i dont feel that its going to cut down the need to maintain your filter though. Thats still going to need doing
Good Tip or Asking for Trouble?
- Thread starter HalifaxGirl
- Start date
It sounds like you were advised to do something like this. I took a filter like this one and cut a slit in one end.
Then I slipped it over the end of the tube in my Heterandria formosa tank to save their minuscule fry.
After a few weeks it looked like the picture. I have not lost any fry since I put it there.
Then I slipped it over the end of the tube in my Heterandria formosa tank to save their minuscule fry.
After a few weeks it looked like the picture. I have not lost any fry since I put it there.
good call on ditching the under gravel filter...i just had a major nightmare with my tank because of it
properly maintained and set up UG filters are still a good choice. they will create the largest biological filter in your tank.
having a pre-filter does not preclude you from doing maintenance..but it does add more bio filtration and will reduce build up in the body of the filter.
having a pre-filter does not preclude you from doing maintenance..but it does add more bio filtration and will reduce build up in the body of the filter.
I also use prefilters to preclude livestock from getting sucked up into the filter.
But other than that,
Whats the difference? if you have to clean out a piece of foam from inside the tank or from inside the filter? Its actually more of a PITA to fit the pre-filter back over the intake than to just drop the sponge into the HOB. Its six of one and a half dozen of the other.
But other than that,
Whats the difference? if you have to clean out a piece of foam from inside the tank or from inside the filter? Its actually more of a PITA to fit the pre-filter back over the intake than to just drop the sponge into the HOB. Its six of one and a half dozen of the other.
really? I find it pretty easy to remove and replace.. I simply pull the pick up tube up remove the sponge and replace on tube slip back in. the big benefit I find is less mulm build up in the filter. and the added benefit of an extra sponge in case I need to set up a qt/hospital tank.
AquaClears are my favorite HOB filters - bearing in mind that I use these filters with aquatic reptiles that really gunk up the water quickly and create at least twice the bioload of a heavily stocked fish tank - I have used a number of sponge prefilters cut to fit the intake, my favorite is a black circular prefilter (by marineland I think) that is predilled and about 8-10 inches long for about $10 at the LFS, I just cut it into 2" lengths and it slips on easily.
Major drawback to this specific set up: if the prefilter gets clogged, the filter motor can overheat and conceivabley shorten the filters lifespan or create a fire hazard, not too much of an issue in a well attended fish tank I think...(anacharis plant leaves shredded by a turtle and floating free in the water did a real number on mine several years ago, lesson heeded)
Major drawback to this specific set up: if the prefilter gets clogged, the filter motor can overheat and conceivabley shorten the filters lifespan or create a fire hazard, not too much of an issue in a well attended fish tank I think...(anacharis plant leaves shredded by a turtle and floating free in the water did a real number on mine several years ago, lesson heeded)
With a prefilter, the mulm builds up in the sponge pre-filter instead of the sponge inside the filter. Again, what's the difference? You're still cleaning a sponge.
