Mechanical Filtration

[mattp11]

I was wondering whether there was a downside to having too much mechanical filtration......as the "filter floss" gets full of gunk, will the water quality go down as it continues to pass through that gunk? Will the collected gunk start to add to the ammonia/nitrate/nitrate/phosphate levels in the tank as the water passes through it over time? Consider a canister filter such as the large ViaAqua, and putting filter floss in all three baskets, and not changing that floss until water flow starts to noticeably diminish.....this may be 2 or 3 months.....

[OrionGirl]

Just because the gunk is no longer floating around, if it is still in the system, it will continue to decay and contribute to the bio-load of the tank. The point of mechanical filtration it to collect the gunk into one easily cleaned location, rather than floating around in the water column. There is not a down side to having lots of mechanical filtration, but there is definitely a down side to having an inadequate maintenance routine--no matter what kind of filtration you're running.

[mattp11]

Thanks! That's what I thought!

[wetmanNY]

9gosh oriongirl sounds severe today...

Besides the nitrates, bacterial are mineralizing organic phosphates, making them ready for algae to use...

she sounds as scratchy as me...

[OrionGirl]

Isn't that a compliment?

Sorry--didn't intend to sound harsh. Write it off to my distraction as I pray to the snow gods for loads of the white stuff...It's still rain as of this moment, and I plan for tomorrow to be a snow day! :)

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by OrionGirl
Just because the gunk is no longer floating around, if it is still in the system, it will continue to decay ....... The point of mechanical filtration it to collect the gunk into one easily cleaned location, rather than floating around in the water column. There is not a down side to having lots of mechanical filtration, but there is definitely a down side to having an inadequate maintenance routine--no matter what kind of filtration you're running. Excellent explaination! :)