MeGustaUnaPez926
Is there anyway you can make filter floss all on your own? I only have one and I can't get to the LFS for awhile, and I am trying to rid my tank of green water. Any ideas for substitutes?
DIY Filter Floss
Shawnie
once you can get to a store, go to walmart or any craft store and buy a huge bag of polyester stuffing for a pillow ..make sure no dyes or perfumes and you can get a bag for $4 or so that will last you forever!
MeGustaUnaPez926
- Thread Starter
- #3
Hey, I already have that, I'm (sort of) a seamstress. Sweet, now I don't have to buy anything! So I just take a hunk of that and stick it in?
CHoffman
That's what I use too..It's great and cheap. That's awesome that you already have it on hand. That's a score.
MeGustaUnaPez926
- Thread Starter
- #8
The great thing is I am most likely never going to make a pillow again, so that was just sitting there. I feel like such a dork, but I'm really excited about this!!!
Shawnie
dont feel that way!!! I wouldnt have ever thought of something like this if I didnt read it here on fishlore...now that's about all I use for filter media other than the tanks I run carbon in ....such a great savings for sure
Butterfly
That's what I use also Besides dyes and perfumes make sure it doesn't have flame retardants and mildew retardants in it. Just the plain stuffing
carol
MeGustaUnaPez926
- Thread Starter
- #11
Shoot... Should I take it out then? It's flame resistant...
Butterfly
I don't know what effect the retardant will have and have never used floss with it in it but since they use a chemical to make it flame resistant I would. Sorry
Carol
Carol
MeGustaUnaPez926
- Thread Starter
- #13
Dang... Okay, I guess it'll come out then.
≈ D ≈
Here is what I use:
Floss Alternative
What I put it in
The floss alternative I get from Walmart in the craft section.
The filter bag I get from Lowes in the paint section. It also has other uses - carbon, peat, purigen etc. You couls also use a stocking. (Not fishnet though > )
I use the bag for the floss to prevent any loose strands damaging an impeller.
Hope this is of use to someone,
D
Floss Alternative
What I put it in
The floss alternative I get from Walmart in the craft section.
The filter bag I get from Lowes in the paint section. It also has other uses - carbon, peat, purigen etc. You couls also use a stocking. (Not fishnet though > )
I use the bag for the floss to prevent any loose strands damaging an impeller.
Hope this is of use to someone,
D
bettafish2816
as ≈ D ≈, pointed out, you're going to want to get a bag for the filter floss rather than just putting it in there to prevent pieces from getting everywhere
MeGustaUnaPez926
- Thread Starter
- #16
Yeah, that's a good point. I'm really upset because it was just starting to work!
Butterfly
I just stuff mine in the filter behind the sponges It doesn't go anywhere.
Nicolas Rodriguez
Ok so I'm just reading this, if I stuff this in my filter, then when my father sets up his tank I can just stuff it all in there and it would be the same as putting established filter media in? 0.o
Red1313
Seeded media acts to speed cycle a tank. The long that the media has been in a mature tank the faster it will cycle a new tank. Depending on the size of the new tank it will either insta cycle it or speed cycle. However the media needs to be seeded for roughly 3 weeks first.
Nicolas Rodriguez
sweet, thanks for the input.
Aquarist
I use batting material from Wal Mart craft department. Works GREAT!
griffin
that's what I use as well. works great, and cheap too! just be sure to get the kind that doesn't have any extra chemicals for stuff like flame retardant and such
whiskeyhill
Here's how you do it...simple,fast.....done
MeGustaUnaPez926
- Thread Starter
- #24
Um, whiskey hill, was there a picture that was supposed to be attached to that, because I'm not understanding...
Iron waffle
It's supposed to be a video, I see it just fine
MeGustaUnaPez926
- Thread Starter
- #26
Oh, I've got software on my computer that filters out all videos. Case solved!
MizRamzi
I've noticed that no one mentions the use of charcoal with their media. Is it really not necessary? Does it kill the healthy bacteria? Is it just for removing ammonia?
Butterfly
Most of us don't use charcoal unless removing meds from our tanks. It lasts such a short time before it quits works that it's not worth replacing. charcoal doesn't kill the bacteria but it doesn't remove ammonia either.
