which external filter ?

[western44]

I currently have an old fluval 304 external filter running on a 50cm x 55cm x 61cm cube which is 155 litres/ 34 gallons, it's not a high tech tank, no CO2. I'm finding that it is leaving alot of suspended particles in the water column, i keep adjusting the flow from fast to slow but it makes no difference.
I know that you should be looking for 10x flow per hour on an external filter, the fluval is rated at 260 gph which is about 7xflow per hour, which makes me think that i need to upgrade to a filter with more flow. Any advice on this matter would be appreciated.

 

[Conort2]

I currently have an old fluval 304 external filter running on a 50cm x 55cm x 61cm cube which is 155 litres/ 34 gallons, it's not a high tech tank, no CO2. I'm finding that it is leaving alot of suspended particles in the water column, i keep adjusting the flow from fast to slow but it makes no difference.
I know that you should be looking for 10x flow per hour on an external filter, the fluval is rated at 260 gph which is about 7xflow per hour, which makes me think that i need to upgrade to a filter with more flow. Any advice on this matter would be appreciated.

Adding some filter floss to one of the compartments should help get rid of fine particulates.

 

[hypnogogia]

I know that you should be looking for 10x flow per hour on an external filter

That’s only for high tech tanks. Your 7X flow is ample for a low tech tank. As @Conort2 suggests, adding filter floss as the final layer to polish the water will help. Also, if you haven’t already, vacuum your substrate to make sure there’s nothing there that will be swirled up by the flow of your filter.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Adding some filter floss to one of the compartments should help get rid of fine particulates.

<"That should work">. I'm not a fan of floss in filters, but it does work.

I'm finding that it is leaving alot of suspended particles in the water column, i keep adjusting the flow from fast to slow but it makes no difference.

Could you put an intake pre-filter on? Something like a <"block of foam"> or the <"ugly Eheim job">. The advantage over floss (of pre-filter) is that it is "easy clean" without having to continually open the filter body.

cheers Darrel

 

[Conort2]

I'm not a fan of floss in filters, but it does work.

I’m not either, you have to keep on top of changing it regularly as it clogs up quickly. However it does the job well.

@dw1305 suggestion of a pre filter is a great suggestion as it means you don’t have to open your filter up. It also keeps the media within your external nice and clean as it should be.

Cheers

 

[Aqua sobriquet]

A Prefilter also means you can use floss as well without it clogging quickly. I had this setup on one of my tanks. I used to buy rolls of 25mm thick polyester wadding and one layer was sufficient to get good results.

I made a Prefilter from a block of foam by sharpening a piece of copper plumbing pipe and using this to “drill” into the foam. After the cut you can just pull out the foam plug with pliers.

 

[western44]

Thank you all for your suggestions, i have decided to put a block of foam on the intake pipe, hopefully this should resolve the issue that i have.