Filters

[John G]

I hate filters. I hate everything about them. I hate the way shrimp go in them and die. I hate having to lug them from my aquariums to the sink to clean them. I hate that it is so difficult to clean them—especially the tiny spaces where the propeller rods go, and the areas where rubber washers go, or where the gaskets and O-rings fit. I hate having to try to put the gasket back in after it comes out. I hate having to clean the intake and output tubes in the aquarium, and especially trying to clean the suction cups that hold them to the wall of the aquarium. The thing I hate the most is trying to clean out the tubes that run from the aquarium to the filter sitting below the aquarium. If I had to choose between cleaning them and having a root canal, the root canal would win every time. I hate when I have finally cleaned it, and set it back up, and I discover that somewhere, somehow, I did something wrong and it is not working. Did I not put the gasket in properly? Have I not connected the hoses properly to the filter? Did I not properly set the little piece of rubber that the propeller sits on? Who knows? The only certainly is that it will take me a while to figure out the problem, and along the way a gallon or two of water will end up on the floor.

I try to not use filters. For the most part I have succeeded. Three of my four aquariums have no filters, and seem to do fine without them. But the 75 gal, ah, what a mess. Without a filter crud builds up in it…not just on the substrate, but on the plants. And I need to circulate the water to circulate the CO2. I have tried substituting one or two pumps to circulate the water, but they just don’t work properly.

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that I had to clean the filter on my 75 this morning. It did not go well.

[jweis]

John,
I hope you feel better after getting that off of your chest! I hate filters too.

[jcali10]

My 75G has been sitting empty for several months. When I emptied it, I neglected to empty out my Filstar XP3 filter. So today I decided I needed to do it and whoa the stink that was in that thing. It's clean now, but it was putrid smelling to say the least. I clean my Filstars once a month, I wish it could be longer. By cleaning, I mean squeezing out the sponges in tank water and placing them back in with clean tank water.

[Cristy Keister]

I'm with you there John. Canisters are the worst to maintain. That's why it only gets done about twice a year here. Ugh... I think it's that time again.

[krisw]

I'm with you there John. Canisters are the worst to maintain. That's why it only gets done about twice a year here. Ugh... I think it's that time again.

I agree, and I put any filter without a priming mechanism (looking at you Eheim Classic) in the absolute worst category, especially when heaters and CO2 reactors are in line. The desire to avoid the fuss leads to nitrate build up in the filter, which leads to algae. Boo!

[krisw]

I'm with you there John. Canisters are the worst to maintain. That's why it only gets done about twice a year here. Ugh... I think it's that time again.

I agree, and I put any filter without a priming mechanism (looking at you Eheim Classic) in the absolute worst category, especially when heaters and CO2 reactors are in line. The desire to avoid the fuss leads to nitrate build up in the filter, which leads to algae. Boo!

[turfboss]

I am about to embark on a (probably 6 months to 1 year) project to build a new fish room - from upgrading my water filtration system to a single air pump with cieling mounted drop downs to the tanks to new racks and auto water changing mechanisms (or at least assistance with such - I truly hate 5 gal buckets being hauled around) - Frank Cowherd posted recently on the PVAS ro CCA forum - I don't remember which - that he uses only sponge filters in his fish room - no HOBs or sumps - and I am leaning to the sponge filters for everything except my biggest tanks (I already have 5 cannisters that I use on the bigger tanks and they work perfectly - not sure how many sponges it would take in my 150 gal tanks to keep it clean.

Anyway - my question is - what experience do folks have with sponges - they work fine for me in the smaller tanks - 5 and 10 gal and OK in the 20 gals but am wondering if I should be doing something special (or different) with respect to sub base materials, etc when I do not have any mechanical filters or carbon running in the tanks. I have seen a huge improvement in my tanks (especially with Ammonia reduction) in the tanks which contain my plants (swords, crypts, rotalla, floaring grasses) - and am wondering from you all's expert inputs if there is maybe something I should be doing (other than adding CO2 and feeding my plants once in a while).

All inputs are welcome -

Thanks in advance -

George

[chris_todd]

George, while I'm sure there are some folks in the club using sponges, you'll probably find a much greater percentage on CCA or PVAS forums. Lots of folks there swear by sponge filters and a reliable air pump for large fish rooms. Most plant peeps won't go near the things because they are ugly as sin and the bubbles increase CO2 blow off.

[Aaron]

How about a simple wet / dry setup? It will gas off some CO2, but it makes cleaning it easier.

[JLW]

A properly set-up wet/dry won't lose hardly any CO2. Just cover it.

If you've seen my tanks, I have almost no filters. A lot of my tanks have HOB filters with nothing in them, even my Fluval is empty. I do water changes and plants. Seems to work just fine.