Need New Mechanical Filtration for the 600

[swedeboy78]

Hi all,

I'm getting tired off changing out and cleaning the 100 micron felt pads on my wet/dry on a daily basis. I love the efficiency of the wet/dry but what can I do to simplify the mechanical filtration? I have always used a wet/dry and not familiar with any other set ups for large tanks (mine's a 600).

What about sand filters? Any ideas and/or suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[UnstoppableJayD]

Can you retro fit the sump to use filter socks instead? I change mine about every five days with 14 inch socks. I could probably go a week if i cut back feedings...lol. BTW how is one of my favorite fish on the forum?

 

[viejafish]

There is really no short cut in mechanical filtration. Given X amount of fish load. you will use up Y square inches of filter media each day to trap the suspended matter. It doesn't matter whether you use filter sock or filter pad, once the total square inches are used up, you have to replace the media or else your water will lose clarity. You can extend the time to change the media by reducing the loading input or by increasing the media surface area output within the limitation of your equipment set up.

One way to reduce generation of suspended matter on the input side is to reduce the fish load, feed less or feed less messy food, or create an environment to promote settling rather than suspension of waste matter. What I found is that substrate tank generates less suspended matter than bare bottom tank by promoting settling and trapping of waste, gravel substrate traps more waste than sand substrate, and rock work traps more waste than tank without. Also, avoiding strong water circulation will help. The substrate is essentially a sand filter and the waste trapped inside will not go away by itself. You have to siphon it out in WC or else, with sufficient accumulation, the fish will kick it up and resuspend it.

 

[swedeboy78]

Thanks fellas.
Jay - she's doing great man, growing and getting along pretty good with the other tankmates.
Vieja, I understand what you're saying.

I guess my main issues is the effort it takes to actually clean the filter pads themselves. It takes hours to do them every other week. Therefore I was trying to figure out if there's some sort of easier application for mechanical filtration. I have heard about the large external sand filters or pool filters that you simply backwash or flush out. Is there a way to implement/plumb this as part of the wet/dry?

I'm open to options and even to start over with brand new filtration. Even checking some commercial applications.

Thanks

 

[viejafish]

Why do you have to spend hours to clean the filter pad. Why not just trash used one and replace with cheap polyester batting from craft shop . You only have to spend a min of your time to cut to size. I bought this batting from JoAnn Fabric for about 25c per square ft when it is on sale every other week. It's so cheap that it's not worth my time to recycle it.

http://www.joann.com/4oz-x-48in-x-4...refn1=prod_type&sz=54&start=55&prefv1=Product

 

[swedeboy78]

I used to buy that stuff but felt it didn't do a good job on polishing the water.
What about an Ultima II? How do you guys like those?

 

[kendragon]

Ultima II will take too much water to back wash and does not polish.

I have this on my 1600 pond heavily stocked and fed mahseers. Pond is gravel bottom with high flow rate of 3000gph. Wash once a week during summer (could go longer). Wash once every two weeks during winter and spring months.

 

[vamptrev]

I run four 32" inch large 100 micron filter socks per tank. Just throw them in the washing machine every 4 days

 

[Aspen92]

Ultima II will take too much water to back wash and does not polish.

I have this on my 1600 pond heavily stocked and fed mahseers. Pond is gravel bottom with high flow rate of 3000gph. Wash once a week during summer (could go longer). Wash once every two weeks during winter and spring months.

cool this is fun to watch lol

 

[boldtogether]

Ok....so I used to have the same issue...
my solution was simple. I used 300 on top of 200 on top of 100micron filter pads. Now, what I discovered was, my filter pads were too thick....but with the thinner material, the hose tore them up.
So I went to HomeDepot and bought window screen (polyester) and sewed the filter pads inside the screen. Now I was able to use thinner material, hosing it off didn't tear it up and stacking the pads with the coarser grade first, all my filter pads lasted much longer between cleaning.
100micron is small and will clog fast. If you progressively filter down finer and finer it is much easier to keep clean longer.