Can you help me on how to make a prefilter for my Whisper 20 and 30? I was thinking of some way I could cut an aquaclear sponge to fit over it. How often do I have to maintain it, replace it, and how do I know when it is clogged? How often do I need to replace it? Will this help keep my cartridges, impeller, filter box, and intake tube cleaner?

Sorry for the long delay in replying.

Very good question.

Yes, a sponge prefilter over the intake of a filter would certainly allow you to greatly prolong the overall life and frequency of cleaning of filter cartridges. The only catch (isn't there always a catch?) is that you'll have to rinse the sponge out very frequently. This is to keep the flow of water entering the intake at an optimal rate. Allowing the sponge to clog would stop the filter from working at the rate is is designed to. You can simply remove the sponge from the intake, squeeze and rinse it out in a nice stream of HOT tapwater in the sink until you have knocked loose all of the debris clouding it. Once done, just replace it. I would make two sponges so that you can just add a clean one to the intake immediately aftr removing the gunked up one. Alternate accordingly.

There are other reasons for utilizing sponges over the intake. Keeping food from entering the filter before it gets consumed, keeping small fish and fry from entering the intake, keeping plant debris from clogging intakes and even using a large sponge over the intake to provide extra area for bio-filtration. No matter what ones reasons for using a prefilter are, just remember that it needs to be checked and cleaned very regularly.


Hope this helps!


Paul

i have a aquaclear filter 20 for my 15 gal tank. i got 3 small goldfish in there now and planning on moving to a bigger thank in the near future. i have a few questions on my filter.

i noticed that my filter needs frequent cleaning (twice a week). instead of water being forced through the filter media, it escapes from the relieve hole because filter is all clogged up. is this an indication of moving to a bigger filter?

also, i notice your bio wheel is all covered in the good stuff. should i leave my biofilter media in my filter longer until its covered in that brown stuff or i should follow the box and replace it after 3 months of use?

Hi Disaster!


Wether you should replace the media in your filters every so often really depends on the media you're using in your filter. In my opinion, Aquaclears are best used without ANYthing in the basket/slide except two sponges OR a sponge and an inert media that is specifically a "bio-media" only for colonizing beneficial bacters (the good stuff! ) Ammonia chips and carbon, white and black rocks (respectively), are not needed in a well filtered aquarium. Neither are needed at all. Inert bio-medias NEVER need replacing.


So, I would either use ceramic rings or pea sized lava rock or some other commercial "bio-media". In doing that, you would be able to rinse your sponge out as well as you want under all the glory of water pressure from a hose sprayer or handheld showerhead. But never rinse your bio-media in anything but old tankwater in the bucket. You shouldn't have to do that but once every couple months at the most (and ONLY out of necessity from clogging).

OR just use two sponges, one atop the other. Then, you can alternate rinsings each week. In doing that, you should be doing well for your bio-fitler. This should keep things flowing through the sponges nicely.


Does that help?

Thanks toothless. im using aquaclear's sponge filter as a filter media, then the carbon filter which i will take out now and the biomax filer from aquaclear.

when ever i clean the sponge, there is a lot of gunk, poop, and leaves inside the sponge that clogs it up preventing enough water to flow through. hens my original question if a bigger filter is needed since im cleaning my filter twice a week.

thanks again toothless. and great forum! should of joined a lot sooner!

I'm glad I was able to help. Filtration and maintenence is one of the biggest mysteries for newbies just getting into "proper" fishkeeping. Once folks get a good feel for how filtration works and how to keep it working correctly, their fish greatly benefit!


As for your Bio-Max, thats EXACTLY what ceramic rings are. http://www.hagen.com/usa/aquatic/product.c...=01013400020101

These are the PERFECT bio-media! You needn't ever replace them. Just make sure that you retain a good flow of water through them. If they ever gunk up so much that the flow seems impeded through them, shake them out a bit in a bucket of tankwater during a waterchange.

Incidentely, I have a solution for the leaves getting clogged up on the sponge in the filter..... Try purchasing a replacement sponge for an aquaclear filter (or the like) and shaping it down to the size of a pill bottle. Hollow out a small area in the center of it so that you can slide it over the end of the intake tube. This becomes a prefilter and will stop ALL debris large enough to completely clog the sponge in between normal filter maintenence and waterchanges. Not to mention, you will get virtually zero wasted food morsels because the sponge will stop it from prematurely entering the filter. You might even find that the fish will eat up the trapped leaves on the prefilter too! A sure-fire fix in more ways than one......

thanks toothless. thats actually a great idea! ill give that a try!

those bio-max rings you showed me looks similar to the ones i have..except they are not hollow.

again, thans so much

The filter you have now only does 100gph, which isn't quite the 10x turnover rate we goldfish owners like to have as a minimum. A new filter would be good but since your getting a new tank just get a filter that would be used for that tank. Remember the 10x turnover, so if you get a 30 gallon for your 3 fish your filter should do at least 300 gph. Then you can just hook that on to this tank and get it ready for the new tank plus add the higher gph to this tank to keep it a little cleaner till then.

