What goes into a filter?

[Chris]

Hi

got a bio-orb with a happy goldfish and 2 minnows in it, got a question
about it's filter, they say it should be changed once every 6-8 weeks, it
cost £6 a time

when i was taking the old one out the other day i was wondering if it could
be recycled of sorts, the filter housing is round about the size of a cd and
1" high with a cirlcular piece of foam inside it, under the foam is a mesh
which fills up with rubbish and what looks like carbon or charcol "pellets"
around the bottom. i saw you can buy just the foam in petshops, and little
packs of charcole, altho some people dont think you need carbon/charcole in
a goldfish tank.

do you think it would be possible (and much cheaper) just to rinse out the
filter, clean out the mesh and buy a new piece of foam (if i can find some
big enough) , maybe find some carbon/charcole and "recycle" the filter?

just an idea! i think it's quite pricey as it's a "bio-orb" filter compared
to some of the other foam filters i've seen for a couple of quid!

thanks

Chris

[Gunther]

In article >,
says...
.....
> do you think it would be possible (and much cheaper) just to rinse out the
> filter, clean out the mesh and buy a new piece of foam (if i can find some
> big enough) , maybe find some carbon/charcole and "recycle" the filter?
>
> just an idea! i think it's quite pricey as it's a "bio-orb" filter compared
> to some of the other foam filters i've seen for a couple of quid!

congratulations, you cracked the code! Be careful about letting the
Bio-Orb folks know -- they may retaliate. All filter manufacturers
do the same thing, and don't want you to figure it out.
Save your money and make your own, if you can do it easily.
(Only you can determine your personal bother:expense ratio.)

Mini-lesson on filtration:
There are three type, mechanical, chemical, and biological.

The rubbish collector (mesh) in yours is the mechanical; rinse it
often enough to maintain a good water flow; replace it
with similar material when rinsing is no longer effective. You can
buy big pieces of that stuff at your LFS.
Study your filter: you should find that this layer is the first
encountered by the incoming water.

The charcoal pellets make up the chemical filtration; you don't
really need it. It really just takes up space better utilized
with more biological material. On occasion you need it to remove
drugs/chemicals, but normally it's a waste of money. It can
in the middle or later (with respect to water flow).

Biological is the big piece of foam. After a few weeks, it houses
gazillions of beneficial bacteria that you want to keep around:
they process waste (ammonia) into less harmful compounds (nitrates).
Rinse this foam using only treated (or out-going dirty) water, since
tap water could kill the bacteria. You're rinsing only to remove
"stuff" the mechanical filter missed.
In the event that it becomes blocked beyond saving, you can replace it,
but you'll need to watch things carefully and do frequent PWCs until
the bio-bugs re-establish. You also need to be careful when adding
drugs/chemicals to the tank lest they kill the bio-bugs. Read the
labels, ask questions, then add chemicals only as a last resort.
Consider cheap and effective polyester batting (available in huge
bags at craft shops and LFS, albeit a bit pricier at the latter) as
a suitable replacement. It can be partially replaced -- say, 1/3 at
a time -- to avoid needing a complete recycle.

There you have it.
For even more details on the biochemistry involved, see
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

Gunther

[Mat]

I suppose you could do that but you will have to be careful with the
charcoal it will stop the bacteria for 1 month and if it is left in the
filter it will send all it extracted back into the tank.

Mat
"Chris" > wrote in message
...
> Hi
>
> got a bio-orb with a happy goldfish and 2 minnows in it, got a question
> about it's filter, they say it should be changed once every 6-8 weeks, it
> cost £6 a time
>
> when i was taking the old one out the other day i was wondering if it
could
> be recycled of sorts, the filter housing is round about the size of a cd
and
> 1" high with a cirlcular piece of foam inside it, under the foam is a mesh
> which fills up with rubbish and what looks like carbon or charcol
"pellets"
> around the bottom. i saw you can buy just the foam in petshops, and
little
> packs of charcole, altho some people dont think you need carbon/charcole
in
> a goldfish tank.
>
> do you think it would be possible (and much cheaper) just to rinse out the
> filter, clean out the mesh and buy a new piece of foam (if i can find some
> big enough) , maybe find some carbon/charcole and "recycle" the filter?
>
> just an idea! i think it's quite pricey as it's a "bio-orb" filter
compared
> to some of the other foam filters i've seen for a couple of quid!
>
> thanks
>
> Chris
>
>
>

