HOB filter sponge advice

[pig_raffles]

Hi everyone,

I having some issues with my 20 gallon aquarium filtration and would appreciate some advice. 

I currently have an AquaClear 30 HOB filter on my tank. Following some of the advice videos from Aquarium Co-op, I recently switched out the AquaClear mechanical foam filter and installed a rectangle of the Co-op coarse sponge pad. I also installed a medium pre-filter sponge. Whilst it was not clogging, the filter was now not removing fine particulates, so the water was not particularly clear. To combat this I added a layer of polishing filter pad. So, my HOB filter case has a single layer of the coarse sponge pad at the base, then a single layer of the polishing filter pad, then a bag of bio-rings. However, my tank water is still pretty cloudy. Any idea as to how I could improve this or what I am doing wrong?

I do a 50% water exchange every week.

Thanks in advance,

Alan

[Pepere]

Was it working satisfactorily before?

 

do you still have the original foam?

[Ben P.]

You need some form of what I call a polishing pad.  You can get it from the co-op.  Everything you have is course filters so it won't remove fine particulates 

[MattyM]

I have the same filter on my 20L. I use a pre-fiilter sponge on the end, the white foam block it came with - which i think is a great sponge, then some polyfill, then the biomedia that came with the filter, and lastly a bag of purigen and my water is crystal. 

If you just swapped everything out it may take some time to work, or if your water is cloudy maybe something else is going on - a pic would help. 

[Pepere]

On 9/18/2023 at 6:30 PM, MattyM said:

f you just swapped everything out it may take some time to work, or if your water is cloudy maybe something else is going on - a pic would help. 

So is it clear water with fine bits floating around, or is it cloudy water?  If Cloudy water and you replaced all the foam and media it might take a while for bacteria colonies to repopulate sufficient to knock that down as Matty was alluding to.

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/18/2023 at 1:16 PM, pig_raffles said:

I recently switched out the AquaClear mechanical foam filter and installed a rectangle of the Co-op coarse sponge pad.

You wouldn't want or need to swap out the foam on an aquaclear. It's pretty good foam as standard. At most, you would want to add a prefilter. This turns the intake into a course sponge, the internal sponge is "medium" porosity and would be cleaned as normal.

The change back to the standard foam should increase your mechanical filtration and potentially resolve the issue.

On 9/18/2023 at 1:16 PM, pig_raffles said:

So, my HOB filter case has a single layer of the coarse sponge pad at the base, then a single layer of the polishing filter pad, then a bag of bio-rings. However, my tank water is still pretty cloudy. Any idea as to how I could improve this or what I am doing wrong?

You're not doing anything wrong. Really. It's just about density. There isn't enough layers and enough medium - fine filtration to polish that water off. You have a very thin layer of fine pad that is trying to do all the work.

Edited September 19 by nabokovfan87
clarity

[GoofyGarra]

On 9/18/2023 at 4:16 PM, pig_raffles said:

Hi everyone,

I having some issues with my 20 gallon aquarium filtration and would appreciate some advice. 

I currently have an AquaClear 30 HOB filter on my tank. Following some of the advice videos from Aquarium Co-op, I recently switched out the AquaClear mechanical foam filter and installed a rectangle of the Co-op coarse sponge pad. I also installed a medium pre-filter sponge. Whilst it was not clogging, the filter was now not removing fine particulates, so the water was not particularly clear. To combat this I added a layer of polishing filter pad. So, my HOB filter case has a single layer of the coarse sponge pad at the base, then a single layer of the polishing filter pad, then a bag of bio-rings. However, my tank water is still pretty cloudy. Any idea as to how I could improve this or what I am doing wrong?

I do a 50% water exchange every week.

Thanks in advance,

Alan

you removed an established sponge and replaced it with an unestablished new sponge, a bacterial bloom maybe?

Edited September 19 by GoofyGarra

[pig_raffles]

Thanks for all the replies. 

I think I will try the easiest option first and see how that goes. Keep the coarse pre-filter, but put back the AquaClear sponge and have a polishing pad on top of that. 

[Pepere]

If ir is fine particulate floating around that should resolve it.  If the problem is cloudiness from a bacterial bloom, and original sponge was allowed to dry out, it will take time for bacterial colony to recover…

[Andy's Fish Den]

If you have fine particles floating in t the water that the sponges don't seem to be removing, Add a layer of poly fill. You can get a bag of it at any craft store or the craft section at Wal-Mart for a couple bucks. You'll have enough to last a lifetime, but it will clear the water up good. 

[tolstoy21]

I use ceramic bio media in a one of those mesh media bags in the bottom of my HOBs, then I fill the rest of the space with Polyfill I get from the craft store (Michaels, JoAnne fabrics, Hobby Lobby, etc).

I find this set up the easiest to maintain, as I just change to the Polyfill when it gets dirty (takes a few seconds), and give the media bag of ceramic media a good shake/rinse in a bucket of tank water (also takes a few seconds).

The media is my bio-filtration. The Polyfill is my mechanical filtration. I think Polyfill the hands down best (and most inexpensive) mechanical filtration there is.

I'll only use a pre-filter sponge if I there are small inhabitants in the aquarium I don't want to suck up. I have nothing against them, they just seems to me an extra thing to clean. But pre-filter sponges are a nice add-on.

Edited September 20 by tolstoy21

[TOtrees]

Can I just confirm, you're still using the grey plastic frame in the HOB to hold the filter media, right? 

I use poly fil in my AC HOB's like this: I add 2 layers of cut to size poly fil between the mfr sponge at bottom and mfr ceramic at top. The poly fil will be the first media to clog, and when it does throw it out and replace it (or toss it into a new tank to get it seeded 🙂). If it's a new setup or has lots of particulates, the poly fil might fill up after just a few days. You don't have to worry about your bb colonies because the sponge and ceramic will be re-used. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/20/2023 at 10:12 AM, TOtrees said:

Can I just confirm, you're still using the grey plastic frame in the HOB to hold the filter media, right? 

Yeah it's there. Just based on this video.

 

[Galabar]

I find that filter floss is really good for removing fine particles.  It's also cheap and easy to change.  I'm able to change all of my tank filters in minutes by just changing the filter floss (poly fill).