More bio/ less mech

[toehead11183]

i see a trend in filtration techniques that shows more focus on biological filtration than mechanical. i have 2-biowheel 350s and a cascade canister filter rated for 200g that runs 350gph. i use the biowheels for bio filtration and the canister for mechanical.
i was thinking of running 2/5 of the drawers in the canister filter for bio filtration and only 3/5 for mechanical. Correct me if im wrong but this should help break down more solids wastes making filter changes LESS often but more nitrate making water changes MORE often. saving me money of filter media but taking more time to do WCs. would this work? i have noticed as my fish are growing, the need for WCs is greater and im wondering is more bio filter would help the dirtier filter problem by breaking down the solids.
anyone correct me as needed

 

[tunerX]

Frequent manual removal of solid wastes helps lower overall nitrates in your system. You need an anaerobic environment to remove nitrates, something that a cannister does not provide.

Adding more bio media to the filter does not mean more bacteria will be present. It just means that the total amount of bacteria will be spread out a little more. This allows you to clean a portion without disrupting the whole system. Also adding bio filtration in a cannister will not break down the solids.

I try to put mechanical filtration where it is easier to get to so I can clean it more often. If you want to remove nitrates from the water you can increase water changes, use a product like purigen, or make an anaerobic bio-filter like a coil denitrator.

 

[Dr Joe]

Frequent manual removal of solid wastes helps lower overall nitrates in your system. You need an anaerobic environment to remove nitrates, something that a cannister does not provide.

Adding more bio media to the filter does not mean more bacteria will be present. It just means that the total amount of bacteria will be spread out a little more. This allows you to clean a portion without disrupting the whole system. Also adding bio filtration in a cannister will not break down the solids.

I try to put mechanical filtration where it is easier to get to so I can clean it more often. If you want to remove nitrates from the water you can increase water changes, use a product like purigen, or make an anaerobic bio-filter like a coil denitrator.

Congrats tunerX you pretty much nailed.

I'm just being picky now. If the Bio-media that is present now does not use up all the nutrients in the first pass and if there is room (ie more media) more bacteria will grow to take up the nutrients till a balance is reached between amount of bacteria, media, flow rate and dwell time.

Coil denitrAtors are really hard to justify on a freshwater system, their return vs investment just isn't there. I've built a lot of them and use several on special projects and still believe the above.

toehead11183, like tunerX said, you don't want to break down solids you want to remove them (ie clean the pre-filters) as freguently as possible (this does not however mean whenever you feel like it ).

Think Fish First and you'll both be happy .

Dr Joe

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[tunerX]

Yeah, for a FW system you will probably want to double or triple the length of the tube or reduce the ID of the tube 1/2 to 2/3 which will slow down the flow even more. You will probably be pushing a couple gallons an hour even with a monster pump feeding it.

Running multiple smaller gravity fed coils that can equal the volume of a decent turn-over rate for your tank could help things out a bit, but the cost of the tubing will persuade you to do more water changes and filter cleanings more often.

 

[Dr Joe]

You'd be lucky to get 1/2g an hour and that's with a 50' coil.

If you can't do enough W/Cs try the resin approach.

Dr Joe

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[Bderick67]

Most seem to get hung up on the more bio idea. I think you need to gow with alot of mech, which can be cleaned frequently(at least weekly). This is why I don't use cannister for mech, much easier to clean a HOB or overflow prefilter.


With your setup I would do the following;

Set up your cannister with Fluval prefilter, followed by a coarse sponge/pad, then a medium sponge/pad, with the rest filled with biomedia. For biomedia I would use Ehfisubstrat, biomax or Seachems Matrix, avoid bioballs or scrubbies. Keep the intake tube mid water, where it is most likely to avoid solid waste. With this set up you'll be able to go 3 months between cleanings.

With the HOBs I would rinse your cartridges weekly. You may try modifying some AC110 sponges to fit your penguins, the sponges would last longer and are easier to clean the filter floss. Best bet would be to go with AC110s if you can afford to.

I use this method on my 180g and 120g both have crystal clear water and parameters are good. Tank still get 50% weekly water changes though.

 

[toehead11183]

i got 5 trays of mechanical in the canister filter and the 2-350 biowheels which i have sponges stuffed in the back for more bio, i just windered if more bio or more mechanical in the canister filter would make the bigger difference

 

[hle_81]

I try to put in as much bio-media as I can in all my filters. I probably don't need it, but it provides more surface area for the beneficial bacteria to colonize. And I can always take out some media to seed a new filter.

 

[abortedsoul]

i see a trend in filtration techniques that shows more focus on biological filtration than mechanical. i have 2-biowheel 350s and a cascade canister filter rated for 200g that runs 350gph. i use the biowheels for bio filtration and the canister for mechanical.
i was thinking of running 2/5 of the drawers in the canister filter for bio filtration and only 3/5 for mechanical. Correct me if im wrong but this should help break down more solids wastes making filter changes LESS often but more nitrate making water changes MORE often. saving me money of filter media but taking more time to do WCs. would this work? i have noticed as my fish are growing, the need for WCs is greater and im wondering is more bio filter would help the dirtier filter problem by breaking down the solids.
anyone correct me as needed

As far as I know, the level of your biological filtration can only HELP your water change schedule; yes, the more active, healthy bacteria you have, the more nitrate you will have. BUT that nitrate has to come from somewhere; whatever nitrate that is in your water column is ammonia and nitrite that isn't in there. You see what I'm saying? It simply converts it- it doesn't add any, and no extra bacteria can thrive without having ammonia or nitrite in the water to metabolize.

In short, go for more compact or redundant mechanical filtration. Biomedia is very, very important and it isn't possible to "add" nitrates to your water without removing toxins that are much, much worse.

Hope I helped.

-Matt

 

[mystic.bertie]

If you want to remove nitrates from the water you can increase water changes, use a product like purigen, or make an anaerobic bio-filter like a coil denitrator.

does purigen remove nitrates from the water ?