What is causing this!?

Originally posted by 80gJoe
About that gunk that comes out when you turn the filter back on, it's the bad design of using 'corrugated' hoses! I will never figure out why they used them, other than for flexibility. Seems clear plastic tubing at Home Depot would work just as well. The ridges in the tubing hold gunk in there..

I want to change out my Fluval tubing, but I need to figure how to re-attach the new hoses so they are water tight again..
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Joe - I'm a bit suprised that you feel it's a poor design... most people that have experience with the previous hosing used on Fluvals (previous series such as the x03 used just plain urethane tubing of some sort) agree that it does have a particular benefit... that it really dosen't need cleaning, perhaps 1x to 2x a year tops. The ribbing on the hosing actually creates tons of small eddiess in the water that "scrub" the walls of the hosing and keep it fairly clean without any effort involved. I believe the reason for the change was not enough people went through the ordeal of pulling a pipe cleaner on a string through the tubing often enough. Great new design, IMHO, for us people whom don't like having to detach the hoses and clean them to prevent algae buildup on the insides every couple of weeks.

cds - The best way to stack media, IMO is to first do mechanical (sponges/floss), then your biological (ceramic media/bioballs) and follow it all up with your chemical filtration (carbon/etc). Basically what you are doing is first removing debris that will tend to clog up the pores on the biomedia (unless using bioballs), then you are changing the Ammonia to NO2/NO3, and finishing up by whatever chemical media you deem fit for your particular setup. I personally fill the last of my baskets with peat, the first several with biomedia and use a prefilter sponge for my primary mechanical filtration. Needs cleaning very rarely, only requires me to change my peat every so often to keep the water a little softer.

The sponge is a great idea on ANY filter intakes, even AquaClears or Whispers. Prefilter sponges tend to be of a much higher density than the internal sponges and prevents a ton of that gunk from getting into your filter which takes more time and effort to clean out. Whereas the sponge will only require a quick 30 seconds squeezing in a bucket of water during your normal waterchanges. ALSO, by rinsing that prefilter sponge with every waterchange, you will find that your nitrates are staying much, much lower than if you had only cleaned your filter every several water changes. Reason being that you are removing lots of organic waste before it has a much of a chance to break down into your aquaria as nitrates.

Cheers,
Raithan O. Ellis
 
Originally posted by cds
....Every time I clean my filter and restart, a bunch of detrifus (sp?) blasts from the exhaust into the tank.
(A) What causes this?
(B) How can I stop it?
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Originally posted by Raithan Ellis

Joe - I'm a bit suprised that you feel it's a poor design... most people that have experience.... .... The ribbing on the hosing actually creates tons of small eddiess in the water that "scrub" the walls of the hosing and keep it fairly clean without any effort involved... .. .. .. ..
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Raithan, I KNOW you would not steer anyone in the wrong direction... How can you possibly say that corrugated tubing (with all those 'eddys') will keep the line clear?? Please - those ridges are 'nooks and crannys' where debris likes to stick.. And, algae build-up with smooth intake and outlet lines? How? Where's the light to provide the algae build-up?

I have 2 canisters.
One has those lousy 'ribbed - corrugated' hoses that promote build-up, as per this topic.
The other canister has smooth hoses with no crud build-up. And, no algae growth to speak of either....

Could I be reading your post wrong??

With 2 different types of hoses in use, I know that Fluval's ribbed water lines are not good.
Expect some crud to spill out into the tank (or net, hopefully) when re-starting your Fluvals.. Fact.

Now, you can use the garden hose and flush the tubings along with using a large 'pipe brush'. That will help... I hate having to disconnect and clean hoses when doing a filter cleaning. Can't wait to replace the ribbed hoses..... Ribbed hoses are a poor design.

Another point...
I did the garden hose cleaning of the Fluval. Yuck..
The Filstar (smooth hoses) didn't need it, as I could clearly see it didn't.. Same amount of tank use too.

Smooth lines, or ribbed (corrugated)? Smooth all the way -- for me !

