ER9

my hang on back filter has a tube that reaches down about 6 inches into the tank but has an extension that i could use to suck in water from closer to the bottom of the tank. curious what opinions any of you have as to wether theres any benefit to either?

sirdarksol

Further down is better in most cases, as the water is feeding in from the top. If you filtered from closer to the top, you'll be getting a lot of freshly filtered water getting sucked back into the filter.

J J Indy

I agree with sirdarksol that the further down the better also someone can correct me if I am wrong that most of the waste and uneaten food would be on or near the bottom of the tank and thats what you want out of the tank anyway.

Tavel

Im also in agreement. further separation of the intake and outlet forces greater circulation which makes the filter more efficient.

Devon

Agree with everyone above!! You get better water circulation the closer to the bottom the intake is. Also, as JJ mentioned all the waste that you want rid of tends to settle in the bottom of the tank!

clinton1621

If you want both you could use a surface skimmer attachment that fits most HOB filters, it still filters from the bottom but also allows surface water to "drain" down into the top of the skimmer to get rid of floating waste

Fishies-for-me

What they said ^.

ER9

very good. thanks for all the replies. will definatelly add the extension. will also look into that surface skimer....sounds like i could benefit from that as my new ank doesn't have much water movement. lots of floating plant debris sometimes after prunning.

COBettaCouple

I'd agree with SDS and add that extension to the filter tube.

Butterfly

Yep all good advice My intakes are right at the substrate line and the water flows across the top of the water column. If they(uptake and outflow) are too close your getting recirculation of the same water and not much filteration. Good question!
Carol