How do they differ from HOBs and canisters? What are the advantages/disadvantages?
TIA!
Lisa
Full Version: Can Someone Please Explain Wet/dry Filters To Me?
HOB..or hang on back filters, are exactly what it means. they are filter that hangs on the back side on your tank. water is drawn in via a pump, forced through filter material, and out into the tank
canister filter are filter in a enclosed case. water is draw from the tank, down to a case with filter elements then pumped back into the tank.
advantage for HOB is that it the flow rate is higher than canisters. its cheap
disadvantage is that it doesnt hold as much bacteria for filtration
advantage for canister filter is that its excellent biological filter. lots of surface for bacterial to grow
disadvantage is its expensive, and flow rate is not as good at HOB filters
canister filter are filter in a enclosed case. water is draw from the tank, down to a case with filter elements then pumped back into the tank.
advantage for HOB is that it the flow rate is higher than canisters. its cheap
disadvantage is that it doesnt hold as much bacteria for filtration
advantage for canister filter is that its excellent biological filter. lots of surface for bacterial to grow
disadvantage is its expensive, and flow rate is not as good at HOB filters
haha...crap, i totally misread your thread title =P i thought you were asking the difference between hob and canister.
wet dry filter are exactly what it means. wet being the water, and dry being air. it uses water and air for filtration. how does that work? typically water is drawn from the tank into a sump tank. which holds 2 compartment. 1 is the filtration, the other is the sump where a pump pumps the water back up into the tank. the water generally flows ontop on some filter floss that does the mechanical filtration, then the water trickles down on to bio balls. bio balls are like bio max which could hold a lot of bacteria. those balls are usually lifted up from the bottom so it wouldnt sit in water. the water trickles down onto the balls, which bacteria grows on them. and since they are not submerged into the water, the bacteria comes in contact with the air increasing its growth of effectiveness of filtration if you will. also, having the water trickle down increases the oxygen level in the water leading to more healthy fish.
water then i collects at the bottom where a pump pumps the water back into the tank. ive read that wet/dry filter are the most effective filters and promotes the best bacteria growth. the only down side is its even more expensive than canister filters.
wet dry filter are exactly what it means. wet being the water, and dry being air. it uses water and air for filtration. how does that work? typically water is drawn from the tank into a sump tank. which holds 2 compartment. 1 is the filtration, the other is the sump where a pump pumps the water back up into the tank. the water generally flows ontop on some filter floss that does the mechanical filtration, then the water trickles down on to bio balls. bio balls are like bio max which could hold a lot of bacteria. those balls are usually lifted up from the bottom so it wouldnt sit in water. the water trickles down onto the balls, which bacteria grows on them. and since they are not submerged into the water, the bacteria comes in contact with the air increasing its growth of effectiveness of filtration if you will. also, having the water trickle down increases the oxygen level in the water leading to more healthy fish.
water then i collects at the bottom where a pump pumps the water back into the tank. ive read that wet/dry filter are the most effective filters and promotes the best bacteria growth. the only down side is its even more expensive than canister filters.
Fred - thanks so much for the link! That was very helpful. 
Disaster, thanks for explaining wet/dry filters and how they work. I'm all for more and better bio-filtration.
Do you know anything about this particular one? Sealife Systems Wet/Dry Filter
Lisa
Disaster, thanks for explaining wet/dry filters and how they work. I'm all for more and better bio-filtration.
Do you know anything about this particular one? Sealife Systems Wet/Dry Filter
Lisa
those professionally made ones are definately going to work great. i havent tried those myself, but i did make one myself
http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=60127
if you are going with the wet/dry filter, you should get a overflow box. the way how water gets into the wet/dry filer is through siphoning and a pump pumps the water back into the tank. if you just siphon the water into the wet/dry filter, and when there is a power failure, water will continuously get drawn out of the tank, overflowing your wet/dry filter and creating a flood. the overflow box stop that from happening. when the water level gets too low it will stop siphoning out water. and when the power returns, and water level in tank returns to normal, it will automatically restart siphoning.
http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=60127
if you are going with the wet/dry filter, you should get a overflow box. the way how water gets into the wet/dry filer is through siphoning and a pump pumps the water back into the tank. if you just siphon the water into the wet/dry filter, and when there is a power failure, water will continuously get drawn out of the tank, overflowing your wet/dry filter and creating a flood. the overflow box stop that from happening. when the water level gets too low it will stop siphoning out water. and when the power returns, and water level in tank returns to normal, it will automatically restart siphoning.
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i did make one myself
actually read that pinned thread yesterday, Disaster! I was impressed. You did an awesome job on that.
Okay, overflow box. Can I make one?
I really have no idea what I'm getting myself into.
I hope this filter comes with instructs, or else I'm going to be back asking for help on how to install it. If it's exactly like the picture, it comes with a prefilter. Where does that go? On the tank or below with the other piece?See? Told you I have no idea what I'm doing.
Lisa
this website should help you understand more about wet/dry filter
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/wetdry.htm
this should help you understand overflow box
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/overflow.htm
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/wetdry.htm
this should help you understand overflow box
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/overflow.htm
Thank you for the links, Disaster. Those helped a lot. I did find out that it comes with an overflow box, so that's good. I don't yet know which pump it comes with, though. That shouldn't matter a whole lot, as I'm going to keep my 3 AC110s on there and will be using the wet/dry mostly for bio-filtration.
Again, thanks for all your help!
Lisa
Again, thanks for all your help!
Lisa
3 AC110? what size tank do you have?
if your buying this as a whole kit, they should include a pump that would perform close to what the overflow box could flow. or at least thats what ill do.
if your buying this as a whole kit, they should include a pump that would perform close to what the overflow box could flow. or at least thats what ill do.
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3 AC110? what size tank do you have?
It's a 135g.
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if your buying this as a whole kit, they should include a pump that would perform close to what the overflow box could flow. or at least thats what ill do.
The guy has been out sick the last two days, so I'm still waiting for some of the specifics. Hopefully, he knew what he was doing (better than I do, at least, lol) and has all the correct stuff.
We'll see!
Lisa
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