Filter Floss/wool Does It Go At The Top Or Bottom?

[marieukxx]

I've asked before and was advised to place it in the bottom of my filter. I have an Eheim pickup internal filter. The top comes off there is a long canister with one long sponge inside. Water comes in through the bottom and out the top.

Now I was advised by fluttermoth on here who is great and helped me loads to put it int he bottom so that's what I've done. But me being me I've been thinking. If it's in the bottom and designed to catch small particles wouldn't the poo and other rubbish get stuck in the filter wool first and not get a chance to get the the sponge?

If it was in the top all the big bits would go on the sponge then any last little bits would stick on the wool on the top before the water comes out clean at the top.

So what exactly is right? Top or bottom?

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Its not really a matter of top or bottom, but you need to put it where your inlet is. In your case this is the bottom, so it can trap all the 'bigger' particles. Why do you want the fish waste to get to your sponges?

All the bigger particles trapped by the floss can simply be washed out when you do a water change, or you can replace it...

If you put it at the outlet, your filter sponges will tend to 'clog' up quicker, and because you don;t want to be messing around squeezing them out every water change, its easiest to let the floss get dirty.

 

[OldMan47]

The best place to place a polisher like floss is right before the water returns to the tank. That way it can remove the last vestiges of contaminants from the returning water. In an external that puts it at the top of the column of trays right before the impeller. In a HOB, that means it is right in front of your cartridge. In an internal it would be near the center of the filter since internals draw from the center of the casing after the sponges.

 

[anon02]

With your filter I would say that you should put the floss at the bottom of the filter to catch the majority of debris, then if you are not happy with your water clarity try another piece at the top as a polisher, always making sure that you dont reduce the filter throughput too much

 

[marieukxx]

I'm keeping it at the bottom now and I'll see how it goes.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with OM47 (excellent clarity about polisher function.)

Filter design and complexity has an impact on the number of types of media you can fit in, the amount of each type and therefor the ultimate flexibility and effectiveness you might expect from the filter.

When filters have larger filter box volume, there can be more of each media type, increasing the chance that it will be effective at what it is there to accomplish. Greater box volume also means you can retain the basics (mechanical, biological) but still have an area for optional purposes such as chemical filtration on a temporary basis.

As the designs move in the simpler, less costly direction, the functions of the media often have to merge more and more. So in a very small internal box filter, one might even only have floss and it will be playing the roles of catching large particles, providing surface area for bacteria and catching small particles all in one. This of course is not ideal, because floss wears out quickly and you are faced with trying to replace some of it will not losing all your bacteria.

The addition of a sponge to a simple filter like that is a big advance because now the bacteria can be retained much longer but the floss can be replaced at will.

One can see how, in a big cannister filter for instance, there can be big rings and coarse sponges to catch big particles but still retain good water flow for many weeks, then there can be medium sponges or scrub pads or whatever for lots of bio surface area and then finally there can be floss pads or loose floss in large enough volume to trap the smallest of particles right before the water goes back in.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[BluePhantom]

Old man and waterdrop give great advice. They have helped me alot. Thanks again guys