Thats good you noticed that Silver.

Your filtration IS a little undergunned for your tank. Silvers suggestion of getting another filter is a great one. Here's what I would do:

Figure out the size of the tank your looking to get. Once you know, you can purchase another Aquaclear that, in tendem with your existing filter, will put you at the 10X flow rate for your future tank. The good part about the Aquaclears is that they have a very effective flow control and you'd be able to tone them both down a little til you got your new tank.


Paul

thanks silver and toothless, i think ill go get a bigger filter for my tank then. when i do get a new one, i would have new sponge, and bio filter. should i leave my old sponge or bio filter in the new filter until all the good bateria start growing?

another question: are canister filter better than the hang on backs? they are more expensive than the hang on backs on so there must be a reason for their price.

thanks

I am running a canister and a HOB on my goldfish tank. Canisters hold an unbelievable amout of biofiltration and my HOB does quite a bit of the mechanical filtration. I have a combined GPH of about 550 on a 29 gallon tank.

Here is something you didn't cover, Paul. Filter placement. Where is the best place for a power filter on a goldfish tank? In the middle? To the left? To the right? I am just wondering. I love Koko's as it has the most information!! And Paul, you seem to be very expierenced and you seem to know what you are talking about!

What's a good filter for a 75gal tall tank?
I will have 3, 4" comets & 3-4, 3" fantails in there.
What's better, HOB or canister filters?

I have 5 Rasboras in a 5 gallon tank, with an Elite submerged filter (don't know which one, I got rid of the box *sheepish*) and it's on as high as it will go, but my water is cloudy!
I had *just* changed the water last night.
This filter just has a sponge, could that be the problem? Should I just go out and purchase a filter with more "stuff" in it? I just don't want one so powerful it sucks up my little fish. They're all under 1 inch, and while they are strong swimmers, I don't think they can compete with a huge filter.

what water conditioner are you using?
cloudy isn't always a bad thing

Oh my gosh! I am such a silly fishgirl. My boyfriend and I were shopping around to set up my new ten gallon tank and we couldn't understand why someone didn't make something that was a filter AND airator! We just figured the world is a silly place and I bought an airpump with a rectangular airstone. Then when my tank was set up the water level was below the spillway as I hadn't bought the decorations I wanted yet and I didn't want to worry about overflowing the tank with my hands/accessories in the tank.

So the water level was just about 2 inches below the 'right' level and wouldn't ya know I noticed that the water seemed a little messier than it normally is. Go figure. So I fixed my error (thank you so much for pointing it out! I had no idea, how ignorant!) and now my tank has TONS of bubbles and will hopefully end up cleaner. My fish will be so happy.

I just wanted to celebrate the fact that I bought some ceramic rings to stick in my filter.

Since my last post I've upgraded to a biowheel AND bought ceramic rings.

I'm a fancy fish girl now, haha.

Toothless;

Thanks for the information and sharing your experiences.

I've had my set up for just shy a year, april will be the 1yr. annivesray and happy to report no casultiies or h20 quality issues; i monitor every week and religously chnage the water.

After reading your artcile, it confirmed, I hope, that my recent tinkering and tweaking with my filetrs is in the right direction. First I added a second HOB filter which I had left over from a smaller tank. So for my 29g. tank I have the penguin 200 and 100(both with bio-wheel) running at each end. In addition I added to the 200 the extra media slot and used "white diamond". I then started thinking about, from reading, water polishing. This seemd over the top to have a thrid device and so on. What it did was give me the idea to add to both filters a swatch of 100 micron filter fabric between the media slots. I just cut them out to match the same profile as the media cartridge. I did notice the water is much clearer, water levels quality remains excellent and this has not restricted the flow or performance of the pump. So...

As I'm not looking for compliments, I am looking for critique...am I nuts? Have i created something that in the long term can be a problem?

What I have been thinking next is to gentlty place in a fine filter bag in the back for other media to grow BB. This may be sintered glass beads or the such just slightly in the compartment adjacent to the impeller such that it will neither jam it or restrict flow. My intent is to max out this filters abilty.

I would just like to know your thoughts if you think I am over tinkering or not. I guess as I saw written in this post " that happy BB = happy h20 which = happy fish. May last question as well is I saw the pic of your intake tube....is the intent for this to be extended down below the gravel level?

thanks for your thoughts and time to repsond to this thread.

Fishieperson321 has a good point.

It really depends on what type of gravel and what type of intake screen is employed. If the intake screen is fine enough that none of the gravel can get sucked into it, then you can have the tip of the intake screen sitting directly at gravel surface. This is actually optimal if gravel is used at all. Of course, if river rocks or no substrate at all is used, the tip of the intake screen should rest on the bottom. If gravel is being used that fits through the intake screen, then the tip of the intake screen should be no closer than 3 inches to the gravel.



In a 75 gallon tank those comets wont remain 4 inches for long. Neither will the fantails for that matter. Once the fish grow out to their full size 2-3 years, your 75 gallon will be pushing its stocking limits. For a fully stocked tank like that (and I mean FULLY stocked), your going to need some powerful filtration. A couple of medium sized canister filters, or a large one, will be needed to handle the mass of waste the goldies will be putting out.


