Fluval U2

[awilson360]

what i meen by keeping the carbon pads and replacing them with sponge is because carbon pads can be a bit costly so if you replace them with much cheaper sponge then when you do medicate you can use them instead of buying more

ash

Those sponge pads that come with the Fluval U2 are useless, they don't trap much dirt at all and I haven't seen any bacterial growth on them. The Carbon pads are great, not that expensive and home a lot of bacteria and are more efficient at trapping dirt. If you're going to replace it at the very least put some filter floss in rather than a another coarse fluval sponge.

just because you can not see dirt on them does not mean there is no bacterial growth on them i have a diy sponge filter which is coarse sponge much bigger holes than the fluval pads and its clean as anything with no debris on it and processes 8ppm ammonia in under 12 hours

but yeah the filter floss idea would give a more clean look to the water

ash

How would you go about getting filter floss the correct size for the filter?

 

[JoshuaA]

what i meen by keeping the carbon pads and replacing them with sponge is because carbon pads can be a bit costly so if you replace them with much cheaper sponge then when you do medicate you can use them instead of buying more

ash

Those sponge pads that come with the Fluval U2 are useless, they don't trap much dirt at all and I haven't seen any bacterial growth on them. The Carbon pads are great, not that expensive and home a lot of bacteria and are more efficient at trapping dirt. If you're going to replace it at the very least put some filter floss in rather than a another coarse fluval sponge.

just because you can not see dirt on them does not mean there is no bacterial growth on them i have a diy sponge filter which is coarse sponge much bigger holes than the fluval pads and its clean as anything with no debris on it and processes 8ppm ammonia in under 12 hours

but yeah the filter floss idea would give a more clean look to the water

ash

How would you go about getting filter floss the correct size for the filter?

Cheapest and best option...

Go buy a roll or sheet of pond filter floss for about £5 for a massive chunk. Cut it up to fit.. profit?

 

[awilson360]

what i meen by keeping the carbon pads and replacing them with sponge is because carbon pads can be a bit costly so if you replace them with much cheaper sponge then when you do medicate you can use them instead of buying more

ash

Those sponge pads that come with the Fluval U2 are useless, they don't trap much dirt at all and I haven't seen any bacterial growth on them. The Carbon pads are great, not that expensive and home a lot of bacteria and are more efficient at trapping dirt. If you're going to replace it at the very least put some filter floss in rather than a another coarse fluval sponge.

just because you can not see dirt on them does not mean there is no bacterial growth on them i have a diy sponge filter which is coarse sponge much bigger holes than the fluval pads and its clean as anything with no debris on it and processes 8ppm ammonia in under 12 hours

but yeah the filter floss idea would give a more clean look to the water

ash

How would you go about getting filter floss the correct size for the filter?

Cheapest and best option...

Go buy a roll or sheet of pond filter floss for about £5 for a massive chunk. Cut it up to fit.. profit?

Hmm think there is some in the garage! Cheers!

 

[ian]

just be aware that filter floss will clog/reduce flow up very quickly in the U2. You'd be changing/rinsing it every other day.

 

[JoshuaA]

just be aware that filter floss will clog/reduce flow up very quickly in the U2. You'd be changing/rinsing it every other day.

I put some filter floss in my girlfriends U2, between the PolyCarbon and Sponge pad. Water flow is perfectly fine, and filtration is excellent, it doesn't clog and homes an exceptionally large amount of bacteria.

It has been that way for 3 months or so now and have had no problems never needed to rinse or change it at all. So from the fact I have first hand experience of doing it I would suggest that your assumption of having rinsing/changing it every other day is false.

 

[ian]

Josh, from my experience, filter floss clogs quickly when put in the right place. In fact its not just my experience but many others. I'm only pointing out facts, why would you want to try and contradict every post? Just remember Fluval spent thousand and thousands developing the U range, and guess what...you have made a massive discovery!!, ram it with filter floss, i wonder why Fluval didn't think of that.

I used a U2 for about a year before selling it on.

 

[Twinklecaz]

How come you sold it? Didn't you rate it or were you just upgrading?

 

[ian]

I sold it when I upgraded my tank, I rated it as a filter, all the U series are good filters IMO.

 

[JoshuaA]

Josh, from my experience, filter floss clogs quickly when put in the right place. In fact its not just my experience but many others. I'm only pointing out facts, why would you want to try and contradict every post? Just remember Fluval spent thousand and thousands developing the U range, and guess what...you have made a massive discovery!!, ram it with filter floss, i wonder why Fluval didn't think of that.

I used a U2 for about a year before selling it on.

So this can apply to the carbon inserts.... We all know they're useless you are wanting to remove medication so the most effective replacement would be something to home bacteria wouldn't it? Or they would make some sponges to fit... however they didn't the humanity!

i wonder why Fluval didn't think of that.

