Hi,
I couldn't find an answer to what I think may be a simple question, so here goes....how do you prevent your flat disposable filter cartridges from clogging so frequently in a tank with lots of plants and real driftwood?
I've got two tanks, a 29, and a newly planted 55. I bought them both as a complete kit and they both came with the simple hob filters. I'm spending a fortune on these replacement filter cartridges. My 55g has side by side filters and the shortest time frame was two days before they were sufficiently clogged so water was bypassing them over the top of filter. I made it worse then by doing a gravel vac and moving things around in there, but they're normally only good for a week or two anyway. There was one time I didn't notice it overflowing until almost 100% of the water was bypassing the filters... I know I'm playing with fire here so something needs to change. My non-planted 29g will go beyond a month without clogging and overflowing if I let it.
When I inspect them, the backside is black with what appears to be small pieces of plant debris. Am I supposed to clean and reuse them? Is this type of filtration not practical with planted tank? Some say hornwort is bad for breaking, so I removed almost of it, but it didn't really seem to make a difference.
I've read some posts praising the xp3 and xp4, but would not these tiny floating particles clog these as well? I'm trying to make the inexpensive diy co2 work in my 55g and I thought I'd read somewhere that these hob filters are less likely to drive out co2 than a more powerful canister or even the hob with the wheel.
I'd like to avoid the expense of buying a different filter, and I'd prefer to avoid a noisier one. Is that possible?
I couldn't find an answer to what I think may be a simple question, so here goes....how do you prevent your flat disposable filter cartridges from clogging so frequently in a tank with lots of plants and real driftwood?
I've got two tanks, a 29, and a newly planted 55. I bought them both as a complete kit and they both came with the simple hob filters. I'm spending a fortune on these replacement filter cartridges. My 55g has side by side filters and the shortest time frame was two days before they were sufficiently clogged so water was bypassing them over the top of filter. I made it worse then by doing a gravel vac and moving things around in there, but they're normally only good for a week or two anyway. There was one time I didn't notice it overflowing until almost 100% of the water was bypassing the filters... I know I'm playing with fire here so something needs to change. My non-planted 29g will go beyond a month without clogging and overflowing if I let it.
When I inspect them, the backside is black with what appears to be small pieces of plant debris. Am I supposed to clean and reuse them? Is this type of filtration not practical with planted tank? Some say hornwort is bad for breaking, so I removed almost of it, but it didn't really seem to make a difference.
I've read some posts praising the xp3 and xp4, but would not these tiny floating particles clog these as well? I'm trying to make the inexpensive diy co2 work in my 55g and I thought I'd read somewhere that these hob filters are less likely to drive out co2 than a more powerful canister or even the hob with the wheel.
I'd like to avoid the expense of buying a different filter, and I'd prefer to avoid a noisier one. Is that possible?