Spacecakegirl, I'm glad you found this thread helpful!





White Diamond (Marineland Products) is basically zeolite. Its the same stuff used in most kitty litters. It's main function is to get ammonia to stick to the surface areas of the pores in the granules. once completely saturated, it no longer does anything except to serve as a good place for beneficial bacterias to grow. No need to worry about the trapped ammonia as it will be processed by the bacteria as they colonize the granules.

The micron mesh is a good water polishing technique but I think you'll find that they tend to clog up eventually and need tending too periodically.

See my answer to fishieperson321 for my thoughts on the intake screen.

All in all, it sounds like your on the right track to understanding your filtration!


Sorry so late in all the replies, I've been gone for a bit but I'll be around again.


PAul

tons of great advice - i had no idea that mucky brown stuff on my aquatech 5-15 filter cartridge was GOOD - i'll stop changing it so often.
now, my issue: i'm building a motion display for my tank which i plan on using an air pump to drive, then pass through an airstone into the tank. when this goes in, i was planning on switching from my HOB to an undergravel filter for which i was going to buy a powerhead. all the advice i'm finding on the undergravel systems has them being activated with airpumps and riser tubes, but since my air pump will be otherwise employed, i didnt want to air pump my filter and cause my 10 gallon, single fantail tank to become a bubbling cauldron tossing my poor goldie around. with a powerhead on an undergravel system, is there any other filtration besides the gravel? i dont see any of the powerheads coming with pre-pump filters, or offering to sell me any, and i dont want to A) ruin the powerhead with debris that gets sucked through it, and B) have to keep traumatizing my fish by pulling the whole environment apart to fix the filter. is the gravel such an effective natural filter that all i'll need to do is vacuum with my weekly water changes and not worry about changing any filter cartridges anymore?

Wow, I thought I was getting pretty good at keeping goldfish (they have been alive for almost a year...) and then I read this article. I almost feel overwhelmed, but grateful for this website. You guys should compile your information into a book.

Books are dead Fishchick.... long live the internet! Although a fair tome it would be none the less.

Aww, hey now, let's give the book its fair share!!! Books are not quite dead yet nimajneb. Although information is constantly in a state of flux, which is why the Internet is such a wonderful tool for staying on top of it all, I quite enjoy having a book (that I trust) that contains all the information I need.

So here's to Fishchick's suggestion: let's write a book!

I hope my girlfriend doesn't read this post or she'll be in a right state!
(here appetite for books mirrors most gf's appetite for peas; and she infected me with that as well )

Books are alive . Never heard of L-space? (A discworld joke)
Yes I'm adicted to books

Terry Pratchett rules! (yes, véry off-topic I know )

I also agree that it would be a good idea to write a book With the expertise and (photographic) material available on this forum, that should be quite doable.

Hi. I have two 5 in. (including tail) comets that are in a 30 gallon tank and one 1 in. (not including tail) fantail in a 5 gallon tank. The 30 gal. has 2 different filters on it. One's Penguin Bio-Wheel 150 which has two cartridges in it right now and the other is a Whisper 30. The 5 gal. has 1 small filter, I think it's a Whisper too. I s the filtration okay or do any of the tanks need more?

Could you maybe specify the 'gallons per hour' of both filters? That's usually the best/first way to see if the filter is sufficient for the tank.

The Penguin filters 150 gph and the Whisper 30 filters 145 gph. I have no idea of how much the little one on the 5 gal. filters. The dimensions are 5x4.5x6 (lxwxh) if that helps. Here are some pics... i don't know if they'll work...


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ugghh they didn't work.... in addition to my question about the filtration how do u add pics to ur questions or replies??? k thx

Hi,

Newbie here.. I've inherited a 5g tank and Have bought 3 orandas and after reading more about goldfishes.. Have decided to buy a bigger tank. Spotted a 2nd hand 14 g tank for sale online and I've bought it!!

The thing is - I was previously using an Aquaclear 20 in the inherited 5g tank and this new tank (JEBO) has an external filter which has a trickling paip and plastic grid. I was told by the person that sold me this to get just some pad and cut it into size and fit it in... Have tried searching online and having not much luck here... One of my oranda's died due to disease in the 5g tank and I have managed to salvage 2 of them with antibiotics.. they are now well and happy... Thank goodness!!! Have been changing water twice a week to make sure there's not too much ammonia overload!!

Anyone know about this sort of trickling filters and how to equip them? I have not buy anything yet as I am not sure what to buy.. I'm looking forward to moving them to a new tank but am wary that I might stress them out too.. Am reading about cycling the tank and was thinking about putting gravel and some plants into it and then a bottom feeder into it to cycle it..

Never really thought that keeping goldfish is such hard work but I am determined not to lose anymore!! It was traumatic for me to lose the fish..

HELP!! appreciare anyone that can offer advice..


Btw the JEBO trickling filter has 300gph capacity..