Got an ac50 for my 20 gal whats up with the bypass??:(

tcarswell

tcarswell

Bichir guy
Jan 7, 2009
476
0
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39
Sacramento California
I setup my aquaclear 50 today expecting great results as the aqua clear line seems to have a lot of big fans. But as I set it up I noticed it has a ton of bypass when its on all the way and it only seems to filter through the top two media (The carbon and bio) Which is not ideal as everyone knows you want your water clean before it hits your bio media :swear::swear:

Is there something I am missing or does the aqua clear sponge never get used?
 
It might be the way your media is resting in the holder. Try re-seating it all.
 
Definitely put it in right and checked it. Its the filter design it only has an outlet from the inlit nook that allows it to flow through the carbon and bio. It would have to flow down to actually hit the sponge at the bottom
 
MORNING BUMP cmon guys a lot of people got these filters :)
 
The area that you are talking about is where water that has already been filtered through the sponge maintains the pressure that allows the water to be suctioned out of the aquarium. All the water that passes between that area has already been filtered through the sponge.
 
Thanks so much for answering my question I was getting ready to return this thing for a emperor. How exactly does it go down and through the sponge the filters hidden as the tank is backed up to a wall pretty tight.
 
tcarswell said:
Thanks so much for answering my question I was getting ready to return this thing for a emperor. How exactly does it go down and through the sponge the filters hidden as the tank is backed up to a wall pretty tight.
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The water is pulled out of the aquarium though the intake by the impeller into a separate area where it is then forced down to the area under the sponge where it is pushed up through the sponge. Don't return the AC they are the best HOB.
 
H3D said:
The water is pulled out of the aquarium though the intake by the impeller into a separate area where it is then forced down to the area under the sponge where it is pushed up through the sponge. Don't return the AC they are the best HOB.
Click to expand...
I see ! I was wondering how it could be like that because everyone loves these filters. And an ac50 on my heavily stocked 20 as a stand alone filter I gotta say is doing a **** good job. It just had to run for 24 hours :dance: (The tank was cycled when I added this filter so I kept the old floss bio filters from my pair of POS aqua tech 5-15 filters and they are near the intake hopefully the mini cycle will be small
 
As HD said the water is directed under the sponge where it is forced upwards. A portion spills over to the intake stem area. As it is pushed up it then passes through the carbon and then the bio-media. Having the old bio-media in the intake area is fine and a good move. Believe me when I tell you that sponge will get full of waste. Rinse it in used tank water. The carbon lasts only about a month and should be replaced or rinsed and re-used as a second bio-media. I toss mine and use a second sponge. I cut the sponge so it is the same thickness of the carbon bag and end up with a spare if needed.

If the lid starts to push open it is likely that the media is plugged with waste. Clean out and then re-assemble. Problem solved!
 
H3D said:
The water is pulled out of the aquarium though the intake by the impeller into a separate area where it is then forced down to the area under the sponge where it is pushed up through the sponge. Don't return the AC they are the best HOB.
Click to expand...




<-------Agrees 1000%!
 
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