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It's impressive how it even makes the silicone less cloudy. :)

A lot will depend on the planting and stocking. Could you give us some details, and ideally a photo?

I'm not surprised you're left with questions after reading that! :)

i don't know about others, but I look at journalas when I've got time to have a read and admire the pics. But I check the forum most days, so I see any new questions posted in their own right and chip in if I think I can help. Maybe when you have a specific question you could put it in a new...

The second part of that is quite believable. :)

You might find this interesting; Bio-media

Or a generator.

Great, a magic cure for a bad set-up and poor maintenance. :)

It will be fine for a planted tank without CO2 injection. If you are going to use CO2 you will probably need more flow. Not necessarily from a bigger filter, - you could add a powerhead for the extra flow.

Your canister should provide enough filtration, it is only flow you need to increase, so you could stick with the Sicce if you're happy with it and add a powerhead for extra flow.

just the word most :) "A plant growing on another, but not parasitic" OED "a plant that grows on another plant but does not feed from it, for example, some mosses" Cambridge Dictionary; Epiphyte "a plant that grows on another plant but is not parasitic on it" Collins English Dictionary...

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that. :)

This is complicated by so many aquarists insisting on calling their Anubias, Microsorum etc 'epiphytes' when they are lithophytes. :) I have given up being angry about it, or trying to put them right. Mostly. :) If they are growing on wood that is not part of a living tree xylophyte appears to...

It's nice to 'see' you @Simon Cole, I hope you are doing OK. :)

And a lot of people have to remove dead fish and shrimps from their E350 too. Most recent post on that; Skimmer And some info on how to modify it; Mods

I reckon it's for dosing cooling water into your perpetual motion engine to power your time machine. :)

The rating is for pumping horizontally. Pumping upwards reduces the flow, sometimes drastically. Some pumps have a graph to show flow against head (height). Also the length of tubing, radius of bends and any connectors will reduce the flow.

Try this; Kano :)

I suspect that the bacteria (etc) would consume some of the ammonia before the plants could take all of it.

If you use grease, make sure it's compatible with the gasket material. The wrong gasket grease can damage the gasket.

Take it back to the shop?

None. :) When I started fishkeeping filters were only for tanks that couldn't be planted, for instance tanks for large, destructive cichlids or for plant-munchers like Silver Dollars.

That's Tesco Malaysia. I don't know how ambitious their delivery service is. :)

OK, no problem. There's a lot of jargon to get the hang of. :) I thought about writing a dictionary of aquarium terms once. Then I remembered that I'm quite lazy. :) A canister filter is certainly not essential. It can be nice as it's outside the tank. That can look better and makes it easy to...

Hi @SiobhanGledhill , I don't want to sound patronising, but it's hard when typing. :) But as you are asking for 'newbie advice' I just want to check if you do have a trickle filter. They are usually big installations and often home-made. Not really 'regular'. Or is it the filter that came with...

Not true. You could try asking them for modern, credible sources. But they will probably just shout at you again. :) In the thread MichaelJ kinked to above you will find solid information with links to actual research. By scientists, not by people trying to sell you nitrate reducers or test kits...

Oops, slow typing. :)

Could you put mesh or sponge on the inlet to keep the fish safe?

They are thermostatically controlled, so they will only use the amount of electricity needed to keep the tanks at the temperature you set them for. The total running cost will be the same. If you do go for a sump you can use two heaters. (Two in each tank can be too ugly and hard to hide). If...

I think a lot of Eheim's current problems are down to quality control, - or lack of it. It sems to be a gamble where you could get a really good one, or you might not. It's rather sad, they used to make nothing but good stuff once.

If it doesn't leak after 24hrs, I would be happy with the new filter and transfer some media to it.

That won't help. :) If they were still the best filters on the market and would last a lifetime, they might get away with high prices. Not any more.

I'm not surprised. They built up a great reputation over many years. But it doesn't take long to lose that sort of reputation if you let the design, quality and/or customer service go downhill. And it's not easy to rebuild a reputation once you've lost it. They need to get their act together...

Lol, I was just typing that the 350 would be OK, but that was for the 160 litres. :) Something a bit bigger for 260 litres then. Partially depending on what fish and plants you have in mind.

Are you intending to inject CO2? If so, the 10x rule is a good one. Without injected gas a much lower flow is fine.

Some filters, including most internal ones, are supplied with media. In my experience they still don't manage the flow claimed on the box, even if you take the media out. And with an internal you can take the head out of the equation. And pipe lengths and bends. I've got some very good filters...

