Aquaclear 110 For Mechanical Filtration Only?

Jaws Fan · Jul 11, 2014

Do you think it would be a smart idea to run two aquaclear 110's as mechanical filtration only? My biological filtration would come from my Filstar XP4, it now has three trays of bio media.

From top to bottom:

Top tray - Almost 2 liters of Ehiem Substrate Pro
Second tray - Alomst 2 liters of Seachem Matrix
Third tray - 2 packs of Rena Bio Stars and 500g of Fluval Biomax
bottom tray - two 100 micron felt pads, one fine poly fiber, one HBH poly fiber, one Rena 30ppi foam, and one Rena 20ppi foam.

This is on a 120 gallon 60" x 18" x26" fresh water aquarium that I will be replacing two Emperor 400's.

tlindsey · Jul 11, 2014

Why not, go for it. That why I personally use AC filters , you can experiment with media mechanical or bio.

Lyrek · Jul 11, 2014

I would not recommend it, Jaws Fan. The problem is sooner or possibly later your bio media will become clogged/coated in debris. This is because there will be nothing to trap this debris before the water comes in contact with the bio media.

When the water passes over and around your bio media you want it to be as clean (free of debris) as possible.

joe jaskot · Jul 12, 2014

Even if you ran two aquaclears for just mechanical filtration, the media in the aquaclears would develop beneficial bacteria and act as biological filtration.

slippery slimecoat · Jul 12, 2014

I run 2 AC110's and a Marineland C-360 on my 120. I use the canister strictly for bio, one AC110 with double sponges, and the other AC110 has a good size pothos plant in it. It works well for me. I pull the plant out and rinse the roots every few weeks, and clean the canister every couple months to keep the build up in that down. Of course this can vary depending on your stock.

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shookONES · Jul 12, 2014

I know plenty of people that run ACs as mech filters only. Nothing wrong with that. Double stacking the sponges seems to do the trick.

tiger15 · Jul 12, 2014

If you just run the AC with foam, it won't provide good mechanical filtration because the AC foam is too coarse to trap fine particles. You can wrap a filter pad around the foam to improve AC effectiveness to trap finer particles, and replace the pad as soon as it gets clogged up and the foam pops up. For mechanical filtration, I like conventional HOBs like Penquin, Whisper or Aqueon with filter pad inserts which can be easily changed and allow no leak on the edges.

Jaws Fan · Jul 12, 2014

I only setup one of the AC's for now and did forget to mention that I used the foam block that it comes with, on top of that I used 2 layers of Deep Blue Nitrate Reducer Pad, and on top of that 2 layers of Big Al's Filter Floss. If anyone has something better in mind PLEASE let me know!

Also the first basket that the water passes thru on my canister filter does have from top to bottom - two 100 micron felt pads, one fine poly fiber, one HBH poly fiber, one Rena 30ppi foam, and one Rena 20ppi foam, that should keep the bio clean.

Thanks All!!

joe jaskot · Jul 12, 2014

tiger15 said:
If you just run the AC with foam, it won't provide good mechanical filtration because the AC foam is too coarse to trap fine particles. You can wrap a filter pad around the foam to improve AC effectiveness to trap finer particles, and replace the pad as soon as it gets clogged up and the foam pops up. For mechanical filtration, I like conventional HOBs like Penquin, Whisper or Aqueon with filter pad inserts which can be easily changed and allow no leak on the edges.

I run all my AquaClear filters with just two sponges. I don't have any floating particles in the tank. The sponge traps them all. Water is always crystal clear.

importracer · Jul 12, 2014

I use Aqua Clear.........I suggest two AC's for every tank under 200g.......The Aqua Clear HOB are great mechanical filters...Their easy to setup startup allows people to enjoy a simple filter.....The media that goes inside will have to be change or replaced every one to two months.......I use sponges only through out the filter..........I squeeze the sponge once a month...........Try not squeezing the sponge fully because there is beneficial bacteria.........Asking price for the largest model(110) is retailed between $50-80........


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Aquaclear 110 For Mechanical Filtration Only?

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