Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fishtank Filtration and Cycling => Topic started by: fruitbat on August 01, 2015, 03:07:26 PM
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hi, would a Fluval 106 external filter ( does up to 100l ) be ok for a 60l tank or would it be too big powerful for my fish. could anyone recommend a filter for such a tank, thanks
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I have just found what I was looking for in the 106 manual. On page 11 here (http://ca-en.hagen.com/File/b3378f42-51ae-42e9-8c10-44fdc858d921) it says
Adjusting Water Flow
Once the filter is operating continuously, you can use the top lever on the AquaStop to regulate the water flow.
To reduce the water flow, lift the lever up to halfway, but no higher. This can be done once the unit is fully operational,
and will not harm the motor. However, never run the filter with the lever up (closed) more than half way.
Air
This would make it suitable for a 64 litre tank.
The instructions say it comes with all the media - I would replace the carbon with crushed coral.
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i have a external aqaua filter on one of my 60 liter tanks which i think is actualy rated to slightly higher than 100 liters all i did was add some extra holes into the spray bar to lessen the force of the ater comeing out , its been running for a little over 6 months now with all fish and shrimp happy with it :)
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thanks guys for your reply, I'm going to get one and hopefully will be ok, will the crushed coral stabilise my ph sue,
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Don't forget to put the media from your current filter in place of the media that comes with the 106, and use the new media to fill any gaps. After a couple of months you can remove the old media a bit at a time and put the 'proper' 106 media in its place.
Feed less food for two or three days before and after you swap filters to reduce the ammonia made by the fish. You will lose some bacteria on the casing of the old filter but they should be replaced quickly.
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will do , thanks :-)
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hi, i have bought the Fluval u2 filter, could i put both filters in at the same time for a week or two or would this cause probs for my fish ,
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The U series has adjustable flow, doesn't it? If so, you could turn the flow rate down if it proves a problem for the fish.
Do you intend moving media over or just running the two together for a couple of weeks?
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just running the two for a couple of weeks as the media in the existing one has been in for over 6 months and i think its at end of its lifespan,
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Unless you transfer the media, you will need to run both for 2 months to get the bacteria to grow in any significant numbers in the new filter. If you don't want to use the old media, removing it bit by bit over a couple of months till it's all gone will get the bacteria to grow in the new filter faster, especially if you can transfer a bit of old media across to seed the new filter - the bacteria grow better in new media which is in direct physical contact with some old media.
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ok, will put half of old filter media in new one and get them both going, you also mentioned earlier for Fluval 106 you would take carbon filter out and put crushed coral in , would this be ok for this one too , thanks
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The U series internals are different from externals. The water flows first through 2 boxes containing sponge (one on each side), then through 2 poly-carbon pads (a layer of filter wool attached to another layer impregnated with carbon), and in the centre is a box of ceramic noodles.
Unlike an external, there is no container filled with carbon. It is more difficult to customise. The carbon is impregnated into a thin pad so you can't replace that with shell or coral. The usual way to customise these filters is just by replacing the poly-carbon pad with a layer of filter wool.
The best way to use coral/shell I can think of is to get a small internal filter that takes a sponge rather than a cartridge and fill that with the shell/coral in a mesh bag. That's what I do if I need to use carbon.
I did manage to find a sponge filled filter for my betta's tank - Maidenhead Aquatics own brand, the Aqua Internal 50. Most filters this size contain cartridges >:(
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ok, thanks sue, will look in to it