Chili Rasboras like a bit of swimming space. If your 20l is long and shallow that would be a lot better than if it is tall and thin. Volume isn't the only factor, and probably not the most important.

Without the filter, perhaps you would have syphoned it out. Then it might cause less algae. If it decomposes in the filter it pollutes the tank water a lot more than if it's in the bin. :)

Lol, great minds type alike. :)

A lot depends on whether your are going to inject CO2. If you are, more flow would be better, - not necessarily more filtration, as you can use powerheads or wavemakers to add flow. Without injecting CO2 it's more a question of what you are going to keep in the tank.

Interesting. Especially as 'smar silikonowy' is Polish for silicone grease. :confused:

Note that it doesn't say Vaseline on the sachet (only in the seller's description). Could be a bit of mistranslation. 'Spezialfett' means special grease. It is a silicon grease, which will not damage rubber. Actual Vaseline® is petroleum-based and does attack (at least some kinds of) rubber.

These days I buy cheapo filters. They have all the same problems as the expensive ones, but I'm much less angry about it than when I pay a small fortune and get poor quality. :)

Welcome! :) No problem using two filters, but it's easiest if you keep them separate; if you try to connect them together it can get complicated.

Are they currently being supported by the old filter? If so, transferring the media to the new filter will leave you with the same bacteria population, and the same fish and shrimp population, therefore no problems. Assuming you had no problems before. :) And if the new tank is well-planted it...

It's funny how they worked perfectly for so many years, and then suddenly stopped working when the fashion changed. :)

Call it an algal scrubber and you'll never have to clean it again. :)

The difference for me is; Using tapwater will probably be safe. Using tank water will be safe.

If only Eheim were still making top quality filters. That's what built their reputation but their new filters have given rise to quite a few forum threads about their quality problems.

Matrix is inert, won't affect your water chemistry at all. It just provides a surface for bacteria etc to colonise.

Welcome! :)

They come in lots of sizes and flow rates, you can find one that's not ott.

In that case, I wouldn't make any serious changes. :)

It was so simple, before they started adding all sorts of features to 'make it easier'. :)

I think the problems with noise are down to quality control; you could buy two of the same model and get one silent and one noisy one. Or one that gives years of reliable service and one that lets you down.

How about glue dots? eg Glue dots @ Amazon

If you get drenched once you're a proper aquarist. If you get drenched every time you're a proper nana. :)

What a stupid thing to say to some-one who IS reporting an issue with the filter.

I haven't tried the HOB, but I got one of their internals on that principle, - worth a try for the price. :) I thought it would be OK until I could afford a 'proper' filter on payday. About twelve years later it's still going strong (touch wood lol ) still not replaced it, but bought some more...

Hi Hughesy124, it depends on what you're planning for your tank. If you're going to inject CO2 the general rule is that you need the filter's claimed flow to be 10x tank volume per hour, to ensure good distribution of the CO2. If not, you can go for a less powerful filter, or stick with high...

It would have been nice if they told you what you should use. :)

If it stays like that consistently it's not a problem, you can set the thermostat accordingly. You might check whether it just gets hotter behind the foam when the heater is on, and the main tank area gradually warms up to match. You don't want a lot of fluctuation as it's a fry tank.

I think it contains biomedia. The white pad seems to contain carbon as well as floss, as in the service pack here; service pack on Amazon Can you open the tie-rack? It looks like it has clips to let you. If so, post a pic of what's inside. :)

What is he trying to achieve by drying it out?

I agree with that, I was wondering why the 200W model, but Dino21 mentioned that it's the smallest available, so it looks like you didn't have the option of better match of heater power to tank volume.

Is there a technical reason for using it? Or did you use it because it was what you had handy?

I too have given up on Eheim. They have a great reputation, but that was built on the quality of the filters they made years ago. I have found the new ones to very poorly made and short-lived.

Aquarium ones are to control various pathogens, pond ones are to control green water, ie planktonic algae.

Not a sock, but this stainless steel filter tube might be of interest. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07X86R94R/?coliid=I1STS4DVDQACUM&colid=2BWS03HRIWOWJ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it I haven't used one, just bookmarked it as it looked useful.

If you keep adding methylene blue, counting the drops, until the carbon cannot adsorb any more, comparing the number of drops each sample takes will show you how effective the regenerated carbon is, compared to the new.

I haven't used them, but you could try these; https://www.aquael-aquarium.co.uk/kontakt/dzial-serwisu-reklamacji/ Service/complaint department : tel: (22) 644 76 16 int. 1138 open from Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 16:00 service@aquael.pl

That's a good point; you can have problems with even the best-made products, but some makers or retailers will sort it out for you without any fuss. It's always good to hear about customer service, as product reviewers don't usually get to experience it.

