Aquaclear HOB

[fishorama]

Instead of all foam in 1, I'd do 2 x foam & bio-bits in both.

Ya know, kensfish is in Taunton, not too far from you as I recall. I went only once or twice but his prices are good! 1 time I went his mom & dad were bagging fish food in the basement, lol. A good guy to do business with, good foods too .Ken also sells prefilters, etc,. Lots of good stuff, check him out!

I'd be just a bit careful of lovely pets...back in my time they seemed to have very thin (scary) fish, but nice plants. Maybe it's changed, it's been 6 years...the "old plant guy" knew plants but I always felt I knew more about fish than anyone there.

Ned sells unusual, small & pricey fish. He, his brother & "the cute catfish/puffer guy" were fun to talk fish with if it wasn't busy. I think I was the "loach lady" to them, polite for "talks a lot & doesn't buy much", ha!

There was another place I liked near Boston or S. Boston by I-95 & the pike, I can't think of the name...& the annual auction in Chicopee was a fun day out, I can't recall the club name ATM but Ken & his wife were always there too.

At Tropic Isle I liked the "tall scary tattoo guy" (probably long gone by now, not scary to me, we sat on the floor to looked up loaches, lol) & the other young-ish guy long timer, but not the owner or his wife, meh. Always hit or miss for nice fish, might have been heading downhill (or toward saltwater) when I moved, I hope not!! It was great when I first moved to MA. I agree, not for equipment...go with Ken or online.

 

[myswtsins]

Kensfish, good place and you live nearby? Lucky devil! lol Yeah he has great prices on food and supplies, I wish he sold more stuff I needed lol.

I agree with everything that's been said, 2 filters, 2 foam, 1 bio.

 

[Neptunius]

Is Ken's the one that's inside the mall in Taunton? If so I went there on a recommendation about six years ago and found beautiful Bolivian Rams, of which I still have one left.Maybe I should go check them out again. Sounds like I also have to check out Ned's.

Lovely pets may have changed a bit, but it does still feel rundown and it's not the easiest place to find.

The staff at Tropic Isle are always friendly and helpful. My cousin lives near them and I've begun to get him into aquariums, so he often goes by and has long conversations with the two regular staff members. I agree that the owner and his wife are not the selling point of the store ;-)

I don't really have the space but with all these tempting leads I think I feel a second tank coming on.

Back to the original topic of the thread, if I go with 2 foam and 1 biobits. Does the bio bits always have to be the closest one to the top in the filter?

 

[myswtsins]

I don't really have the space but with all these tempting leads I think I feel a second tank coming on.

That itch for a second tank is called multiple tank syndrome MTS, welcome!

Is Ken's the one that's inside the mall in Taunton? If so I went there on a recommendation about six years ago and found beautiful Bolivian Rams,

I don't believe kens sells fish but I've never been to the actual store.

Back to the original topic of the thread, if I go with 2 foam and 1 biobits. Does the bio bits always have to be the closest one to the top in the filter?

Yes having the biomedia after the mechanical filter keeps the bio media cleaner and healthier.

 

[fishorama]

Ken's "warehouse" in in back of his house, not the mall, it's not a "store", it's a mail order biz. No fish.You have to make an appointment to make sure he's home, he goes to club events & has a family. Or that's how it was when I lived in MA. His "outbuilding" was pretty new 10 years ago & he still used his garage for packing up the boxes. Make a list of what you want although he did let me wander around. He's very nice. http://www.kensfish.com/

I sometimes sandwich bio media between sponges & if I use floss I put between sponges too or under the biobits on top. But, yeah, on top is better. Use a media bag to keep it together. I have some loose & it's a PITA but I always forget until filter cleaning time. LOL, maybe next time.

 

[dougall]

I didn't think Ken had an actual storefront, that everything was only sold online... but could be a different Ken too.

edit... oops.. someone was in before me.. I got distracted by otehr stuff instead of posting

 

[dougall]

And I don't use HOB filters at all, but I generally will have any sort of biomedia as the last media, before the water goes into the tank.

But, meh, any sponges or whatever should be holding plenty of bacteria too.. so I really would not care too much for specific bio media if you didn't want... that's why things like sponge filters work well

 

[fishorama]

Ken used to let locals come by & save the shipping costs. But like I said that was quite a few years ago.

 

[dougall]

I'm perfectly happy with my local shopping options

which basically consists of Rachel's, or the option to not buy anything at all.

 

[Neptunius]

Kensfish, good place and you live nearby? Lucky devil! lol Yeah he has great prices on food and supplies, I wish he sold more stuff I needed lol.

I agree with everything that's been said, 2 filters, 2 foam, 1 bio.

Ahh, the place I was thinking of in Taunton is Underwater World which has a storefront in the Silver City Galleria. Someone had recommended it early on in my fish keeping adventures. I remember thinking it was a great place, but I haven't been there in many years.