[Wet Thumb Forum]-A New(??) Filtration Concept: The Hamburger Mattenfilter "HMF"

[Neal]

I wonder how the HMF would work in a Walstad planted tank? It seems like a good mix, a low maintenance, slower growth tank mixed with a low (no?) maintenance filter.

I have a 10 in the basement that might have to make the conversion from quarantine to experiment tank.

[Jörg]

I haven't read the Walstad book yet (ordered it by interlending), but in principle: yes, I see no reason why it shouldn't work. You can find HMFs from a 1000G megatank 1000 Gallon tank to 3G kili-breeding pots. And it is a NO maintenance filter ... (except to suck off the tanksided foam with a hose during waterchanges, but only once in a few months)..Good luck with your experiment tank!
-Jörg
PS: Neal, did you get my private notification ?

[mm12463]

Hi Jörg -

Glad you came over and posted this article. I figured a lot of the people here would be interested. Glad you shared it.

Mike
http://fish.silver-fox.us

[Jörg]

Hallo !

Is there anybody who tried the Mattenfilter concept and who can report about his or her experiences ?
-Jörg

[Alex]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jörg:
Hallo !

Is there anybody who tried the Mattenfilter concept and who can report about his or her experiences ?
-Jörg <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I set one up in a 10g fry grow out tank and I can say that as soon as I get rid of the fry I will be tearing it out and just using a regular sponge filter in the future. While it works very well for a biological filter and okay for a mechanical filter cleaning is a mess and it is difficult to move anything around. As for a regular planted tank I think the maintenance problem would be worse, a canister would be probably be better. Just my 2 cents worth. As for the foam, it is what is know as reticulated foam.

Alex

[Jörg]

Hallo ALex!

There is no nedd to clean the mat at all! There a dozens of aquaria with a HMF that work biologically well and do look great, too. What you can do ist to suck of the surface of the mat with a hose once it's surface is covered with too much debris or algae, but you definitely shouldn't do more, Just let the bacteria do their work. What I cannot understand is that the MAttenfilter concept gets more and more popular here but not in the U.S.A. ??
-Jörg

[cheesehazard]

I think I am going to try this on my 40 gallon tank after I find a new home for my 2 oscars.

[Alex]

Jorg,

I tried that and it just didn't work to well. Being that it is a fry tank I do very gentle water changes so that may have worked against it.

Alex

[anonapersona]

Discus Hans will be importing foam that looks to be the correct type for this filter.

He posted about it recently at AquaForums.

[DJ]

Over here (the Netherlands) a lot of people have experimented with the 'Hamburger'. It IS a great filter, biologically it is near perfect and it is a low maintenance filter. Over here people are of the opinion that the filter looses it's ugly blue color when it turns dark because of the biological activity. Apart from the biological part it makes the water crystal clear and there's plenty of possibilities to hide equipment.

Unfortunately there are severe drawbacks in planted tanks: once really run-in Hamburgers eat nitrates like there is no tomorrow (anaerobic action). And they do consume trace elements. So for planted tanks the early adapters have abandoned it.

As a reaction people are experimienting with (heavily)planted tanks -typical dutch style tanks- without any filtrating medium. It works great for planted tanks, the plants eat all the stuff and less nutrient dosage is necessary. But please do not try this for an unplanted tank.