Fluval 107 Media Trays

[AllFishNoBrakes]

What up everyone? Hope you’re doing well. 
 

I know canisters tend to have a bad reputation at times, but I’m pretty much set on getting a Fluval 107 for my 29 gallon blackwater setup. 
 

The tank has been established for over 3 years. It used to be pretty heavily planted, but I’ve removed all the plants besides some Anubius as it’s been converted to a blackwater setup. That tank has never had the clearest water ever, but the plants used to hide it pretty well and honestly I just never really cared. 
 

Since converting it to a blackwater tank, and having Cory’s in the tank, they are kicking up more stuff into the water column. Botanicals are constantly breaking down, and the Cory’s are constantly kicking it up into the water column, and the current filtration just can’t take care of it. I’ve stuffed some Poly Fil into the Tetra Whisper 10 HOB and that definitely does the trick, but the Poly Fil clogs in a day or two, rendering the filter useless, and I simply don’t want to replace the Poly Fil every other day to reach the clarity I want. I want my tank to be dark from tannins, but not dark from tannins and then cloudy from organics. 
 

I plan to get a Fluval 107 to replace the mini HOB and plan to use it ALMOST out of the box. I’m DEFINITELY removing the carbon, which leaves me with an empty media tray. An empty tray seems like a wasted opportunity. 
 

I’ve planned to either A) add extra Poly Fil on top of the already existing polishing pad in a different tray or B) add additional media, but that really doesn’t seem necessary and feels like just a waste of money. I also plan to add an intake filter sponge, so with that and the other foams already in the canister it’s more than I will EVER need. 
 

What would you do with that empty tray? Add some Poly Fil? Add a different/additional polishing pad to the already existing one in a different tray? Add additional media that’s not needed? Leave it empty? Curious to hear everyone’s thoughts and what you do!

Cheers to new toys, Nerms!

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/19/2023 at 8:46 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I plan to get a Fluval 107 to replace the mini HOB and plan to use it ALMOST out of the box. I’m DEFINITELY removing the carbon, which leaves me with an empty media tray. An empty tray seems like a wasted opportunity. 
 

I’ve planned to either A) add extra Poly Fil on top of the already existing polishing pad in a different tray or B) add additional media, but that really doesn’t seem necessary and feels like just a waste of money. I also plan to add an intake filter sponge, so with that and the other foams already in the canister it’s more than I will EVER need. 
 

What would you do with that empty tray? Add some Poly Fil? Add a different/additional polishing pad to the already existing one in a different tray? Add additional media that’s not needed? Leave it empty? Curious to hear everyone’s thoughts and what you do!

Consider the 207, might be "fine" but I am unsure how much flow you normally run.  I swear the "rated for tanks" sizes are always a weird one for me.  The advantage here, is that normally with each jump up you get another tray.

The 107 though:

Top tray: (polyfil on the bottom if you want it) fill the rest with good media for biological)
bottom tray: A handful of the "mech" stuff (sicce sells something similar to eheim mech, the fluval ones are a bit chunky) and then on top of that I would add the layer of the bumpy foam.  The default foam in that filter/bottom tray is good stuff.

for ref. here's the 207

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@nabokovfan87 I swear I’m psychic sometimes in that I had a feeling someone was going to mention the 207, and I had a strong feeling it would be you, lol. I would’ve absolutely NAILED it had you mentioned it in my journal lol. 
 

In all honesty, I think the 207 just isn’t necessary. I know it’s only a few more bucks, but I just really don’t see a need for it. The tank currently runs on an ACO medium sponge, and then this bad boy with more ACO sponge cut out and put in there. 

I simply took out the lame cartridges and put in some sponge. The tank has been nothing but stable for 3+ years with the little amount of filtration it has. It has all the biological filtration it needs, I just need more mechanical. I simply want to clear up this water with all the botanicals and the Cory’s constantly kicking it up, and I want a new toy to play with if I’m completely honest. Also helps that a LFS sells Fluval products below MAP (sells, not advertises) so I can take advantage of that to save some money and achieve all the goals. Flow doesn’t really have much to do with the equation, I simply want the mechanical filtration and a new toy. 
 

