Better Filtration

Apology in advance I'm sure the answer to this is somewhere here but I can't find it.

brian is fried. I have been researching HOB filters for my 29 gal. Currently have a aqueon believe it's a 30 but hubby says 40. (Quiet the debate we have. He bought it 3-4years ago, when he was fish daddy) anywho. I think its junk. Constantly changing filters as they plug up and the filter will over flow. I have tried adding extra filters but the dang thing backs up and then nothing gets filtered. Ugh between the tank and my two tantrum toddlers today I'm lost. I'm concerned about current too as we have shrimp.
Help me please

 

Are you asking for recommendations on a better filter? If so, go with a larger aqueon filter, normally 2-3 times the filtration level for your tank. I have a 70 on my 26 and ave had no problems. It appears that the filter you currently have isn't sufficient for your tank.

 

This is what we have

Trainandfishguy yes I'm looking for recommendations. I'm looking at getting below. My calculations tell me I need between 230 - 290 gph

 

HOBs do plug up, depending on how much physical debris they are removing from the tank. I have to clean mine weekly due to the clown pleco waste, or else the water slows down and they fill with brown sludge.

Transitioning to easy to clean media like aquarium foam makes it a LOT easier, no matter which filter you have. The cartridges they sell are utter junk, aquarium media should never be thrown out, only cleaned in a bucket of water removed from the tank!

 

I agree with the above. If you wanna switch to a different filter, I love the Aquaclear filters.

You might be able to make yours work better. I'll post the video below that I always link. First, I'd recommend an intake sponge as those trap a lotof the debris and are easy to clea. (The best way is use a ziplock bag to cover as you pull out so debris coming off stays mostly in the bag. Then squeeze in the bag. You can dump out the water and refill with tank water and repeat till it's clean.

This should reduce how often you need to clean the material in the filter. (The intake sponge also gives you extra surface area to grow BB).

Ditch the cartridges and hot rod as suggested in the video. It'll save you money on cartridges and it makes things more stable as you keep the bacteria surfaces when you clean. (That's unless you add filter floss or pads to polish the water, but at least you'd be keeping most of it around).

 

AquaClear all the way. Its a HOB, but its super customizable with foams, biorings, etc. I put foam and ceramic rings in mine and take them out once every few months to rinse. You can basically put whatever you want in it for media. Mine NEVER plug up, and its all I use on my 10 to 30 gallon tanks. Anything under 10 gets a sponge filter, anything over 30 I use canisters.

 

Thank you so much. Anyone know about ECOPLUS? For some reason my husband has a ECOPLUS 264. there is no box and from what I can find it's to small for our 29 gal. I know it's a submersible pump but what's the benefits?

 

That's just a pump, not a filter. It only moves water.

 

DuaneV thank you. I keep telling him left over hydro equipment is not filtration just water movement.

 

Personally ill never buy a filter again that takes cartridges. My HOB is a noname chinese HOB that has 5 compartmentsyou can add whatever media you like.

 

May I ask how you have yours set up

 

May I ask how you have yours set up

Coarse sponge 1st then floss then 3 chambers if ceremic rings.

 

Thanks everyone. You have convinced me to **** out my filtration and helped convince my hubby.

 

Still trying to find a prefilter sponge. Selection at Petco sucks and we couldn't make it to our other place. We got a few things to improve what we have.
1st foam filter where water comes in for large debris
Then ceramic biomass with filter pad (cut to fit) where water filters before returning to tank.

Sorry if that's confusing. It's hard to describe my thought. Lol I get excited

 

Get the number 2 for an intake.



I personally use these on all my HOBS intake. I have so many tanks that I usually set them up as a double and when I set up a new tank I just pull a single sponge off and BANG, already have a cycle going.

 

I use these on all my filters except the Aquaclear 110 which I use a large filter sponge from Aquarium Coop. I also use a small filter sponge I found at a LFS.

The filter max listed above as good as they come with adapters but the plastic connectors can be hard to turn. Aquarium Coop was getting complaints about it which is why I suspect they stopped carrying it.

I heard several reports of people just getting an Aquaclear sponge and cutting an x into the top to use as a prefilter. It works but some might not like the way the white looks.

 

FYI, if you get the filter max prefilters, I've found that the plastic pieces are easier to turn after they've been in water.

I couldnt turn the connected pieces and I was afraid they were going to break. The reviews on Aquarium Coop reported issues of breakage .I put the filter in the tank and let it run even though I didn't like the way the sponge was oriented. About ten minutes later I tried again and the pieces turned easily.

 

What you are suggesting won't work or at least I don't think it will. DuaneV left a link with the type of filter I need. Just need something to slip over I take. I thought about your other suggestion but I don't think I will like how much the white filter would stick out. Also I think it would be very unattractive with debris stuck to it, black would hide some things.