On Dec 16, 10:23 pm, "Reel McKoi"
wrote:
"Tynk" wrote in message

...
On Dec 16, 3:09 pm, "Reel McKoi" wrote:

Thanks! :-) I'm thinking about replacing an ancient Aquaclear on one of
my
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Dunno what size hyour looking at but I wuold go with the 110 as there
really is no such thing as you already know as too big and besides
they can be cut back in flow........that is if yuor going to stick
with an Aqua Clear.

My husband reminded me I have a large Aquaclear out in the outbuilding. I'd
forgotten all about it. :-))) I'm going to bring it in tomorrow and get it
going. I had it for when the tank held fancy goldfish. At half flow it
should be OK for the platys and not blow them out of the water.

What I like about AC is I am not nailed down to
propreitary media. I can buy 36" x 36" by 3/8" filter media pads
(ridgid type) and it comes in plain, charcoal impregnated, or phospate
removal or nitrate removal impregnation for about $7.00 a square yard
locally, and one yard makes a heap of filter pads, which I cut to fit
up alongside the pump sidewall of chamber and fold it at a 90 deg bend
to fit up under the bottom of the sponge. This way it ensures all
water is passed through the media. I do not buy expensive charcoal
bags, but buy 1# bags of loose charcoal or even 5# containers and use
the enclosed bag that AC come prepaced with and refill it and use a
nylon tie or bread bag closure (flat plastic tags commonly found on
bread) to close the open end of bag, and they work just fine and
replacement media is dirt cheap this way.........It takes many years
for a sponge to wear out, and the bio media never wears out
anyhow............

You got that right. I have sponges last as long as 2 years and more. I'll
most likely stick with the Aquaclears for that reason. Where do you buy the
filter pads mentioned above locally? In a chain pet store?

I have also cut abnd fit the batt type media to fit along the pump
wall and over the sponge as well so the sponge catches more junk and
is less prone to clogging up if left in too long..........but it all
depends on bio load of the tank and personal preference. The ridgid
pads will in most cases do a good job of keeping even minut particles
out of the water and ifits doubled it will effectively polish the
water as well.AC are just so versatile.

What is the name of these pads?
--
RM....
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
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Dunno any name as the LFS here has it in sheets. I think he has a
source for it and he merely cuts it into sheets from a larger source,
but I have seen the same sheets only smaller sold under the HBH name
on Big Als.............OK.I just looked at some I have
here..............and found a label from package when I bought it in
prepacked sizes from the same LFS. Company name is ODYSSEA, cut to fit
filter pad, and this label is from regular ridgid poly fiber meida....
30" x 18" in size..........but like I said the stuff is also made in
charcoal impregnated as well as nitrate removal and ammonia removal
media as well. I use the charcoal impreganted with my sal****er setups
on occassion and you can see how it does brighten up the water by
removing junk as its definately removing the yellowish protein buildup
that SW tanks get, which also reduces light influx to bottom of the
tank once it gets that yellowish color to it. Here is a URL to the
chemical filter pads Big Als sells..they are smaller and a bit more
overall than what my LFS carries but its the same thing and a pad goes
a long way. The regular plain poly pads are able to be rinsed out
clean and reused many times over. I often soak the regular pads in
chlorox and then rinse well and use them over and also do the same to
the chemical pads, once the impregnated chemicals are used up and turn
them into regular old poly pads and get a few more uses out of them,
so it is relatively economoical to use this stuff as compared to
propreitary media.............

Chemical Pad URL: http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS...wType=Category