I’m confident the 107 will be more than I ever need how it comes out of the box. 
 

Looking at the Fluval site, and the picture you provided, where it says “Biological Here” is where I feel like I would end up with an empty tray. Just not sure if it’s worth it to really put anything in there. Maybe I’ll end up buying the ACO water polishing pad. That’s really the only thing that comes to mind after pondering it for a few days that might be worth it. 

Edited September 20, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[Guppysnail]

I run 9 of the fluval 07 series.  I remove the poly fill that comes with the canister.it clogs in a week or two for me even running a prefilter on the intake. 
I just use more sponge. Usually 30 ppi. I only need to maintenance every month or two…sometimes 3 when life happens. With polyfil in the canister you have no choice but to maintenance when the polyfil says so, It will slow down so far. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/19/2023 at 9:24 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I’m confident the 107 will be more than I ever need how it comes out of the box. 

For sure....

It's one of the reasons I'm hesitant on getting one for myself, I want to really see what the use case is for each size and get a better understanding. I've got one canister that was sent to me, it's rated for.... ~65 gallons and based on actual assembly testing (with no media) I think it probably best fits a 20-29G aquarium. There's not a lot of oomph.

We'll see and fingers crossed it's all good when you do have it in place!

On 9/19/2023 at 9:24 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Looking at the Fluval site, and the picture you provided, where it says “Biological Here” is where I feel like I would end up with an empty tray. Just not sure if it’s worth it to really put anything in there. Maybe I’ll end up buying the ACO water polishing pad. That’s really the only thing that comes to mind after pondering it for a few days that might be worth it. 

A lot of that is because they stopped including media to lower cost. Not sure why the 107 doesn't even come with the sponge in the bottom tray. (maybe it does).

Part of the changes and Improvements on the x06 --> x07 series was thanks to people like pondguru showing off how to get every little bit out of the canister and complimenting the flow path. It's good to see helpful notes for hobbyists that may not necessarily know where to put the media. Especially on the box itself.

If you want a real puzzle go check out the UNS canister tray layout.

[Guppysnail]

On 9/20/2023 at 5:38 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

lot of that is because they stopped including media to lower cost. Not sure why the 107 doesn't even come with the sponge in the bottom tray. (maybe it does).

 

On 9/20/2023 at 6:33 PM, Pepere said:

Bought maybe 3 months ago…

Bought one mid august. Came with everything they did 3 years ago that @Pepere described also

Still lists everything as included on the fluval webpage 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Got her home, and here she is out of the box:

Just as described on the website. Definitely removing the phosphate pad and the carbon, which will leave me with an empty tray. I like the idea of a couple pot scrubbers and a little poly fil, though. Probably going to start there and see how I like it. 
 

Definitely going to start with a sponge intake. The idea of a surface skimmer is intriguing, but we’ll start with the sponge and upgrade later if I ever want to. 
 

Already registered the canister for the additional 2 year warranty. That was a nice touch. 
 

When the sponge pre filter gets here we’re off to the races! Definitely need to wait for that as the tank has too many shrimp and I don’t want to chance it. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/20/2023 at 3:47 PM, Guppysnail said:

Still lists everything as included on the fluval webpage 

Fluval is good about that. Yes.  They usually include extra carbon and pads as well.  It was more just about other filters.  The 107 (on the website photos) might just be an oversight on their end.  I would assume it comes with the tray foam.  Looks like it does.

 

On 9/20/2023 at 5:14 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Got her home, and here she is out of the box:

Very cool. 🙂

PLEASE take a video of the circulation if you can.  I really need to understand how they size their stuff.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@nabokovfan87 I will for sure! Gonna be a few days before I get her started and running, but I’ll loop you in for sure. 
 

