Aquaclear HOB for water polishing, Nitrate factory?
 

Hi All!

Just a quick question.

I was having lots of trouble keeping my tank water clean. (I already have a Remora w/ overflow box running 24/7) I added an Aquaclear HOB with some cotton floss and the water is now crystal clear! In addition, algae growth on the glass has slowed down somewhat. I'm a fan! :p

In any case, I know that mechanical filters can become nitrate factories if the pads are left in too long. What do you think would be the longest amount of time I could leave a pad in there before I should change it?

Thanks for your thoughts/opinions!

Bud

I've been running the biggest aquaclear HOB on my tank now for 6 months with double sponges. Weekly I clean the sponges under hot tap water, then final clean them in RO water before putting them back in. Works for me. I would suggust tossing the filter-floss weekly and replacing with new.

Def toss that floss, it's screaming "NITRATES!!!" (I can hear it from here ;))

I've seen some other reports that even sponges can retain nitrates even with super hot water (ask Bev!!) but you have to do what's best for your system. It might be on a "as needed" basis, just like with carbon.

You can also swap out filter pads, just go to Big Al's and buy some of the big mamma jamma ones, cut them to size and toss them in. Switch them out at least 1x a week, probably more and I think you'll be fine.

Might want to think about doing a fuge idea too, they work so nicely and although it won't clean the water AS well, it'll help the tank and a little bit of eggcrate will go a long way :)

Yeah, I think replacing the filter pads once a week sounds reasonable. I don't use the Aquaclear reusable pads, but the cut-to-size ones you mentioned. I wouldn't think of cleaning/reusing a pad after using it for a week. It's DEEESGUSTING! :p

I would love to have a fuge, but this is going to have to wait for awhile. But since we are on the subject, Nick, it looks like you have a 20G sump with a Tunze skimmer. Does this sump have a fuge in it? Are you using the Tunze 9010 skimmer? Are you happy with this setup? This is the same setup I would like under my next tank. Let me know your experiences!

Thanks! :)

when i was keeping freshwater planted tanks i would use quilting material, just have to make sure it's got nothing added for hypoallergenic reasons or whatever. it's super cheap and works just as well if not better and you can feel free to change out at will. also about nitrates, if everything is pretty stable, just test once a week or whatever and monitor the situation, that should give you a pretty good idea as to when you'll need to think about changing, give or take.

Good point Darryl. I suppose I could dust off my Nitrate test kit and see what's actually going on!

Thanks all for your help! :p

haha - They are, rather. Soak it in hot water and it'll kill darn near anything.

As for the sump, I still haven't done pictures (don't ask why, I'm just lazy :P) but I've got it like this:

Tunze-->Baffles-->Fuge-->Return

I don't know how great the fuge is/will work, but i'll update as soon as I've got more details ;) ;)

Looking forward to any updates Nick! :) I'm curious as to how your 20G sump/fuge works out for you. Not sure if it's big enough to get the job done, or if I should just go with a bigger tank, bigger sump/fuge and a bigger skimmer. I was thinking about a 40G breeder for the display tank. Nice and manageable. In any case, good luck with your setup!

I used my 500 AC on my last tank. Superb filter and great flow but the sponge filter is a pain to clean. It does collect detritus though. Man, I can rinse it forever. I like the Regent type power filter, with the throw away vertical pads for mech. filtration, just because they are easy to pull out and clean.

As with any though, the sponge type, pads or the floss in a sump, regular disposal and/or cleaning is needed or the detrius is still in the system.

when i had my 25g tank i had an AC500 modded into a refugium but instead of sponge block or filter floss, i just grew super dense chaeto. it worked as both to export nitrates as well as to polish the water mechanically.