cherries and amanos - Page 4 - Shrimp & other Invertebrates

Tex Gal · 07-08-2008, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ponyrandy

I didn't get to put mine in today, will do it in the morning. Tex Gal was my guess on the length of the II correct?
Brian

I think so, but mine is already in my tank, amongst all the plants... LOL

ponyrandy · 07-09-2008, 07:36 PM

Well I got mine in this morning, and I decided to try the III. I was going to mount it horizontally but was concerned about not pulling enough water off of the bottom. So I put it in vertically (I was worried that it would be too long), but it worked perfectly. It is in my son's 10 gallon with an AC 20.

Here is a close up:

Here is a full view. It really doesn't stick out like a sore thumb:

It does take up a little real estate but I figure the trade off is worth it. When I took the HOB off to install the prefilter, there were at least 8 or 9 cherries in it and 3 were DOA. And I just emptied the cherries out of it 2 days ago. I will have to wait and see how long it takes to clog up, but with the bigger filter I expect it to last awhile. I highly recommend this filter.
Brian

MatPat · 07-23-2008, 04:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ponyrandy

I will have to wait and see how long it takes to clog up, but with the bigger filter I expect it to last awhile. I highly recommend this filter.
Brian

How has the pre-filter been working for you so far? Given my experience with them I don't imagine you have had to clean it quite yet unless you just want to keep it looking pretty

ponyrandy · 07-23-2008, 07:24 PM

Its been exactly 2 weeks since I put it in and flow is still great. Its even still pretty on the outside, looks like I should easily get another 2 weeks out of it.
Brian

MatPat · 07-24-2008, 06:20 AM

The reticulated foam in the III is pretty nice. It seems to allow the smallest particles to pass through and get captured by your filter media but keeps the larger particles (and baby shrimp) out of the filter itself. Are you finding you need to do less filter maintenance as well?

ponyrandy · 07-24-2008, 06:54 PM

At this point I would say yes, but it is a little early to tell since I cleaned the filter when I put the prefilter on. Its funny you mention baby shrimp, I was looking at a larger shrimp on the prefilter yesterday (they seem to love it), and beside it was what looked like a tiny baby shrimp. It was so small I had to get out a big magnifying glass to make sure. It is hard to believe how many baby shrimp I must have been sucking up in that filter before adding the prefilter. I have noticed a significant increase in my shrimp colony just in the 2 weeks since adding the prefilter. If anyone does not have one of these or something similiar for their shrimp tank, be sure and get one.
Brian

Tex Gal · 07-24-2008, 09:41 PM

The two foam filters I bought are really working well. I do HATE the look of the big foam in my shrimp tank BUT.. since I have added it I have seen teeny tiny shrimplets that I didn't see before. I have had baby shrimp all along, just never seen the tiny ones. I think I must have had some of them going through the cloth bag I had over the intake. If not it sure is a coincidence. They are so small. I too, keep a magnifying glass next to the tank to take a gander at them.

As far as maintenance goes, I haven't had to rinse or anything for 3 weeks (7/8-7/24). That's a lot better than it was before. I would have to keep an eye on the bag covering and rinse it out every few days.

NoSvOrAx · 07-26-2008, 08:35 PM

The II has the same type of foam as the I but is the length of a III (4"). You can stack them together to increase flow and increase the time between cleanings. With a III on my xp2 shrimplets made it into the canister, so I use exclusively IIs now. The II will keep the polishing pad in a xp filter virtually clean. However, if you do allow the prefilter to become saturated with gunk you will see it collapse down on to the internal frame and it will begin allowing detris to enter the canister.

And for those of you who haven't seen my pic. :P

Just thought I throw my 2 cents in....

PRESTON4479 · 07-27-2008, 11:46 AM

I am trying to decide which one to get. If I get the filter max 3 can I get away with one on a xp3? Also if I get the filter max 2 is it going to take stacking 3 of them to prevent flow loss?

NoSvOrAx · 07-27-2008, 07:50 PM

I don't think using one would drop your flow until it became clogged. Stacking more together will slow the clogging process. The upside is you won't have to clean your canister as often.

If you have good water polishing going on in your canister then I would say you would probably have to clean the canister before having to clean a III. Its more coarse of a material than either the fine sponge or the polishing pad/filter floss. And for me, those are what clog first on my tanks without prefilters.

And as to the shrimplets, I always have the worse luck, so it could just be me as others report no problems. :P

Its not really a bad thing for cherries to end up in a canister. They seem very happy to live inside. You can always dump the canister directly into a bucket when cleaning it. Let the water settle and they'll just be walking around on the muck eating. Powerhead and HOB are an entirely different and horrific story.