I am in the process of selling my 6-7 inch red devil and 8.5-9 inch jack dempsey. I currently have 3 baby red bellies ready and waiting for their new tank. I am thinking of switching from gravel to sand when I put the P's in. I am wondering how much do I need to worry about sand killing my penguin 350 biol wheel filter? Do I need to take any steps to make sure it wont happen? If anyone has alot of experience or horror stories with their non-canaster filters please share them with me. Thanks.
Will sand destroy my filter?
- Thread starter Trajan230
- Start date
On my 180g, i keep my intake about 6 inches away from the base of the sand, and I haven't had any problems.
In case you are still not confident with this method, be safe and use a prefilter.
In case you are still not confident with this method, be safe and use a prefilter.
Be careful using prefilters on the penguin line of filters. It dosn't take much of a flow restriction to stop an established bio-wheel. Other types of waterfall HOB filters can operate just fine with a reduced flow but the penguins don't handle it very well. This is one of the main reasons that I switched over to Emporers because the secound pump and spray bar prevent this from becoming a problem.
AS far as sand goes...yes it can eventually damage your impeller but they are easilly replaced. The problem I see most often with sand is that when your filter shuts down (power failure ect...) and then comes back on, the suspended sand settles and the filter fails to restart.
Definatly raise the pick up tube to approximatly the 2/3's point in the tank. thats usually enough to keep most of it out of the filter.
AS far as sand goes...yes it can eventually damage your impeller but they are easilly replaced. The problem I see most often with sand is that when your filter shuts down (power failure ect...) and then comes back on, the suspended sand settles and the filter fails to restart.
Definatly raise the pick up tube to approximatly the 2/3's point in the tank. thats usually enough to keep most of it out of the filter.
you can use some fine floss or something on your intake if your that worried about it. otherwise keep the flow low, or keep the sand settled or away from intake. worse case scenario, you get a bunch in the motor/magnet area, and it will start eating it up
get silica sand from a pool store. its heavy. raise your filter intakes as high as you can. worked for me