Thoughts on a biofilter alternate..

[Fishman]

In my never ending persuit of a silent aquarium I'm considering moving to
modular fitration components similar to the pentair products.

I was thinking of using two mechanical filtration modules (each rated at 200
gallons) to not only polish the water from particulates, but act as
biofilters as well.
I would run them in parallel and only change one at a time. I also have my
first attempt at a custom biofilter module that I could continue to use but
it is not maintenance friendly.

In the end, I hope to have a modified biofilter, the two mechanical filters
and a UV filter all connected.

My question is, with the two mechanical filters being used as described,
would I really need the modified biofilter?

Thanks,
Fishman

[fish lover]

>In my never ending persuit of a silent aquarium I'm considering moving to
>modular fitration components similar to the pentair products.
>
>I was thinking of using two mechanical filtration modules (each rated at 200
>gallons) to not only polish the water from particulates, but act as
>biofilters as well.
>I would run them in parallel and only change one at a time. I also have my
>first attempt at a custom biofilter module that I could continue to use but
>it is not maintenance friendly.
>
>In the end, I hope to have a modified biofilter, the two mechanical filters
>and a UV filter all connected.
>
>My question is, with the two mechanical filters being used as described,
>would I really need the modified biofilter?
>
>Thanks,
>Fishman
>

I run two cannister filters for my 125 g tank, one Fluval 404, one 304
with mostly filter moss as mechanical filters. Only one layer of the
404 has the bio media. The 304 is totally filled with fiilter moss. I
think the moss is acting as bio media anyway.

I only clean one of the filters at a time. That way 1/2 of the filter
is not disturbed so the bio part works without any problem.

BTW, the 404 still has some noise. I which I used 2 304s. The 304 has
much less noise level. I hate noise, even the slmallest!

[NetMax]

"Fishman" > wrote in message
news:Q2Jyf.14525$sq.1035@trnddc01...
> In my never ending persuit of a silent aquarium I'm considering moving
> to
> modular fitration components similar to the pentair products.
>
> I was thinking of using two mechanical filtration modules (each rated
> at 200
> gallons) to not only polish the water from particulates, but act as
> biofilters as well.
> I would run them in parallel and only change one at a time. I also
> have my
> first attempt at a custom biofilter module that I could continue to use
> but
> it is not maintenance friendly.
>
> In the end, I hope to have a modified biofilter, the two mechanical
> filters
> and a UV filter all connected.
>
> My question is, with the two mechanical filters being used as
> described,
> would I really need the modified biofilter?

There are a lot of undisclosed variables, so just some generalities:
Proper UV operation requires a very particular flow rate range, too much
or too little, and it's ineffective, so connect it to a flow-adjustable
return-flow branch. High flow rates are required for temperature
uniformity inside the tank, and for mechanical pickup power. High flow
rates are counter-productive for chemical, mechanical and biological
filtration (particularly chemical and biological as mechanical varies
depending on whether you're using open or closed cell filter media).

Ideally you want to pump a lot of water, from low in the tank, through a
large surface area (so the flow rate per sq.in. of face contact is low)
to optimize filtration. Properly set up, your mechanical surface area
should suffice for load-equivilant biological filtration (and chemical
filtration uses a different set of variables to determine requirements).

That's all I know, and I'm sticking to it ;~).
--
www.NetMax.tk

> Thanks,
> Fishman
>
>