dwalstad

Recently, I stirred up the soil a lot in my new Native Fish Tank (55 gal) while doing some major redesigning. It was a mess!

Anyway, I thought the turbidity would go away like it usually does. It didn't. After 10 days, I took out the tank's UV Submariner and put in the AquaClear Powerhead/ "Quick Filter" combination. The Quick Filter does a really nice job of removing soil turbidity. In 2 days, the turbidity was gone.

Got me thinking, though, of how to make the UV Submariner filter a better mechanical filter. If any of you have this filter, you'll see that it has a very coarse, flimsy mesh sleeve for mechanical filtration. It is essentially useless for removing soil turbidity.

So I decided to add the filter padding I use in the Quick Filter to the UV Submariner, thereby making the Submariner a good mechanical filter. I replaced the flimsy black mesh with a 7" X 9" piece of filter padding. Rolls of this filter padding are sold as "Micron Filter Pads" . I use the 100 micron pore size, but its available with an even smaller pore size (50 microns). I purchased an 18" X 30" roll for less than ~$7 from Drs Foster and Smith (Cat #APG-143963).

One roll provides almost a life-time supply. I reuse the pads over and over again. I chlorox a batch of dirty ones and pound/rinse them out to dislodge most of the debris.

The other thing I like about using the pads is that it slows down the flow rate through the UV filter. A slower flow rate will increase the UV Submariner's sterilizing ability.

Pictures are of my tank before and after I added the Quick Filter with its filter padding. Other picture shows me inserting the new padding into the UV Submariner. Why didn't I think of this sooner!

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Diana K

How often are you needing to clean that very fine filter media? I would think it would get plugged up pretty fast.

prBrianpr

I used a similar technique in a power filter. If you have small and few fish the pad can run a long time.

dwalstad

When I use the pads in my Quick Filters, they actually last quite awhile, usually at least a month. Eventually, I'll try the 50 micron size padding. I think clay particles can be 30 microns, so the pores aren't that small.

After posting this thread, I now realize that the Quick Filter might still be a better mechanical filter than the UV Submariner. That's because the tank water is actually forced through the padding in the Quick Filter.

In the UV Submariner, the tank water enters the outside slots but then runs alongside and parallel to the padding to the bottom of the filter. The water is never forced through the padding. I'll have to see if the UV Submariner equipped with padding actually works in clearing water.

Forgotten Path

A good move in the beginning, considering the Submariner probably wasn't working well in very turbid water...

I have almost always found that you can modify a filter cartridge or stuff something into a filter to make it work better than the manufacturer's setup!

Ms. Walstad, do you have a thread on your new tank? I would love to see some more pictures, and hear some more about native fish, as I'm considering native fish for our next aquarium setup (which won't occur until we have a house, or are renting something bigger).