Penguin 330 or Emperor 400?

On 22 Oct 2004 03:49:50 -0700, (Craig) wrote:

2. If I ran out of cartriges can i imporvise. if so with what

Providing you don't need the chemical filtration (the carbon) you can
just take it to the kitchen sink and blast it with the spray nozzle.
The filter cartridge provides what's called mechanical, and chemical
filtration. The filter media filters out all of the gunk tht won't fit
through it, and the carbon filters out all of the dissolved compounds.
The biological filtration (this is the REALLY inportant one) is what
converts the ammonia into nitrites, and finally into nitrates. This is
handled by the bio wheels. I have a 350 on the 75G, and a mini on the
10G. I very rarely replace the sleeve on the 350, or the cartridge on
the 10. I just blast them with a spray nozzle to clean them out, and
reuse. Now fwiw I also have live plants in both tanks to help with the
ammonia accumulation. In any case if the water doesn't stink and your
bio wheels are functioning properly give this method a try. I've
probably only replaced the 350's sleeve once a year, and the little
one in the mini, probably twice in the last 4 years, after they get so
battered and bruised they need it.

Joe