I know canisters are gravity fed, but does anyone know how far below the tank they HAVE to be? Originally, I was going to put this on the floor, but that would exceed the maximum 4.5’ below the water line by a couple of inches. Then I thought I’d just get (2) 5 gallon buckets. 1 upside down, and then one on top of it as I want the filter in a bucket in case of any leaks. 
 

THEN, I was just looking at the tank and thought maybe I could just put it on the shelf behind the tank. I’d need to get a measurement on it, but it would definitely be below the water line and should therefore be gravity fed, right? It would be nice to hide the filter behind the tank, but I don’t think I could put a 5 gallon bucket behind the tank. 
 

Decisions, decisions… Again! Lol 

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/20/2023 at 6:21 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I know canisters are gravity fed, but does anyone know how far below the tank they HAVE to be? Originally, I was going to put this on the floor, but that would exceed the maximum 4.5’ below the water line by a couple of inches. Then I thought I’d just get (2) 5 gallon buckets. 1 upside down, and then one on top of it as I want the filter in a bucket in case of any leaks. 

I would think the height is from head height more than anything. @Pepere I think previously posted the formula for it, but from an engineering side that's what that requirement should correlate to.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@nabokovfan87 Thanks for that. I noticed that says the length of the tubing can have an impact. I’m just wondering what the difference would be between say, 15 inches of tubing if I put it on the shelf behind the tank vs. 27 inches of tubing if I put it off to the side with a 5 gallon bucket upside down. My brain yells me that a longer drop would gain more speed due to gravity. Maybe it would just prime a little faster or fill a litter faster 🤷‍♂️. Makes sense though that the pump pushing the water back up is going to be relatively the same. At least that’s what makes sense in my head lol. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/20/2023 at 8:42 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I’m just wondering what the difference would be between say, 15 inches of tubing if I put it on the shelf behind the tank vs. 27 inches of tubing if I put it off to the side with a 5 gallon bucket upside down.

That all comes down to bend radius at some point.  Having a "straight shot" with gentle bends is the key there.  What was "a bit weird" in the spec sheet above is that the 107 and 207 both have the same height, but different pump specs. So... maybe those have the same pump with a different impeller design? (aquaclear does something similar, from my research)

The height measurement is also a bit funky.  From the canister base, but the canisters are all different height.  Maybe that is why the numbers are the same?



On the fluval's you have those brackets on the tank rim so that hoses don't get kinked.  It's "fine" but it's pretty dissimilar to something like lily pipes in a few ways.  First is that you have a slightly larger volume of water (good thing) and you have a slightly modified series of angles.  The fluval is pretty close, but I think it's more like two 90's instead of a single 180 degree bend.  So you're trying to push slightly more weight, with a bit more restriction due to the ribbed hosing, and potentially that all plays a role in what you can do.  Best case, maybe swap the hosing out or something with a smooth internal surface, but I understand that's much less than desirable to do so.  If you're "on the margin, that would be one thing to consider.

The goal being, and the only reason I mention it, keep an eye on how the tubes go into the canister itself.  Trying to keep those angles ~15 degrees or less, below 30 if you can, all of that does play a role in how well the pump works.  My favorite example of "head height" is Graeme just being a goof in the driveway holding a hose above his head. 

Maybe a small sidetable with a bin next to the tank?  I use something called a "hallway table" for my fish stuff and it's about the same height as the stand with a table top and lower shelf. 

 

^^ Longer distance = less flow, basically.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 9/20/2023 at 10:19 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

The goal being, and the only reason I mention it, keep an eye on how the tubes go into the canister itself.  Trying to keep those angles ~15 degrees or less, below 30 if you can, all of that does play a role in how well the pump works.

For sure. The advantage to the behind the tank option is the lid is already cut there for the existing tiny internal filter. If I move it to the side with either a shelf (nice call) or a 5 gallon bucket “shelf” I’ll have to cut new holes in the lid and that could potentially mess with the light. Maybe behind the tank is making more sense as I think about it. 
 

