I have a 210g system with a sump. I have more than adequate biological filtration as my ammo and nitrates are never detectable, 80g water changes every week to week and a half. The only problem i have is that there is plenty of debris on the water column and on the sand. My question is, could i use a canister filter as a Mechanical only filter to pull more debris out of the water?
Canister filter as only a Mechanical Filter?
- Thread starter coryjac0b
- Start date
If mechanical filtration is the only need, I would go for a good HOB filter like AC. They move a lot of water, are cheaper and easily cleaned.
Yes, just set it up to polish the water. Use floss only and plan on cleaning it reg. I use large prefilters on powerheads to polish most of my tanks. I only have to run them for a few hours a week to polish the water, draw back is it is a ***** to pull the prefilter out of the tanks to rinse them without dumping most of the debris back into the tank. I use a cup/jug to lessen the trash left behind. Do you have a filter sock on your sump?
No filter sock, its not setup to have a filter sock. The drain goes right to a drip plate, which then drips over some quilt batting. then on to my bio filtration. I have tried sediment filters, but they clog up to fast, and are to expensive to replace every few days.
If all you want is perfect crystal clear water you want a Diatom DE filter!!!! There is no other filter that comes close to one in water quality. When you get down the 5micron and smaller rating of a DE filter you start to filter out disease causing micro organisms like Ich and other nasties!
I would recommend the Diatom XL which can be found here for $94.90 (I have never ordered from this place). http://www.diatomfilters.com/contents/en-us/d1.html
I think I paid $30 for a 25lb bag of swimming pool DE powder which should leave plenty for my yet to be born grand children to use this filter.
Unfortunately, if you get one of these filters you will have to learn how to put up with crystal clear tank water.
I think I paid $30 for a 25lb bag of swimming pool DE powder which should leave plenty for my yet to be born grand children to use this filter.
Unfortunately, if you get one of these filters you will have to learn how to put up with crystal clear tank water.
Do you already have the can?
If yes, of course you can run it to help clean your water.
If no, you should look into some of the sponge available that could be fit into your sump’s drip plate.
Floss is cheap, but it never cleaned my water as well as sponge.
You might have a circulation issue.
Maybe the debris is just not being moved to your overflow’s intake.
If that be the case, a powerhead might help you out.
Once you get a handle on clearing out the larger particles, a DE might make sense.
But for now, I wouldn`t go in that direction.
Good luck.
If yes, of course you can run it to help clean your water.
If no, you should look into some of the sponge available that could be fit into your sump’s drip plate.
Floss is cheap, but it never cleaned my water as well as sponge.
You might have a circulation issue.
Maybe the debris is just not being moved to your overflow’s intake.
If that be the case, a powerhead might help you out.
Once you get a handle on clearing out the larger particles, a DE might make sense.
But for now, I wouldn`t go in that direction.
Good luck.
The drip plate was a DIY, which wasn't designed perfect, now that i know what i need to do, i'm going to get some acrylic and build a better one that can accommodate a sponge.
I think better circulation would help also. The hard part is getting the circulation to the right places that need it. I do have 3/4 loc-line on both of my returns that i could Y down to 1/2 to point the flow in 2 more places.
I think better circulation would help also. The hard part is getting the circulation to the right places that need it. I do have 3/4 loc-line on both of my returns that i could Y down to 1/2 to point the flow in 2 more places.