Cathyl Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Gday all, just got an early xmas present from the missus, an aquaclear 110(formerly a 500), for my 4 foot tank and was wondering if you guys that run aquaclears run them as per the instructions or do you change the media and put in Matrix or any other type of media? Also, I keep Americans and was led to beleive that running carbon causes hole in the head disease. Is there any truth to this, as I was going to run the carbon insert in the filter but wont if there is a chance it will cause hole in the head. Thanks for your input. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namethatswitty Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 I run mine with matrix and the sponge that it comes with. I use the carbon sometimes when there is colour in the water I want to get rid of and remove the carbon when the colour dissapears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat williamson Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 I run the aqua clear as purely mechanical filtration (ie only the sponge ). I do have an ehein 2228 also on the tank which does the biological bit. I donot run any carbon in my tanks, mainly because I don't see any need to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy001 Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 I run mine with a course blue sponge about 15mm thick then the sponge that comes with it then a layer of fine white filter wool then a purigen bag, matrix & noodles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robdog013 Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 I run mine with extra filter wool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted December 22, 2007 Share Posted December 22, 2007 Carbon doesn't cause HITH. Poor water conditions are part of the cause of HITH. Usually, carbon is used when you're trying to scrub something out of the water column. I've been keeping fish for about twenty years and have had precious little use for it for the most part. If you're using an AC, just make sure you stick to a good water change regime including gravel vacuum work and not just top-up and everything will be OK. IMHO, ACs are a bit light-on for a 4' if they are the only filtration owing to the lack of surface area in the filtration medium. Please consider a canister that has capacity for lots of media. There are many threads in this forum which could give you a whole world of guidance. HTH and lots of luck.... oh - and Merry Christmas! Cheers - Ozi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishdance Posted December 22, 2007 Share Posted December 22, 2007 Double Aquaclear sponges. They do a reasonable job of mechanical filtration and a great job of biological filtration. There is enough space in each model filter for 2 sponges so you might as well use up all your filter space. If one sponge is good, two sponges are twice as good IMO. Only the bottom sponge will be dirty so I rotate them for optimal longevity and only ever clean one sponge at a time. Aquaclear sponges are great so I wouldnt use a DIY version sponge here. They actually detonate a charge in a closed system under pressure to make the rigid open cell structure and have designed the foam density with care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Double AC sponges, bag of purigen (for tanks with tannin issues) then supplied (or other) bio media on top Carbon sits in the box waiting to remove meds once in a blue moon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndoboi Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 AC sponge, Fluval Bio-Max and Purigen in my 4 units Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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