On 9/20/2023 at 10:19 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Longer distance = less flow, basically.

Makes sense. 

[_Eric_]

A couple of thoughts:

1. I’d put down below tank (even if a couple inches out of spec) rather than behind tank.  Not sure if there would be enough back pressure for pump to work properly.  Or at least don’t cut the tubing until it’s been running for a bit without issue.

2. I’d use poly fil in the last tray.  That is what I do in my 207.  I just swap when I clean the filter every 3 weeks +\-.  The sponges and polishing pad that are standard gets a lot out so I don’t find it clogs between cleanings.  You do have to replace the polishing pads after a few cleanings but that aren’t that expensive.  Could cut some out of a roll of floss but I’ve just used the Fluval ones.  

[Ruud]

I have the 107 in my Cube and just got the 207 for a new to be installed tank. the 207 is taller than the 107 so indeed weird they have the same height spec?

For the fluval owners... I never put the phosphate filter pad in before, but having lots of brown algae lately .... would I put it on top of the bio stack or lower?

 

Thanks

Ruud 

[Guppysnail]

On 9/20/2023 at 11:42 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

15 inches of tubing if I put it on the shelf behind the tank vs. 27 inches of tubing if I put it off to the side with a 5 gallon bucket upside down.

I have some directly under and some off to the side. One I had to buy an extra hose to get both intake and outflow long enough. 
I have not noticed much flow difference. I did notice a bit of difference on the one I had on the floor vs one I had on a step stool. Height seems to affect flow more than tube length. 
Tube length definitely affects how easy/ hard they are to prime. Long means more priming pumps. Higher means more priming pumps when first starting. 

[Ruud]

On 9/21/2023 at 1:30 PM, Pepere said:

The phospate pad as well as carbon or purigen would be the last items before the pump impeller.  So yes, at top of final tray.

 

I would caution against use of the phosphate pad if you do not know what your phosphate levels actually are.  Ideally you should know the phospate levels in tank and in source water.  To my mind they only make sense if you have higher phosphate levels in your source water… if just tank, you can water change it out…

use of a phosphate pad when you dont have a phosphate problem can precipitate green spot algae on plant leaves…

Thanks for the warning... I suspect I have phosphate as my nitrate levels are always good, but have no test for it so thought I'd give the filter pad a try. I should order a test kit for it, I know..

 

 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Well, friends, we got her installed and fired up today. Per usual, I learned a couple of things like one does when they first try something new. 
 

I learned that the Fluval hoses are waaaay more rigid than I thought they’d be. I also learned that maaaaybe I’ll have to buy a new hose kit, and a shelf. 
 

I rinsed everything out in tap water and then soaked everything in some dechlorinated water. I read the instructions a couple of times, again, to make sure it all made sense in my head. 
 

I started out by removing the Tetra tiny internal filter and put the sponges and the filter in the bucket of dechlorinated water. I then put the bottom of the hose “clamps” over the rim of the tank, and thankfully they fit where I had already cut the lid for the tiny internal filter. Nice. All good. 
 

I squeezed the sponges into the new canister to seed it, and then poured mulmy water from the bucket into the filter, filling it up about halfway. Again, figured it couldn’t hurt to get some extra mulm in there to seed the new filter. 
 

I cut the hose kit in half, and installed the intake hose. I measured ~6” above the rim, and then chopped it off. Took the intake off, squared it up with the outflow, and gave the outflow hose the same chop. 
 

I went to install the top of the hose “clamp”, and this is where I started to run into some trouble. The tank is not tall enough/the filter wasn’t low enough/the tubing is waaaay too rigid for the clamp to work. For it to work as intended, the filter would need to be 8-12” lower than it is currently sitting on the shelf behind the tank. Technically, I could put the clamp on, but the pressure would just slide the bottom part of the “clamp” to the rim of the tank and there were some aggressive angles on the hose leading into the canister. I gave myself a big facepalm, and started to panic a bit. 
 

