75 gallon Planted Office Tank Journal
- Thread starter geekpryde
- Start date
This quote is from another thread in the FW section here at AC. Wanted to link it here, so more people could find it. Very good link, lots to read, so check it out. Slappy, why did you not tell me about this in my thread!? I guess I have to go lurking around in other threads to find all the goodies, oh well... :drool:
Quilt Batting
I went to the store today to buy quilt batting, thinking it would be easy to find and would save me money versus branded and dedicated canister filter media. I even had a 50% off coupon for AC Moore in hand, to save even more money. Well, right before I left I did a google search so I could avoid any pitfalls with buying quilt batting, and I found a forum discussion saying cotton batting is bad, since it breaks down so fast, and to only used 100% polyester, Check. Then I read about chemicals used on these types of products like flame retardant, since they are often used for pillows and blankets and all the laws associated with that. Some people said you could go for the hypoallergenic kind of quilt batting, which would have no/less chemicals. Also, there is supposed to be kinds which are more for hobby use, and lack the flame retardant. Make sure batting has no flame retardant, check.
So out I went to AC Moore and tried to find this mythological qulit batting to use as filter floss. Well, after destroying the batting section of the store, I came away empty handed. There were lots of brands and types, and some of the packaging even lacked the wording "flame retardant", but I found these very suspect, because as far as I can tell, all these products were basically the same thing, with very slightly different packaging. Some said "hypoallergenic" where others said "flame retardant", but if you looked at the fine print, they ALL met the california flamability requirements, and had all identical listed incredients, warnings, disclaimers, etc. I did find one that included the wording "100% polyester and resin", which I think the resin being something to bind the fibers togeather?
I will try another store tomorrow, but I just dont know if in todays age, you can buy pillow filling material that does not contain the flame retardant. Odd they proudly state they are flame resistant but there is no information on what chemicals is being used.
I wonder if worrying about flame retardant is even necesaary, as it seems people just always talk about using pillow fill as filter floss without really any caveats. It may be the "flame retardant" might imply that 100% polyester is flame resistant, and not necessarily treated with added chemicals? What do you think?
I did a little more reading, and looks like felt might be an alright material. The 100 micron filter socks looks like a good choice, but I would need alot of it, and I need it to be in a form I can used inside a canister filter.
:help2:
Give me your thoughts people, and maybe a link to buy quilt batting known to be aquarium safe. If I can't get any added info, I pay try something like this, but since it's so thin, I will have to cut a ton of these out and stack them up, to get the kind of water polishing I am looking for.
I went to the store today to buy quilt batting, thinking it would be easy to find and would save me money versus branded and dedicated canister filter media. I even had a 50% off coupon for AC Moore in hand, to save even more money. Well, right before I left I did a google search so I could avoid any pitfalls with buying quilt batting, and I found a forum discussion saying cotton batting is bad, since it breaks down so fast, and to only used 100% polyester, Check. Then I read about chemicals used on these types of products like flame retardant, since they are often used for pillows and blankets and all the laws associated with that. Some people said you could go for the hypoallergenic kind of quilt batting, which would have no/less chemicals. Also, there is supposed to be kinds which are more for hobby use, and lack the flame retardant. Make sure batting has no flame retardant, check.
So out I went to AC Moore and tried to find this mythological qulit batting to use as filter floss. Well, after destroying the batting section of the store, I came away empty handed. There were lots of brands and types, and some of the packaging even lacked the wording "flame retardant", but I found these very suspect, because as far as I can tell, all these products were basically the same thing, with very slightly different packaging. Some said "hypoallergenic" where others said "flame retardant", but if you looked at the fine print, they ALL met the california flamability requirements, and had all identical listed incredients, warnings, disclaimers, etc. I did find one that included the wording "100% polyester and resin", which I think the resin being something to bind the fibers togeather?
I will try another store tomorrow, but I just dont know if in todays age, you can buy pillow filling material that does not contain the flame retardant. Odd they proudly state they are flame resistant but there is no information on what chemicals is being used.
I wonder if worrying about flame retardant is even necesaary, as it seems people just always talk about using pillow fill as filter floss without really any caveats. It may be the "flame retardant" might imply that 100% polyester is flame resistant, and not necessarily treated with added chemicals? What do you think?
I did a little more reading, and looks like felt might be an alright material. The 100 micron filter socks looks like a good choice, but I would need alot of it, and I need it to be in a form I can used inside a canister filter.
:help2:
Give me your thoughts people, and maybe a link to buy quilt batting known to be aquarium safe. If I can't get any added info, I pay try something like this, but since it's so thin, I will have to cut a ton of these out and stack them up, to get the kind of water polishing I am looking for.
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Went to my local Walmart, they didnt have that brand. But I did end up getting "Poly-Fil Traditional Batting", which is 100% polyester and made by Fairfield. This is what I think alot of people use. I was still worried about it, so last night I emailed the "contact us" address from the website, and this morning they responded.
:clap:
I guess that answers that. So no need to worry about chemicals, at least on this one product. I am going to soak it before hand for a few hours anyway, just to be safe.
Some bad news. On Sunday I found a Oto cat had squeezed into the Koralia powerhead looking for algae, and he was pushed halfway out of the front grates and dead. :cry:
Today I come in and find one of my midground plants, which has been doing great even with the algae, had about 1/4 melted away. This is basically where I dose the chemicals, which is in front of powerhead so they get spread around. I guess I will go a little slower so no large clumps make it to the bottom. My guess is that one of the fertz just landed on the leaves and sat there, which eventually ate away the leaves.
