55 gallon filtration (AC 70, Penguin 350)

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
F

FreshwaterHawaii

Gambusia
MFK Member
Apr 1, 2011
203
0
16
Hawaii
Hello MFK,

I have a 55 gallon tank with:

Sand substrate
6 pieces of driftwood
~15 clown loaches 2-4"
2 Royal plecos 4"
1 Marineland powerhead
Penguin 350 bio wheel
AC 70

My water is very brown in color. I've added driftwood a couple times in the last 5 months but the water has still not cleared up i think. I did soak the wood for a few days and changed the water. The color doesnt bother me that much but if i had a choice id rather have clear water. The driftwood was labeled "Malaysian driftwood"

1. Any advice on that would be helpful. P.S. I do water changes every 5 days at least and do not use carbon. Ive tried carbon but it didnt work well.

2. Anyways, my main question is what can i do to the marineland penguin 350 filter as far as media. Im currently using the regular filter pads that came with it and they clog up every 4-5 days. Are there any other options for that filter?

3. Also my AC 70 has two ac70 sponges and the bio rings on the top. Is this the best filtration for my needs?

Thank you MFK.
 
My 56 gallon column is very much like yours. I have driftwood I just placed in there and am currently running an AC 70. My water too, is brown due to the driftwood leaking tannins into the water.

Filters may help very little. Did you boil your driftwood before placing it into the tank? I boiled mine once, most of the tannins was released during this process and I might have to boil the wood again again to get rid of the remaining tannins. This and regular water changes (afterwards) should help a lot.

Seeing as you have 6 pieces going in a 55 gallon, you shouldn't have a hard time finding a container to boil your wood in.. I have one big piece and had to flip it over to the other side after boiling the first side :thumbsdow
 
No i did not boil my dirftwood, just soaked it for a few days. I wasnt planning on driftwood leaking tannins for 5+ months (Malaysian driftwood). I figured i would just wait it out but i might have to boil it a few times.

how would i go about boiling it? do i just bring water to a boil and drop them in for 5, 10, 15 minutes?

Thanks for the response.
 
Nope it's going to take longer than that! You'd probably have to run it in boiling water for an hour or two (or more). If you're going to boil for two hours+ (to make sure most of the tannins are out), I'd recommend changing the water in the container every hour. The "dirtier" your wood is, the longer you have to boil it. When you see very little leaking and the water isn't changing much, you're probably good to go :)
 
I ran two Emperor 400 filter on my 55, especially with that stock list I would look at that option to replace the 350, or add a big canister filter to that Penguin 350/AC70.
 
Wait a minute... (I'm too tired to think very well tonight) The new Penguin 350's should have a secondary media cartridge available too like the 400 does. You would have two options then, fill the media cartridge with a 10, 15, or 20 ppi sponge as a prefilter to the drop in cartridge, and use the cartridge after as a polisher or use the media cartridge last with polishing floss. You could in theory use the same type of sponge the AC70 has and cut it to fit and wedge it in where the cartridge sides in, I have modified most of mine to have a 10 ppi prefilter sponge, 20 ppi sponge, and then the cartridge to polish it out. Each sponge is pretty thin to fit in there but it works.

I was at first thinking of the older Penguin 330 which only had one cartridge spot form what I was remembering or it could have been Aquatech for that matter... too tired... need coffee...
 
that filtration set- up should be fine.tannis will leach for months if not years, your best bet is boiling (or longer soaking). you might want to add some carbon right after boiling the wood.
 
I just reboiled my driftwood.. I'm surprised the water was no cleaner than the first time I boiled it. dark brown as hell. OP, boiling and reboiling is your best bet imo. Otherwise you're playing a veryyy long waiting game. Good luck
 
When you say you tried carbon do you mean you tried the filter pads with carbon in them or do you mean you put a large bag of carbon in one of your filters for a few days? I would try the latter, because tannins can be removed. You are going to spend a lot in carbon if you don't boil though. If you do upgrade your hob, don't get an emperor. Biowheels are a huge pain and not worth it. Just buy another ac70 or a ac110.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom