55 gallon filtration (AC 70, Penguin 350)

[FreshwaterHawaii]

Thanks everyone, yes i did put a huge bag of carbon for 7-10 days but the water looked the same imo. I will boil asap when i have time this weekend.

And thank you for the advice with the penguin 350 filter. Mine does have 2 slots so im working on adding more sponges before the actual cartridge.

 

[Lusus_Naturae]

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.

Only the oldest Penguins don't have bio-wheels anymore. Those old ones also have only one media slot too. The newer Penguins are just basically lower gph Emperor filters.

 

[FreshwaterHawaii]

So i added two ac70 sponges to the marineland 350. I put one on each side infront of the cartridge. The water seems to be backing up and flowing over into the back of the cartridge so its not getting filtered. Might have to find a different sort of sponge.

 

[Lusus_Naturae]

You'll have to get a 10-20 ppi sponge, the best stuff I've been using is from ACE hardware, $9 for a single length of it at the store, it's a black plastic sponge used to keep leaves out of the gutter. I just take the scissors to it and cut what I need. It traps big waste really well and adds bb area. I also cut channels into it to provide more flow, it looks like rippled potato chip when I'm done.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2721827&cp=2627643.2627653