Carol
MizRamzi
well gezzzzz, now that makes me fill up with all kinds of questions. Where did the idea come from? Why do they sell it? And the biggest question is, where the heck have I been? I mean just about every filter sold has charcoal embedded into it. Now that I don't need it (it is a pain anyways) I'm gonna buy my own stuffin. Thanks for the info.
mjordan
what about the carbon that supposablt last 4 to 6 months.
ill get in dr fosters real quick.
is this stuff any good. I was looking at it in one of there magazines yesterday.
its called chemi-pure
ill get in dr fosters real quick.
is this stuff any good. I was looking at it in one of there magazines yesterday.
its called chemi-pure
bassbonediva
I just bought an AquaTech 5 gallon tank kit off Craigslist for $10 (yay!). This tank is basically a Marineland Eclipse 6 tank, just five gallons instead of six. The media that came with it is a bit old and crusty, so I need to replace it, but I really don't want to buy media for it, especially since I don't generally use activated carbon in my tanks. So, I have a big pad of blue filter floss I got with another tank. Could I use the filter floss alone instead of buying media? I know you can do DIY media like that for canister filters (I did it for my Cascade) and for regular HOB filters, but what about filters that are integrated into the hood?
Jaysee
I have two such filters, both eclipses. I use the filter media you are considdering. What I do though is cut strips so that looking down on it, it's blue/white/blue/white/etc. It looks to me that the media is designed for the water to go through the blue part first, and if you lay a piece down so that the blue side is on top (or bottom), the the water doesn't do that.
ryanr
BB,
The principles of filtration remain the same, regardless of the filter type.
Mech -> Bio -> Chem (or sometimes the Mech -> Chem -> Bio)
So as long as you at least cover off the Mechanical and Bio filtration aspects, you should be fine, and only add chemical (A/C) if required.
I had an Eclipse system at one point, and see no reason why you couldn't just put filter pad/wool in. I would suggest maybe putting some fine filter wool under some coarse before it hits the bio wheel.
I.e., the water flows up into filter system, passes over the coarse filter sponge first to extract large 'bits', then flows through the fine filter wool to remove the smaller 'bits', then flows through the bio-wheel for bio and back into the tank.
Using the fine wool should result in much clearer water to
HTH
The principles of filtration remain the same, regardless of the filter type.
Mech -> Bio -> Chem (or sometimes the Mech -> Chem -> Bio)
So as long as you at least cover off the Mechanical and Bio filtration aspects, you should be fine, and only add chemical (A/C) if required.
I had an Eclipse system at one point, and see no reason why you couldn't just put filter pad/wool in. I would suggest maybe putting some fine filter wool under some coarse before it hits the bio wheel.
I.e., the water flows up into filter system, passes over the coarse filter sponge first to extract large 'bits', then flows through the fine filter wool to remove the smaller 'bits', then flows through the bio-wheel for bio and back into the tank.
Using the fine wool should result in much clearer water to
HTH
bassbonediva
What do you use for the white part? A different coarseness of filter floss? I also thought of cutting the bad floss part of cartridge that came with the tank off and somehow attaching just a new piece of floss to the plastic cartridge back.
Ryan, I use clean unused pillow stuffing in my canister filter...could I use that instead of fine filter floss? It seems to work really well in my canister.
Ryan, I use clean unused pillow stuffing in my canister filter...could I use that instead of fine filter floss? It seems to work really well in my canister.
ryanr
I don't see why you couldn't use pillow stuffing.
Anything that allows a coarse 1st stage filtration, followed by a fine 'touch up' type 2nd stage (such as pillow stuffing) should be fine.
Anything that allows a coarse 1st stage filtration, followed by a fine 'touch up' type 2nd stage (such as pillow stuffing) should be fine.
Jaysee
One thing to be conscious of when using custom media with the a biowheel is that it can impede the wheel from spinning if it gets clogged or if it settles from how you put it in.
bassbonediva
That's kind of why I thought about trying to attach the new DIY media to the old cartridge back. I have a Marineland Hex5, so I know about the way the bio wheel works, but have never tried to do DIY media in it.
Jaysee
I'm missing a couple strips cause I gave them out to friends for their betta tanks.
Attachments
bassbonediva
Ah ha! I gotcha now! I'll see if I can come up with something like, then. Thanks!
midthought
I'm glad this post is here because I was *just* thinking of replacing some of the DIY filter media that I have. I inherited a DIY setup in an Aqueon Power Filter, so I've never even really messed with it. It has various sponges and ceramic rings in it, but the mechanical filtration has been really bad the last day or two. Gonna try rearranging this now so that the filtration makes more sense...with any luck, it will clear up the water a bit.
ryanr
I may be wrong here, but I seem to recall reading a long time ago that the slower the bio-wheel spins, the better the bio filtration
The concept being that the slower the wheel spins, the more time the water is in contact with b/b, thus better bio filtration.
The general reading I did concluded that as long as the wheel spins at some rate (i.e. not stopped) then the better the filtration.
It may be worthwhile researching a little further, and remember, this is only what I recall from about 8yrs ago when I had my eclipse system.
The concept being that the slower the wheel spins, the more time the water is in contact with b/b, thus better bio filtration.
The general reading I did concluded that as long as the wheel spins at some rate (i.e. not stopped) then the better the filtration.
It may be worthwhile researching a little further, and remember, this is only what I recall from about 8yrs ago when I had my eclipse system.
Jaysee
I believe that to be true as well. However, custom media can actually stop the wheel, allowing it to dry out.
ryanr
+1 Jaysee.
And if I remember rightly, water level can also have an impact.... been a long time since I used a bio-wheel.
And if I remember rightly, water level can also have an impact.... been a long time since I used a bio-wheel.
anunez91
definately for the water lever, I found that if it doesn't submerge the little diffuser deal, the plastc that's in the tank, I think you all know what I'm talking about, hahaha, that it doesn't spin as well, its weird, I use diy filterage on my biowheel 150 and it got to the point where I had to take out the chemical filtration cause it was stopping the biowheel, so, definitely watch out for that,
bassbonediva
It's weird. I have that problem with my Hex5, but I never had that problem with my 18gal Eclipse 1 system. Of course, my Eclipse 1 didn't have nearly the evaporation rate that my Hex5 does, so that could have been part of it.
marina3
Jaysee,
I came accross this post because I need to change the cartridge of my Eclipse 3 gal. filter. I am planning to use that blue/white/blue, etc...method, but I have a question...is there anyway to "seed" this material with the beneficial bacteria from the old cartridge? or do I just throw it away?. This particular tank is fairly new, been running since the end of February. Thanks!
I came accross this post because I need to change the cartridge of my Eclipse 3 gal. filter. I am planning to use that blue/white/blue, etc...method, but I have a question...is there anyway to "seed" this material with the beneficial bacteria from the old cartridge? or do I just throw it away?. This particular tank is fairly new, been running since the end of February. Thanks!
ryanr
HI Marina,
As a general rule, you never want to through away your bacteria colony.
In Eclipse systems, all your bacteria (well most of it) is on the bio wheel, which you never want to throw out, so you can pretty safely just throw out the old cartridge.
With the bio-wheels, you only ever want to lightly rinse the wheel in old aquarium water (don't use tap water as the chlorine/chloramine will kill your bacteria)
The eclipse cartridges are designed for Mechanical (filter sponge) and Chemical (activated carbon).
Activated carbon isn't necessary in your filtration, unless you are removing medications or trying to remove something from the water to make it clearer (such as tannins).
Whilst the AC is worn out after about 4-6 weeks, the filter wool/sponge is still good. I used to just rinse the sponge off in old aquarium water to remove the debris caught in it and put it back in. I probably only replaced the cartridge every 3 months - but that's off topic [sorry everyone]
So, the short answer, yes, just throw out the old cartridge
As a general rule, you never want to through away your bacteria colony.
In Eclipse systems, all your bacteria (well most of it) is on the bio wheel, which you never want to throw out, so you can pretty safely just throw out the old cartridge.
With the bio-wheels, you only ever want to lightly rinse the wheel in old aquarium water (don't use tap water as the chlorine/chloramine will kill your bacteria)
The eclipse cartridges are designed for Mechanical (filter sponge) and Chemical (activated carbon).
Activated carbon isn't necessary in your filtration, unless you are removing medications or trying to remove something from the water to make it clearer (such as tannins).
Whilst the AC is worn out after about 4-6 weeks, the filter wool/sponge is still good. I used to just rinse the sponge off in old aquarium water to remove the debris caught in it and put it back in. I probably only replaced the cartridge every 3 months - but that's off topic [sorry everyone]
So, the short answer, yes, just throw out the old cartridge
Jaysee
Marina, I would just cut the mechanical media from the cartridge and stick it between the pieces of DIY media. once the DIY media is colonized, itll be a LONG time till you have to replace it.
JimTheFishGuy
I have a few spare cartridge filters left over from when I upgraded, I just had an idea though.
Is there any kind of everyday material useful as a biological medium? I'm thinking I could fill the old filters with that and use them to handle the bio filtration instead of the main filters. (While removing the bio media from my existing filters)
Is there any kind of everyday material useful as a biological medium? I'm thinking I could fill the old filters with that and use them to handle the bio filtration instead of the main filters. (While removing the bio media from my existing filters)
Dolfan
Many people use the plastic pot scrubbers for doing dishes. Just make sure they are plain plastic and don't have any "anti-bacterial" or "anti-mildew" chemicals on them. Try googling "plastic pot scrubber aquarium filter" and see what you find.
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