Magnum 350 with micron filter running 24/7?

A

asincero

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Jan 16, 2006
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Anybody run a Magnum 350 with just the micron filter for performing mechanical filtration duties 24/7? I have a 150 gallon tank I would like to try this idea with. It'll be be paired with two XP3s with just ceramic media in it for biofiltering. The tank will be heavily planted so there's probably no need to do any chemical filtration.

The only downside is that from what I understand the micron filter clogs readily. I plan on having a number of micron cartridges on hand to remedy this. The only question is how often will I need to swap cartridges. That'll determine how many cartridges I'll need to have on hand.
 
it all depends on the particulates in your water. how much you feed, what your stock level is, etc etc.

regardless of planting, chemical filtration really isn't that great to rely on unless you're removing medication, etc.
 
J double R said:
it all depends on the particulates in your water. how much you feed, what your stock level is, etc etc.

regardless of planting, chemical filtration really isn't that great to rely on unless you're removing medication, etc.
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So you're saying I should have chemical filtration anyway or no?

A few years ago I kept a 30 gallon planted tank. By the time I had to tear it down (sold the house), it was thriving fairly well. The live bearers I had in the tank were multiplying like crazy and the amazon swords were budding off daughter plants. I didn't do any chemical filtration with that tank. In fact I didn't do any mechanical filtration either other than running a diatom filter for an hour on the tank once a week. I just had an XP3 on it, which was just full of ceramic media for biofiltering.

I did, however, do 40% water changes twice a week. The tank was fairly close to a sink and was only 30g, so with a python water changes were fairly painfree. This new tank is 150g, is downstairs, and is pretty far from the closest sink. Doing that kind of water change schedule wouldn't be very practical.
 
its just trial an error,.. i would start with 4 you can be cleaning one or 2 while you have the others ready to use,.. i have many but they came with the mags i had most people have 2 with the filter but if your running 24/7 all the time ,.. just watch outflow volume and then change,.. don't let it drop too much for it will burn out your motor and or the impeller and they aint cheap,..
 
Exactly. When I ran my Mag 250 HOB's (Best for exclusive micron use), as a stand alone they clog very fast like to a trickle in a week to two weeks. However as a true polisher for water that is already heavily mechanically (i.e FX5) and floating pathogen filtered (floating bacteria to diatoms), the micron seems to last for months. Well at least 2 months in my aquariums where the water is like invisible.
 
CWO4GUNNER said:
Exactly. When I ran my Mag 250 HOB's (Best for exclusive micron use), as a stand alone they clog very fast like to a trickle in a week to two weeks. However as a true polisher for water that is already heavily mechanically (i.e FX5) and floating pathogen filtered (floating bacteria to diatoms), the micron seems to last for months. Well at least 2 months in my aquariums where the water is like invisible.
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Hmm .. if it takes a week to two weeks for it to get clogged that much, then it's probably not going to be a big deal to me. Just toss in a fresh micron as part of my weekly maintenance routine, right?

If I got two Mag350s, it'd probably last a bit longer. Ken's Fish has them for only $95. Good deal. :thm:
 
I have to admit that initially I was not impressed with the Mag 250 as a polisher but after getting my tanks fine tuned I love them not only for their ability to use the same cart as the Mag 350, but the Mag 250 being an HOB with 360 degree vertical and horizontal discharge nozzle double as a multi-directional power-head and aerator boosting my measured dissolved O2 from 6 to 8 PPM. Also the convenience of simple popping off the lid in place to change a cart without repriming is awesome. In addition because they only use 7 watts of power they make the perfect filter/aerator combo to place on a UPS in the even of a power outage and should run for an average of 24 to 48 hours on UPS.

So needless to say although I use FX5's, Mag 350's and Sunsun as primary heavy duty floor filters, I have a Mag 250 on every tank just for the reasons mentioned.
 
asincero said:
The only downside is that from what I understand the micron filter clogs readily. I plan on having a number of micron cartridges on hand to remedy this. The only question is how often will I need to swap cartridges. That'll determine how many cartridges I'll need to have on hand.
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ac:

I have a planted tank, wet/dry and use 50 and 100mu filtration pads with RO/DI water.

Do not anticipate that the longer you run the micron filtration the greater the change period.

I wash the clogged pads in the washing machine with a mild Clorox solution.

TR
 
I'm running a micron cart in a 350 for 24/7. I find it needs changing every 7 - 10 days. I keep one of thise blue socks around the cartridge too.
 
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