75 gallon Planted Office Tank Journal
- Thread starter geekpryde
- Start date
My 'quilt batting' (polyester fiber fill) looked just like filter floss. So yeah I just stuff it in the filter. I guess the type you got is made preformed to go in a quilt?
Since this is a secondary filter, and only used to polish the water, I think I plan on having to change out the material more than a normal classic canister. If I do my maine 2217 say twice a year, this one would probably be more like 4 times a year, or as I see the flow severly restricted. I dont plan on compressing it, but letting it fill to the top stand-off, as they would naturally stack up. If the ouput from the spray bar is non-existant or slow upon hooking this up for the first time, I will know that this is just too much material to suck water through. If that happens, I guess I will try removing filter material until I get a normal flow, or maybe try the stuffing method using the filter floss stuffing type material, as opposed to this "batting" material.
Thanks for the feedback, and keep an eye on my thread to see how I make out.
Use only foam, not the floss.
Eg, Seachem Denitrate or porous clay balls(hydroponic places sell it), maybe a sack of carbon, or purigen............sintered glass rings etc.........then lots of open cell foam, say 10-20ppi ranges.
This is all you need, not ultra fine stuff, that will clog way too fast.
Sucks on the filter breakage.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Eg, Seachem Denitrate or porous clay balls(hydroponic places sell it), maybe a sack of carbon, or purigen............sintered glass rings etc.........then lots of open cell foam, say 10-20ppi ranges.
This is all you need, not ultra fine stuff, that will clog way too fast.
Sucks on the filter breakage.
Regards,
Tom Barr
I have never done this before geek, but if I were you, I would find something that is very small and try to make a gap in the polyester cloth. You might have a terrible flow issue with that much stuff jammed in that filter. I have no idea what to do, but try to gap the pieces of cloth.
Hi Tom,
Are you recommending this stuff for water polishing or general canister filter media? I have a 2217 with the customary media, this second 2217 is strictly to filter our the fine particles AKA polish the water.
When you say "foam", can you link me to a product or picture? I am not sure what you're talking about. My best guess would be Polyurethane Foams, but are these safe?
Regarding Purigen, I am very excited to see you list it. Does this mean that you have used Purigen along with EI Method, and it both works as advertised, AND does not filter our the benefits of EI on a planted tank?
Yeah, the broken 2217 was a little sad, but Ken @ Kens Fish made it all better fast. Should have a new one in today or tomorrow.
Regarding
I plan on at least testing the floss I have cut into circle shaped filter discs, and if it fails it fails. When I am wondering is, if this clogs way too fast, isn't that almost a good thing? Doesnt that mean it's done it's job and pulled a sh*t ton of stuff out of the water? I know this is against conventional wisdom, but I would think judging filters (used for mechanical filtration only) based on how long they last before clogging is VERY flawed. Of course, I dont want to burn the thing out when it goes clogged for a day and I dont notice. I guess I need to figure out a schedule where it *almost* clogs before I change it out, and I would want to change it out no more than say every two months. As a secondary filter, I can pull it out of the system for a day without having to worry about it too much.
I guess I will test it and see. It seems most of you think my massive amount of floss will be an issue, and you all may very well be correct. Success or failure, I will post back results here so others can learn.
Tom, definately get back to me on foam and purigen questions above, there are others here that could benefit from your reply.
myswtsins
Global Moderator
Hey Geek, I've been lurking lately sorry about that. 
Tank is looking great but I am sorry to hear about your recent loses, have you tested to see if their is any ammonia/nitrite present at the time of deaths?
The batting your have looks more like a micron filter pad used for water polishing so it should work well for polishing the water. The difference is that you would only use one micron pad at a time not 30. The pads themself will restrict the flow without even being clogged, if water can't travel through the pads properly they can't filter out the junk. Your batting is most likely not as effective as the micron pads so I would use a few. But I understand your determination to test your 30 pads at once and by all means go forth and test test test! This hobby would not what it is today if people didn't try out new and sometimes unapproved thing, just don't break your filter by making it work too hard. 
Tank is looking great but I am sorry to hear about your recent loses, have you tested to see if their is any ammonia/nitrite present at the time of deaths?The batting your have looks more like a micron filter pad used for water polishing so it should work well for polishing the water. The difference is that you would only use one micron pad at a time not 30.
The pads themself will restrict the flow without even being clogged, if water can't travel through the pads properly they can't filter out the junk. Your batting is most likely not as effective as the micron pads so I would use a few. But I understand your determination to test your 30 pads at once and by all means go forth and test test test! This hobby would not what it is today if people didn't try out new and sometimes unapproved thing, just don't break your filter by making it work too hard. Hey Geek, I've been lurking lately sorry about that.
Thanks for posting. Lurking is fine, I do alot of it myself.
Since my tank is overstocked, Ammonia was my first thought. Still 0 ppm. :thumbsup: Checking nitrite now... 0 ppm. Nice!
So, still a mystery death. And my replacement 2217 did not show up today.
The batting your have looks more like a micron filter pad used for water polishing so it should work well for polishing the water. The difference is that you would only use one micron pad at a time not 30.
Now that you explain it that way, it's making more sense to me. Can you link me to a "micron pad" that would fit or can be cut to fit an classic 2217? I would like to see what I can get if I wanted to buy one instead of DIY. The fine filter pads sold by eheim dont really seem to be very "fine" to me. I want something like 100 micron, or whatever will catch all the tiny bits and more of the mulm. I guess I would fill the rest of the filter with purigen, assuming Mr. Barr gets back to me on the safeness of the product in a planted tank, per a previous post.
Thanks for your comments, and keep lurking.
myswtsins
Global Moderator
I've only even seen micron padding sold in sheets that you cut to size. Big Als is always a good choice. I like Ken's for filter media too but he doesn't seem to have any "micron pads". Personally I don't use micron padding, I prefer filter floss that I can just toss after a couple rinses. Big Al's has rolls of it that I like because you can cut them and fit them into anything without just ripping some of that pillow stuffing out and bunching it in. DIY filter media is cheap enough that I think for someone like me it encourages more frequent filter cleanings.
On a side note I really love Big Al's sponges too!
On a side note I really love Big Al's sponges too!