I took a quick break to eat our food that was delivered while I pondered what to do. Do I buy a new hose kit and a shelf? I could drill the shelf into the wall, below the tank, and above the quarantine/grow out tanks on the bottom shelf. This would allow me to use the hose clamps as intended, but would make the filter visible. But, it would also make maintaining the filter much easier. I could flip the lever, pull the power cord, pop off the top, and just grab the filter off the shelf. Instead of having to do that and then wrestle the filter from behind/beside the tank. That’s a decision for another day, though. For now, I need to either get this filter running or put back the tiny internal filter. 
 

Not going back to the internal filter, so I had to make it work. In true DIY/thrifty fishkeeper fashion I grabbed the zip ties and cut the hose back. Repeat for the outflow side. The hoses have a rigid kink in them, so I used that to my advantage and zip tied the hose to the bottom clamp bracket, with the kink flowing out of the tank and above the rim. Not ideal, but I thought it would work. I removed the strainer, installed a small intake sponge filter in its place, and installed the intake to the hose. I installed the outflow nozzle and got it into the position I thought it needed to be. 
 

I primed the filter and learned you have to do some fast pumps on the priming handle to get the flow going. Makes sense, but I just didn’t know and didn’t think about it. I did a couple slow pumps and didn’t hear the filter filling, and thought maybe gravity couldn’t do its job since the hose is in a bit of a rainbow above the rim of the tank. I thought for a second, did a couple fast pumps, and then I heard the filter filling. I breathed a sigh of relief, let the filter fill up, and crossed my fingers. 
 

I plugged her in, and she turned on! There was a decent amount of air coming out of the nozzle but I knew that would dissipate. It may be a little less than factory ideal, but it was working!

I filled the tank back up with fresh, temperature matches, dechlorinated water, played with the placement/angle of the nozzle, and adjusted the flow. I sprinkled in a tiny bit of flakes and then nano pellets to see how the flow was going in the tank. I moved the magnetic glass scraper to the other side of the tank so as to not impede the flow. I didn’t notice any shrimp being blown around fearing for their lives, and the lone Hatchetfish was chilling so I felt like we were at a good starting point. 
 

I cleaned up my mess, put tools away, and gave the filter a bit of time to start collecting the debris. The tank was EXTREMELY cloudy from removing the tiny internal filter and draining it, the general cloudiness of the tank which prompted me to buy the filter in the first place, and on top of that I wasn’t able to do my maintenance last week. To my surprise, after about 15 or 20 minutes the water has already cleared up pretty nicely!  Still a long ways to go, but definitely moving in the right direction. It may not be factory pretty due to the clamps not working as intended,  but it’s definitely working for it’s intended purpose. 

Tomorrow I will do my maintenance on all the tanks, and I plan to shut down the filter, clean all the sponges to remove all the debris that its collected overnight, put it all back together, fire it back up, and add more botanicals to the tank. I’m confident this will be the tool that I need to achieve the look that I want with the tank. 
 

As far as the empty tray goes that I started this post for, my lovely girlfriend had a brand new pack of pot scrubbers in the house. I cut them snug to the gray, stacked 3 pot scrubbers on top of each other in the tray, and we’ll see how it goes. 
 

As far as the addition of the shelf and a new hose kit; I’ll continue to think about it. I don’t really want the canister to be visible, but it would be nice to use the hose clamps as intended, and maintenance would probably be a lot easier. 
 

For now, the filter is in a tub that holds 1.5 gallons of water. In case there is ever a leak, I want it contained, and I plan to buy a water alarm so my girlfriend could pull the power on the filter should it ever start leaking. 
 

Learning is always good, and I’m looking forward to continuing to learn as I have more time with a canister filter. I hope you’re enjoying your tanks, friends. 

Edited September 29, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/21/2023 at 4:14 AM, Ruud said:

For the fluval owners... I never put the phosphate filter pad in before, but having lots of brown algae lately .... would I put it on top of the bio stack or lower?

At the end / top of the stack.