in case. Our power goes off for a second or two fairly regularly (crappy supplier or something), so it would be nice to have two just in case one does prime correctly or something. The power hardly every stay off for more than a second, but it is annoying.

If I read you correctly, I should use 2 biowheels with a t-connector with my mag 350? I think that would be okay. I like "over" filtration.

[dixienut]

yes the 350 mags came with 2, but you can set it up with one and a T in the line and just the regular output, it shows that on the box i have,..
its neat how you can custom it,..
also in the fish and anyother thing in life try to think outside the box too.,........

if its safe, and legal do it..:grinyes: you don't have to follow directions to the t, just improvise, to keep the hobby cheaper..

[Cory Keeper]

Dixie, I beg to differ about that micron bit.

I have a magnum 350 on a 29g and I love it. I run the micron cartridge 24/7 and change it out every 1-2 weeks. Though not great its still not bad, can't get water much cleaner. As for bio-media, I use 2 Rena Foam 30 for the Rena XP filters. I just stick em around the cartridge and let them work. They also filter the water getting alot of the bigger dirt particles before it reaches the cartridge.

[THE V]

I run two Magnum 350's on my 125. I use the blue sleeves and the carbon basket. Inside the carbon basket you can put in anything that you want. I usually run carbon in one and stuff the other with as much sponge as I can pack in (I get the pond filter replacements- $10 for a 18"x 18" x 3" piece).
Even with goldfish I only have to clean the filters once a month (a week apart). I just rinse the blue sleeves out in the sink under hot water. When they stretch out I replace them with new ones. I go through about 6 of them in a year. The sponge I rinse out in dechlorinated water 2 or 3 times a year. I don't run the biowheels because they are noisy.

[Just Prince]

Rinse the blue sleeve in siphoned tank water. If you use tap water any bacteria living in the foam will be killed off.

[bazil323]

Really? It will kill it off even if I have well water that doesn't have any chemicals in it?

I did a search for the BIO-Wheel 60 that was the attachment for the Mags, and I found one website that still has a few. It does say that they're discontinued and that they are on clearance. It was something like $31. I didn't look for shipping though.

[Just Prince]

Yeah I saw them too. If they still have them in stock post it on this site.

[bazil323]

Well, here's the link, but it doesn't look like you can order them. I don't see an "add to cart" button anywhere. http://www.aquariumguys.com/biowheel1.html

EDIT: I think it's an old page 'cause I can't find it when I just look for it by clicking on filters on the left hand side of the page.

[THE V]

Rinse the blue sleeve in siphoned tank water. If you use tap water any bacteria living in the foam will be killed off.

You can kill off 50% of the bacteria in your tank and the numbers will recover in 24 hours. Since I run two filters and I clean them a week apart this is not an issue. One of the major advantages of having a two filter system.

BTW the chemicals in tap water are very dilute. They are carefully balanced to keep clean water clean not to disinfect dirty water. So killing all the bacteria in a filter is very difficult unless you leave it in running water for several hours/days.

If I was only running one filter I would clean/replace the sleeve one week and replace/clean what was inside the carbon basket the next. This is the best way to ensure that you don't send your tank into a mini-cycle.

[bazil323]

Good info. I may have found someone through the Wanted forum on this site who has two available. Depending on how much for shipping, I'll probably take both. That way I have a back-up in case one doesn't work or quits working. Plus, can anyone say 'spare parts'?

I should probably test the canister to make sure that it really does work. I've been holding off on it because I'm nervous that it won't and I'll be SOL. Well, not completely. I do have a couple back-up options, but I really wanted to go with a canister.

[dixienut]

Dixie, I beg to differ about that micron bit.

i have used one for a week also, but for someone who dosent know better, if they get really plugged, one can stress the motor and over heat it, if it gets blocked,..plus the manufacturer, says to not run it all the time,.. for the same reason, just trying to keep others wary...

[Cory Keeper]

well yeah, but common sense says if its plugged up, change it.