Filtration questions.

mikeb210

mikeb210

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Oct 14, 2008
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I'm in the process of moving, but once moved, I will be setting up my 125 to hold Orandas and Ryukins. I have 3 Marineland Penguin 350 Biowheels on the tank right now, but the filters are getting to be expensive to maintain. I'm tight on money these days, and I'd like to find a form of filtration that is easier on the wallet than buying new cartridges every couple weeks. Anybody have any recommendations? My biggest issue with the HOBs is the cartridges getting filthy every two weeks or so and then the nitrates starting to climb fast. I use tap water in my big tank because its too much of a hassle to RO that much water. My tap water has about 10ppm nitrates already. I try to keep consistent with WCs but I'd like to add something to either offset the biweekly filter swaps or replace them all together. I want something that is a good chemical/mechanical filter. I start getting small specs floating around the water column after about two weeks with the HOBs and I want to keep the water cleaner than that. Is there a filtration option or is a weekly water change a fact of life for me?
 
Well you can save some money on cartridges by ditching them. A lot of people, myself included, use straight polyfil stuffed in the filter box. It's way cheaper... around 2.50 a bag, at Wal-mart, or elsewhere... Just change it out every week or two. If you're not getting fine enough filtration with that, you can by some large sheets of blue filter foam at your LFS/petsmart/online to supplement. Unless you absolutely need carbon in your filter, save some money and go without it.
 
mike, i think your best option is to move to canister filters. since you can control exactly how much media of each type you're using, you can easily add more carbon or use finer sponges to keep those nitrates down and particulates out of the tank.

the second best option would be to go with thrak's idea and stop buying cartridges. it's easy to find filter media bags these days, or you can simply rinse and re-use your own. you can buy carbon in bulk to refill the inside of the cartridges, and with a thorough rinse in a bucket of tank water, you can maintain your bacterial colony but clean those cartridges so they filter out the particulates again.
 
I have one on my 29 and I like them a lot but is there one huge canister out there or do I need several? I can't afford 2 or 3 FX5s any easier than I could afford a new 12 pack of cartridges every two weeks.
 
i would double or triple that^, over filtration is not a bad thing.
 
For the fish they are keeping, over filtration can cause flow issues onless it is dispersed adequately with spray bars or decore.
 
I agree that over filtration is a good thing. Another option I'm looking into is the inline filters like Ocean Clear or Lifegard brands. I'm not really clear on how exactly they work but it seems like several of those loaded with media would provide sufficient mechanical and/or chemical filtration. Would those be fed by a pump or overflow box? My 125 is not drilled and I don't know a whole lot about sumps and the like.
 
go with a wet/dry filter Love all of mine!

i use wet/dry filters on all my tanks over 75 gallons and all my tanks are freshwater wet/dry's arent just for salt water tanks. heres what i use attached is a pic and they are easy to maintain and no expensive carts to keep buying and replacing. it has a built in skimmer which you dont use for freshwater of course. mine all filter 1,000 GPH keeps my goldfish tanks all looking great.

OE1318_99.jpg tomwetdry.jpg
 
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