Josh, from my experience, filter floss clogs quickly when put in the right place. In fact its not just my experience but many others.

So you used it with the Fluval U2 in the place I specified then? No ok...

why would you want to try and contradict every post?

Oh I'm sorry for putting personal experience with the filter in question forward, as opposed to something appears to be opinions based from elsewhere...

The same question goes back to you.

Just remember Fluval spent thousand and thousands developing the U range, and guess what...you have made a massive discovery!!

Omg the same discovery everyone else made, filter media usually gets replaced with a personal preference or something more effective ommmgggggg

How about people who prefer the Eheim ceramics over the Fluval Biomax nodes? Would fluval place those in their filters instead because they're better? No they wouldn't... so maybe... just maybe another change including filter floss is beneficial. Of course according to you because a company as invested money into a product line they have optimised it to the max and no other improvements can be made... I am deeply sorry for my sarcasm throughout this post.

Dudeeeee what about the Jewel aquariums lots of people replace their internal filters with externals... omg but they've invested money!!!




Sooooo throughout all that sarcasm we have learnt something? Just because a company makes in one way doesn't mean its best. Something tells me you haven't tried putting a film of filter floss between the two pads on this specific filter so you really don't have to come back at me like that.

Persona experience + Actually doing it vs what you think without trying it on this filter.

 

[Ashley1991]

i think Twinklecaz that if you decide to put filter floss in there just be prepared to wash it every so often like ianho said but also you may get lucky and it may not clog up like joshuaa said i think it depends on stocking and how much crap you have floating about but that is just a presumption as i have never had filter floss and have always had clear water

at the end of the day what you put in there is personal choice above everything else, i would put some sponge media in there personally but joshuaa would put filter floss in there.

maybe a google search to see if there is anything about these to help you decide?

ash

 

[JoshuaA]

Just to clarify I'm not talking about putting a pond sheets thickness of floss in, I'm talking about 0.5cm between the carbon and sponge pads. The carbon may as well be left in there and if you're good with your stocking and use a hospital tank the chances of you of ever needing to use carbon is greatly reduced. If however you do need to add carbon you can either replace the pads or get the carbon grandules in a "filter bag" and place it infront of the output. Works just as effectively and also prevents mini cycles.

The problem I see with the Fluval U2 is if you do need to use the carbon pads whatever option you have taken you might cause a mini cycle as you either have to remove a sponge/floss pad and replace it with a carbon pad or remove your old carbon pad for a new one. So personally the best way for me is to let the one you got with the filter expire (2 weeks usually before its effectiveness has been reduced significantly) and place a 0.5cm of filter floss between the two and then when removing a meds place a bag of carbon granules over the outlet.

Furthermore you don't need to listen to the 5x turn over rate an hour, I agree with Oldman47 on this one in that if you have a higher capacity of media you don't need such a high turn over rate. Of course if you have a low volume of media you want a high turn over rate to increase the amount of water that comes into contact with the media. Therefore the filter floss barely effects flow rate if at all noticeable but VASTLY increases surface area in which the bacteria is capable of housing on. It is also PERFECT for seeding new filters as you can effectively place it anywhere in a new filter.

These have been based on my experiences of using the combination of a Fluval U2 and Filter floss over the last 3 months + Cycle time. If you for some reason need to clean out your filter floss which I never have had to do thoroughly then you really would have to question your water quality or the effectiveness of the first sponge. Otherwise if you have 2 coarse sponges then you're likely going to clog up your impeller and ceramics much faster.

 

[ian]

Filter floss clogs when used properly, Josh. Word up! It's only real use is to polish water.

 

[JoshuaA]

Filter floss clogs when used properly, Josh. Word up! It's only real use is to polish water.

I guess the fact it seeded my tank on a fish-less cycle in 11 days means it does nothing but polish water...

Ok Ianho you have the evidence... you win.

Edit:

Also if you can only use it to "polish" water when you're apparently using it properly. What does it make for me when it contains vast amounts of bacteria capable of seeding my filter in under 2 weeks up to the start of a qualification week? Does it mean that even though it's a super effective biological housing media I've still used it somehow incorrectly?

 

[ian]

Anything can be used as filter media, anything! Well done in cycling your tank that quick, I can assure you that filter floss is used primererly as a water polisher, it should be used in first stage filtration, to th OP if your gonna use extra media then use a sponge, it houses more bacteria. You will only ever see manufacturers using floss as first line filtration.

 

[Ashley1991]

it is used as a waer polisher primarily but there was some old filter floss in my second hand tetratec that i took out to help cycle a 60 liter i did not even know what it was until recently lol but you can use any media to help cycle a tank i think sponge would be best but anything will do

ash