[Dark Phoenix]

"Gunther" > wrote in message
t...
>> In the event that it becomes blocked beyond saving, you can replace it,
> but you'll need to watch things carefully and do frequent PWCs until
> the bio-bugs re-establish. You also need to be careful when adding
> drugs/chemicals to the tank lest they kill the bio-bugs. Read the
> labels, ask questions, then add chemicals only as a last resort.
> Consider cheap and effective polyester batting (available in huge
> bags at craft shops and LFS, albeit a bit pricier at the latter) as
> a suitable replacement. It can be partially replaced -- say, 1/3 at
> a time -- to avoid needing a complete recycle.

What if you chucked the old filter into the tank while the new one got
'bugged' properly?

And does rinsing it kill the bugs, or is it the chlorine in city waters that
does it? I rinse my filter, but we have untreated well water and I don't get
spikes.

Thanks,

--
Laurie, Dark Phoenix

"Every dog has it's day, but nights are reserved for cats." -

[LoaderLady]

I use "quilt batting", from a local craft shop, in 2 pieces. One piece is
wrapped in the middle of the second piece. I rinse weekly in the water from
my water change. Every month or 2, I take out the middle piece, then wrap a
clean piece around the piece which is left, making it the "new" middle
piece. This keeps the bio-bugs always present.

Another thing I was reading about for bio-bug "housing" is wrapping gravel
into a stocking (panty hose) and putting this in the middle, for the
bacteria to sit in. This would also help the nitrogen cycle. I haven't
tried it yet, since I just read this yesterday, but I may give it a try on
the weekend when I do my water change. May have to rinse the stocking once
in a while, but the gravel should fill with our friendly buggies quite
nicely, I would think.

Tammy

[Chris]

thanks guther, very helpfull

Chris

[[email protected]]

the filter works cause there is a stream of water bringing nutrients and most
important OXYGEN to the colonies. if it sits on teh bottom of the tank the bacteria
start to die and that fouls the tank rather than clean it.
colonies are closely adhered to the media. when you squeeze the foam or polyester
filter material you are getting rid of "fines" or dead bacteria. the live ones are
still ON the media. untreated water can kill significant number of biobugs.
however, that is the big difference between well established biofilters and new ones.
there are lots of meds will knock off a new filter but only kill off the top layer of
an old one, exposing fresh bacteria underneath. it is a lot like algae on tank
walls. I use PP and that kills the top layer of algae, I gently wipe the top (now
brown) layer off and in 2 days there is a nice green layer underneath.
with untreated well water all you gotta watch out for is temp shock, not too hot, not
too cold. Ingrid

>What if you chucked the old filter into the tank while the new one got
>'bugged' properly?
>
>And does rinsing it kill the bugs, or is it the chlorine in city waters that
>does it? I rinse my filter, but we have untreated well water and I don't get
>spikes.
>
>Thanks,



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Mat]

I have a stocking in my 2215 ehim and it works fine!

Mat
"LoaderLady" > wrote in message
.. .
> I use "quilt batting", from a local craft shop, in 2 pieces. One piece is
> wrapped in the middle of the second piece. I rinse weekly in the water
from
> my water change. Every month or 2, I take out the middle piece, then wrap
a
> clean piece around the piece which is left, making it the "new" middle
> piece. This keeps the bio-bugs always present.
>
> Another thing I was reading about for bio-bug "housing" is wrapping gravel
> into a stocking (panty hose) and putting this in the middle, for the
> bacteria to sit in. This would also help the nitrogen cycle. I haven't
> tried it yet, since I just read this yesterday, but I may give it a try on
> the weekend when I do my water change. May have to rinse the stocking
once
> in a while, but the gravel should fill with our friendly buggies quite
> nicely, I would think.
>
> Tammy
>
>
>