Tank a moment ago. The mass of roots are a pothos plant, the leaves are behind the tank, getting sun in the window. this is after doing the routine I described, a few hours ago. Crappy pic, laptop cam.
Things I have observed with HOB filtration.
- Thread starter Kris P Bacon
- Start date
Floating green on top is hydrilla. I gathered some from the river, bunched and trimmed. Wired it to a lead weight, so it looked nice and anchored. Slowly but surely, it was cut and started floating.
The hopolo cat was my main suspect.
I wrongly accused the poor guy. One late night, i saw the real offender, red 'clawed'. It was the crayfish that lives in the ceramic skull thingy, chewing away at the base. Since I got the comets, I got rid of some agressive natives, but the crayfish is to interesting to go. Have 3 comets (had 5) after getting rid of the 4 inch channel cat, the remaining 3, look at peace.
The hopolo cat was my main suspect.
I wrongly accused the poor guy. One late night, i saw the real offender, red 'clawed'. It was the crayfish that lives in the ceramic skull thingy, chewing away at the base. Since I got the comets, I got rid of some agressive natives, but the crayfish is to interesting to go. Have 3 comets (had 5) after getting rid of the 4 inch channel cat, the remaining 3, look at peace.
HOBs and canisters each have their pros and cons. For example, being open, HOBs are easier to maintain, canisters are normally quieter and come in larger sizes. How you set filters up with media makes a difference, filter flow vs tank size makes a difference, light vs. heavy stock, what and how much you feed, type of substrate-- when I had gravel I siphoned the gravel each water change, now all my tanks are sand, which allows much less dirt to settle between grains, so it's lower maintenance when done right-- having a sand sifting fish can make a difference, messy fish (big eaters, some types of pleco, etc) make a difference. All of it has an effect.
A lot of factors go into it. For example, my well water that goes into my tanks generally comes out cloudy, so I have my filters set up with a bias toward particle sifting to clear things up after water changes.
There's also an economy of scale with larger tanks, larger filters for the same number of fish.
A lot of factors go into it. For example, my well water that goes into my tanks generally comes out cloudy, so I have my filters set up with a bias toward particle sifting to clear things up after water changes.
There's also an economy of scale with larger tanks, larger filters for the same number of fish.
I have tried a lot of filters and NOTHING I have tried has ever been that great at removing solids from the bottom!
Most HOB's that I have used have pipes that allow you to extend the HOB intake as near to the bottom as possible. Once you have the intake as near to the bottom as possible (whether it be HOB, canister or sump) the best you can do is add a bunch of power heads to direct the waste towards the intake. This isn't a HOB issue, it is an age old aquarium filtration issue.
So while I agree the HOB filters do a lousy job at removing waste from the bottom of the tank... so does everything else!
When you stir everything up while doing water changes and plug up your HOB mechanical filtration... it is pretty easy to take it out and wash it off. When this happens with a canister filter it is a WHOLE lot more work to take out the mechanical filtration and rinse it out... so this hardly ever happens... at least in my tanks. The design of a sump will dictate how easy it is to clean the sumps mechanical filtration... my belief is to design the sump to be as easy to maintain as possible! monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/180g-attempted-low-easy-maintenance-peninsula-dirt-bottom-planted-tank-build.714316/
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no offence sir but, really? every filter comes with a auto gravel cleaner. Its you. there is nothing you can get to clean your gravel for you. putting a power head in will just make current your fish will not like and it will accumulate some ware in the tank. Do the vacuuming at water change and clean your ac sponge once a week.
Whatever happened to those under gravel filters? Guess they were not great either?
An undergravel filter sucks the water through the gravel and embeds the waste into the gravel even more. Since gravel has a lot of surface and already has tons of bacteria in it the biological filtration on an undergravel filter is excellent... It doesn't do anything but break down the poop into nitrates though. Reverse flow undergravel filters where you push water underneath the gravel instead of pulling water from underneath the gravel had their day in the sun when mini powerheads first came out... they were the be all end all of filtration for a couple years... but they didn't dispose of the poop either. I have had 3 or 4 tanks with under gravel filters... they are what they are.
If you really wanted low maintenance poop disposal it can be done... but it is a pretty custom setup.
When I was a boy, I remember the ten gallons. The airstone was at the bottom of each tube with a tiny charcoal filter at the top of each. Those looked even worse than a HOB.
Yeah but if you were good about gravel vacuuming and water changes they are a very simple and effective filter
