Filter Upgrade?

[IrvineHimself]

Well, it's coming up for forty hours or so, and I seem to have pulled this off without any major disasters..... By the way, because of the improvement to water clarity alone [which is amazing!], it has been worth the hassle and expense. More importantly, with the higher flow, my collection of fish are quickly starting to exhibit more natural behaviour. To explain, previously, because I introduced a small number of fish at a time, all the species started schooling together:

• I have a pygmy cory who is convinced she is an x-ray tetra. Her feeding patterns are identical to the tetras, and I am fairly sure she is in love with the tetra alpha.
• Some of my endlers school with the tetras and continually try to engage them in play. At times the tetras looked so harassed, they appeared to be hiding from the endlers.
• A few of my endlers think they are pygmy corys. Feeding on the bottom, they have developed an innovative tail flick manoeuvre to flecks of bug bites up off the sand and into the water column.
• The recent addition of kuhli and hovering loaches added new levels of weirdness, with, on occasion, the entire tank following the kuhlis as they danced around a couple of air-stones

With the increased flow, my fish are already starting to exhibit more natural 'text book' behaviour and the plants are looking more vibrant and perky.

Looking ahead, now that all the old kit has been removed, I have a much clearer idea of what the freshly liberated habitat is going to look like. and am now very confident that, at least on an aesthetic level, this is going to work. I am already planning out second and third tanks to fit in with the overall décor of my assisted living apartment:

1. Aqua Ones' "Betta Trio": With a suitable heat shield, this will fit nicely as the centre piece to my 'hanging plant' frame by the window.
2. A small 30 litre low flow tank in the corner behind the kitchen door. If I move my endlers and tetras into this, I can stock some high flow oddballs like hatchet fish.

@bazz, I have given what you describe some thought, and while you only lose about 2% of effective surface area by not having any media in the heating chamber [see below], it will affect the flow rate along with the path the water takes through the filter. More importantly, it will also affect the heat transfer rate. Basically, because you have more water in a bigger volume flowing faster, the heater is going to have to work harder. (I could be wrong about this, so feel free to correct me)

Oh, and by the way, regarding booboos and major screw-ups, believe me, I have made more than my fair share

2% of effective surface?

• Heating chamber is a third of filter volume
• Ceramics take half of space in heating chamber
• Ceramics are 12% effective as foam sponge

So, 1/3 * 1/2 * 12% = 2%

 

[bazz]

Morning,
I think you are overthinking your situation, healthy growing plants and a mature substrate are ultimately your best biological filters (there is a current trend by some to not use hard filters at all who are not encountering any problems) while your FiltoSmart will give you flow, mechanical filtration and also biological. There is absolutely no reason you cannot put one or two handfuls of biological filter media in the bottom of your heater compartment of which can also be used in another filter in case of an emergency once matured, I personally would just not fill it up whereas by it is covering the holes in the heater tube once you reach the depth of the heater element. Do not worry about too much flow past the heater, some have mounted their heaters within the return hoses/pipes of the filter and once your tank is up to temperature it should not be on for extended periods of time.

Photo courtesy of @zozo
I would like to stress that I am only speaking/advising on a personal basis and others may well have different experiences.
Hope this clarifies, cheers!