To top it all off, I then found a dead parva rainbow dead next to the same plant. These are the first two fish that have died, one from physical danger, but this parva rainbow died from more mysterious causes. Now I need to test my water, and keep eyes out for infections...so sad, and this tank had a perfect tract record for first two months.
I have been adding new plants, and recently the new rainbow from my kids tank, and on Sunday I fed some blood worms and tubiflex worms that have been kicking around my kids tank for like a year. Really no way to know what happened since there are so many variables.
oh by the way, my fish really dont care for tubiflex worms, they sort of just ignore the cube when I stick it to the glass, or break in in half and float it around the tank. Same is true for the fish in my kids tank, which I why I took them to the office. Anyone else ever seen this? :huh: I guess I wont buy them anymore.
Today I come in and find one of my midground plants, which has been doing great even with the algae, had about 1/4 melted away. This is basically where I dose the chemicals, which is in front of powerhead so they get spread around. I guess I will go a little slower so no large clumps make it to the bottom. My guess is that one of the fertz just landed on the leaves and sat there, which eventually ate away the leaves.
To top it all off, I then found a dead parva rainbow dead next to the same plant. These are the first two fish that have died, one from physical danger, but this parva rainbow died from more mysterious causes. Now I need to test my water, and keep eyes out for infections...so sad, and this tank had a perfect tract record for first two months.
I have been adding new plants, and recently the new rainbow from my kids tank, and on Sunday I fed some blood worms and tubiflex worms that have been kicking around my kids tank for like a year. Really no way to know what happened since there are so many variables.
oh by the way, my fish really dont care for tubiflex worms, they sort of just ignore the cube when I stick it to the glass, or break in in half and float it around the tank. Same is true for the fish in my kids tank, which I why I took them to the office. Anyone else ever seen this? :huh: I guess I wont buy them anymore.
More bad news,
Just got my new classic 2217 from kens, there is a large crack and the water outlet thingy is smashed beyond repair. The T5HO bulb was also smashed. I have contacted support and will let you know how it goes. I am really bummed, since I was all excited to get the 100% filter floss canister filter onto the tank.
Just got my new classic 2217 from kens, there is a large crack and the water outlet thingy is smashed beyond repair. The T5HO bulb was also smashed. I have contacted support and will let you know how it goes. I am really bummed, since I was all excited to get the 100% filter floss canister filter onto the tank.
Quick update, Ken from Ken's just called me, responding to my email. He was very nice and made quick work of my problem. They are replacing the canister portion of the classic 2217, and sending out a return label to get the broken one back to them, to file a claim with eheim. He is also shipping out a new bulb. Good response time and good solution to an otherwise crappy event. :thumbsup:
Here are some more pics of today's order from Kens:
2217 along with a box of pads I bought
white fine filter pads, which I am going to compare to the batting I purchased.
Batting I got at walmart.
Label on quilt batting that made me worry about flame retardant chemicals, but the company has emailed to say no chemicals are added.
Here are some more pics of today's order from Kens:
2217 along with a box of pads I bought
white fine filter pads, which I am going to compare to the batting I purchased.
Batting I got at walmart.
Label on quilt batting that made me worry about flame retardant chemicals, but the company has emailed to say no chemicals are added.
Quilt batting up close:
Note, the batting is folded several times over and gives the impression that it is thick, like a blanket. In reality, when you unfold it, it is actually quite thin.
Now, I know most people probably just stuff this in the filter, but I wanted to see how it would work if I cut the quilt batting in the same size as the eheim branded pads. It takes about 5 of my pads to make the thickness of an eheim white filter pad (product # 2616175).
In the end, it comes down to time vs money. If you take 30 minutes to cut these pads out, it will save you alot of money and may work better, since the weave on the batting is slightly tighter than the purchased pads. But these home-made pads have yet to stand the test of time. I will probably be able to get 3 x filters worth of homebrew pads pad from this one poly-fil package. At $10.00 box, it takes 2+ boxes of pads, so maybe $30 worth with shipping included, whereas the homebrew would only cost $4.00 per reload ($12.00 / 3). But if you time is more important to you than money, there is no downside to ordering the blue/white/ and black pads directly from a vendor.
Here is how I will stack them, this will just slip into the filter and hug the wall nice and tight. The other thing I am worried about is that it will be too hard to pull water through this, in that case, I will have to removed some pads and replace with ????.
a "real" pad is used at top to catch any white fibre mess my homebrew pads will make.
:dance:
Note, the batting is folded several times over and gives the impression that it is thick, like a blanket. In reality, when you unfold it, it is actually quite thin.
Now, I know most people probably just stuff this in the filter, but I wanted to see how it would work if I cut the quilt batting in the same size as the eheim branded pads. It takes about 5 of my pads to make the thickness of an eheim white filter pad (product # 2616175).
In the end, it comes down to time vs money. If you take 30 minutes to cut these pads out, it will save you alot of money and may work better, since the weave on the batting is slightly tighter than the purchased pads. But these home-made pads have yet to stand the test of time. I will probably be able to get 3 x filters worth of homebrew pads pad from this one poly-fil package. At $10.00 box, it takes 2+ boxes of pads, so maybe $30 worth with shipping included, whereas the homebrew would only cost $4.00 per reload ($12.00 / 3). But if you time is more important to you than money, there is no downside to ordering the blue/white/ and black pads directly from a vendor.
Here is how I will stack them, this will just slip into the filter and hug the wall nice and tight. The other thing I am worried about is that it will be too hard to pull water through this, in that case, I will have to removed some pads and replace with ????.
a "real" pad is used at top to catch any white fibre mess my homebrew pads will make.
:dance:
Hmm, that should work but while being tight against the wall is good for no bypass, make sure the stack isn't too tightly compressed cause that might restrict flow.