I wonder how many of today's Eheims will be running in ten years. Ones made thirty or forty years ago are still going strong, but are the new ones as well made? The two I've bought in the last couple of years certainly weren't.

If Vaseline gets onto the bushes it may corrode them, depending on what kind of synthetic rubber etc they are made if. Silicone grease, as Millns84 suggested is safe. The pump head doesn't have any moving parts, so unlikely to be the source of the noise, but you could run it with the impeller...

I bought some from this seller on Amazon; https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BAH9T3Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 2kg for £10 delivered. As far as I can tell it's just as good as the branded carbons I've used. hth

What friend? A Nigerian prince? lol

Eheim states that is for "operational safety", not flow rate. Perhaps they test the seals etc for leaks to a certain pressure, maybe test at 2m so they're confident to recommend 1.8m max.

Remember that if your intake and outlet are both submerged in the same tank, the head is zero. If your outlet is above the water surface, the head is the height from the surface to the outlet, everything else levels itself, doesn't use pump power.

I don't think closing the taps would would increase wear on the pump, as it's a sealed coil, with no moving parts. That drives the impeller by magnetism with no mechanical coupling. What might be a concern is if the reduced flow caused overheating, as the water flow cools the coil. I had some...

I've got moss balls in two different tanks, doing fine for about two years now, with no injected CO2 and no 'liquid carbon'. Mine attract mulm rather than algae, I have snails, so maybe they keep the algae at bay. The mulm I shake off and siphon up at water change time, and put the ball back...

What is your water change and filter cleaning schedule? What livestock do you have, if any?

Could you put the filter on the other tank too? If not, do the bucket thing. Without oxygen the bacteria will start dying off quite quickly. Without fish waste to feed on the population will drop if you're going to take a few days to rescape, but it will pick up again if you restock gradually. hth

Hi, if you put some tank water in a bucket or tub, you can keep the filter running so the bacteria get a flow of oxygenated water. Then they should be good for several hours. Where will your fish be during the rescape? Get a big enough tub and you could keep the fish, filter and heater in it for...

You would need your leak detector to operate shut-off valves in your tubing as well as switching your pump off.

Seachem recommend a week, but they probably assume you are using good quality carbon, not pads which may or may not be any good.

You could leave your existing filter as it is, and add a second, cheap filter, filled with just floss. If that clears the water in a few days, you can remove it again.

A layer of mechanical medium after the biological will stop any gunge generated in the biomedia (mosly dead bacteria) reaching the tank. But it's not essential by any means.

That's right, The water can go down to the pump and then back up to the water level in the tank even without the pump working, The head is how high the pump has to lift the water above the level in the tank.

Remember, it's pure water that evaporates away, so you should replace it with pure, eg RO, DI or distilled water, otherwise your TDS, hardness etc will creep up. I don't know where they got capillary action from. :)

Raising the filter alone won't increase the flow. Shortening the hoses will increase the flow. How much depends on the difference between the new and old length. 20cm probably will only make a very small increase.

This may sound stupid, but it's worth a try, and it won't cost you anything; put your filters at the left end of the tank instead of the right. Plants bending from left to right look better to many people than bending right-to-left.

It's not my branch of engineering, but I think Darrel's hypothesis sounds about right.

The head is the difference between the water level in the tank and the height of the return pipe/lily pipe/spray bar. If the return is submersed the head is zero. Having the canister on the floor doesn't matter. Gravity will bring the water in the return pipe up to the tank level even with the...

If it sinks into the substrate, the decomposition may be anaerobic and result in harmful waste products like Hydrogen Sulphide. In the filter the decomposition should be aerobic, generally with fairly harmless end products. Waste rotting on top of plants can reduce the light reaching the leaves...

I've never heard of any problems like that. It probably just passes over biomedia, but Purigen sucks it out of the water and then won't release it when you try to regenerate it.

Yep, some of the 'stress coat' type additives in some water conditioners clog the Purigen in a way that prevents it being regenerated.

What did the retailer say? They sold you the faulty goods, it is their responsibility to replace it or refund your payment.

I think filter makers also like to stick with their 'corporate colours'. They are happy when people see pictures of nice tanks and can tell it's their filter, even if it's not credited. For bending acryllic tube, you need a bending spring, like plumbers use for bending pipes neatly and without...

I believe the UV used by marine aquarists to control pathogens (although I think it's out of fashion at the moment) is different to that used by pondkeepers to control algae. If I remember correctly it is the proximity of the water to the UV tube and the contact time, which need to be closer and...