HTH :)
 
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Wow, you guys are really coming through on this one!! Okay, all of that said, if I did want to change to "smooth" tubing, who has a suggestion for what to use? Can I just go to home depot and buy similar sized plumbing tubing??

Thanks again everyone... let's keep this thread rolling!!

cds
 
Re: Re: What is causing this!?

Originally posted by 80gJoe
Raithan, I KNOW you would not steer anyone in the wrong direction... How can you possibly say that corrugated tubing (with all those 'eddys') will keep the line clear?? Please - those ridges are 'nooks and crannys' where debris likes to stick.. And, algae build-up with smooth intake and outlet lines? How? Where's the light to provide the algae build-up?

I have 2 canisters.
One has those lousy 'ribbed - corrugated' hoses that promote build-up, as per this topic.
The other canister has smooth hoses with no crud build-up. And, no algae growth to speak of either....

Could I be reading your post wrong??
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Joe - Those "eddies" actually help prevent detrius from being able to easily stick to the walls of hosing by creating some turbulence, and in essence, yes they do help scrub it. Yes, I realize there are "nooks and crannies" where debris would be expected to build up, and you will have some of that as I stated "fairly clean", but it can only build up to a certain point and in my experience it stays much cleaner than clear urethane tubing when left unattended for long periods of time.

When I spoke of algae growth, I was referring to the clear urethane tubing that some of the older Fluvals had used, they later switched to a slightly better smoked grey color of the tubing to prevent as much light from entering the hose to prevent so much growth in the tube. With the completely opaque tubing now used, it's not even a concern anymore.

Also, I forgot to mention my favorite part about the ribbed tubing... it doesn't kink or crease over time.

Cheers,
Raithan O. Ellis
 
Are we talking about a thin layer of scum, or actual small particles recognizable as plant material? If it's more like scum, then it's likely a layer of bio-film--bacteria and other tiny critters that feed on detritus and such in the water column. Often, this layer will break free and float into the tank when the current from the filter subsides, as during a cleaning. Short of frequently cleaning the hoses, there is no way to stop the film from forming, and the critters that make up this film are benefical anyway.

Unless it creates a large cloud that is slow to clear, I wouldn't worry about it much.
 
I have a Fluval with smooth tubing, and the same thing happens. Restart, and there's a blast of brownish dust in the water.
Yes, when I clean, I take the entire cannister apart and clean all the sponges, biomedia (light rinsing) and everything.
I think the stuff is still coming from the tubes. Even though they are smooth, there's still a light bacterial buildup on the tubes. Too much of a pain to clean every time, and in the process of moving everything around and restarting I think some of these bacteria get dislodged. Hey, it all goes away after a short time and I don't really think it is harming anything.
 
I have fluval 304 and thanks to 80gjoe I have a filstar. The fluval always spits out junk on restart, the filstar is clear. Its got to be either the no bypass on the filstar or the fluval allows particles to pass thru and getting caught the ridges on the tube. Just my opion. I think the pre filter is the way to go. I need to get a couple of them myself. Tim
 
Originally posted by 750t
.. I think the pre filter is the way to go. I need to get a couple of them myself. Tim
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Filstars are nice! They have handles too! :)

I can't recommend 'pre-filters' since the canister is designed to work without it. You might want to experiment with the 'pre-filter' and post later on if it helps or not..
 
You raise a great point: if these large, white "chunks" or "shreds" of something is a build-up in the tubes, then how did it get there? I ask because I'm now concerned that maybe the filter isn't doing it's job...

Perhaps the pre-filter is an answer?
 
cds - I honestly wouldn't worry about the debris coming out of the filter. Also, if you were to get a pre-filter, not only would you probably notice more clairity in the water, be able to remove organic waste more easily before it becomes nitrate, but you will also be able to filter that gunk that comes out of your filter much more quickly.

Also, I do notice on my filters which are using pre-filters, I don't have to clean them nearly as often... even the cannisters.

Regards,
Raithan O. Ellis
 
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