Help: Setting Up A Fluval 405

[petertr]

Hi all,

I bought a Fluval 405 from a fellow member on Sunday (thanks!), and I'm wondering what best to put in it.


It has 2 sides.

Side 1 is a screen of 4 corse sponges - I assume these are to remove large debris from the water before the water reaches the other side.

Side 2 has 4 compartments sat on top of eachother.


It comes set up with the bottom 2 filled with carbon, and the top 2 with ceramic chips.



I'm not interested in running carbon, so I have 2 compartments to add media to.

I'm quite suprised there isn't a finer sponge filter in there. Could I add one? Should it fit the compartment tightly, or loosely if I do so?

Does the water flow from the bottom up? If so, then I'll put the finer filter on the bottom to catch smaller particles. I assume this will also act as a bio-filter?


Ill probably put the ceramic chips in the middle 2 compartments, and then some filter wool in the top one.



Oh, and it didn't come with the hose that it needs - does anyone recommend and particular type?


Sorry for the tirade of questions - please add any comments or advice as you see fit!

Thanks!

 

[minxfishy]

Im not sure which way the water flows to be honest, think its bottom to top.

You could add some filter floss for the small particules to the sponges on the side OR in the top tray on top of some bio balls, I never used the carbon in my 305, just filled the compartments with bio balls, left the sponges on the side and never used filter floss, but floss can be used on either as I said.

Hoses should be easy to find, try the hagen website for suppliers.

 

[petertr]

Thanks.

I am concerned that there is so little sponge in the filter.
At the moment, the RIO 300 Jumbo box filter I have has 2 large fine sponges (about 6"x6"x2") as well as 2 coarse sponges of the same size - but the 405 only has the 4 "Fluval 4" style sponges.


Is there any difference between bio-balls and ceramic loops?

 

[minxfishy]

No dont think, I call em bio balls, but they are just ceramic rings that look like large hula hoops

Yeah the fluvals only have the four sponges, two on either side.

 

[petertr]

Well, I currently have a large bag of ceramic chips in my Rio Box filter - so Ill just move them over.

By the looks of it, that's just about all of the biologic filtration in the 405 - Am I missing something, or should I have some sort of sponge filter involved with my bio-filtration?

 

[4ft Rod]

Hi there peter i have the fluval 205 and all im running is the 4 fluval sponges and in the separate compartments i have in the top one ceramic media then a bag of activated carbon then the rest are just full of ceramic media, or hula hoops as you call them!
its been like this for 3 months with no problems and the water is always crystal clear!

hope this helps

 

[petertr]

Thanks mate.

Having only recently added ceramic chips to any of my filters (now on my 5th different internal filter - all purely sponge based) - Im finding it very difficult to say 2/3 of my filtration should be non-sponge based

 

[rabbut]

Well, add finer media to the Fluval if you want, but it will need constant attention if you do There is like no surface area in the thing after the foam screen frame, so it will clogg very easily. The Fluvals are prone to channeling aswell IME, so sponge isn't a great choice of media for them Stick to ceramic and plastic bio-ball media and then you won't have to touch it for a couple of months, rather than having to maintain it weekly like I had to when I ran one with mostly sponge on a tank about the same size as a rio 300... By not putting in any finer media, you remove the need to heavily maintain the filter, but it will allow floating particles to just pass strait through, leaving them in the water column...

IMO Fluvals are c#!? but too late, you have one now Keep the seals well loobed with Vasaline, and replace them every 6-12 months, or the Fluval will leak like it is famouse for, and 300ltrs on the floor will be a big mess Fluvals aren't renowned for water-tightness amongst many member on here, so keep the seals fresh to avoid mess Only about a month ago did one of my mates have their Fluvals drain the tank onto the floor when the seals packed up after just a year Luckily he was in when it happened and caught it early, but it could have been realy messy and expencive if he was out when it did that...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[petertr]

Was wondering when you'd chip in Rabbut ;-)

Got the filter 2nd hand - well, actually got it as new, but for half the price.


I suppose the 4 foam filters are equivalent of having 2 Fluval 4 internals - which is a filter I had as the backup filter until a few days ago.


Is there much difference between plastic bio balls and ceramic chips? I have a load of ceramic chips, as I've a bag sat in the Jumbo filter at the moment. I'm planning on just throwing them into the cannister filter, and firing away. (I've also squeezed the 4 foam filters in, to give them a little head start for a week)

 

[rabbut]

I personally see little difference between the two. Ceramic are usualy cheaper round here, but both preform well IMO

All the best
Rabbut

 

[petertr]

Cheers,

I think I'll go with the 4 foams in the screeen (which are in my other other filter at the moment - I guess they still add *some* bio-filtration) - and there's a ton of ceramics in there too - should be able to fill 3 trays with them.

I'll throw some filter floss into the top layer, to sharpen things up.

 

[petertr]

Does anyone know how the priming pump is supposed to work - because I cannot get it to do anything useful.


I put a hose on the input, and it sucks about 3 inches of water when I push the pump, then blows it back out when I pull it out???

 

[rabbut]

It's a Fluval priming pump. How could you expect it to work

Save yourself some effort. Get a bucket, un-hook the outlet and suck on it. Place the Outlet into the bucket once you hear the sound or running water, and wait. After a few moments, water will run out into the bucket. Wait for it to fill, then close the valves, re-position the outlet, open the valves and then switch on After that, shake it until all the air is out It will run noisily (more than normal I mean here, Fluvals are naturaly noisy once they get past a couple of years old IME) for a few days and then settle down again

HTH
Rabbut

 

[petertr]

Thanks Rabbut - Whilst I know you hate Fluvals, you do seem to know them inside out - so I was hoping you'd reply.


By "the Oulet", do you mean the aquastop valve - i.e. I can remove that, re-open the values and suck the siphon through it
OR
Do you mean remove my hose from the aquastop valve and start the siphon into a bucket - then once its running, re-attach it to the aquastop.



Im assuming the latter will work easily - but the 1st option sounds like a quicker way to do it!





I read the manual, and there's supposed to be some kind of ball in the value that acts as a one-way valve, so that the priming pump only sucks and doesn't blow - Where can I look to see if that is still there and/or working as it should?

 

[rabbut]

By outlet, I mean the hose that is sitting on the back of the tank, that the water returns to the tank from the filter The aquastop is the "valve" I refur to

The one way valve in on the inlet pipe set, sat inside the tank when in use, assuming that it is in the same place on the 405 as it was on the 404. There is a plastic fitting than sits on the bottom of the ridgid pipe in the tank, onto which the stariner pushes on. The ball goes inside that, such that it is sandwitched between the two parts. When you remove the strainer to clean it, you also gain access to the ball

Though the ball works in some cases for the first few times, I have come to the conclusion that it is just there to look pretty Regardless of if it is there or not, it does not seem to do it's job. This is why I never bother with the priming pump The pump itself works fairly well, but the non-return bit works as well as a waterpump without an impeller

HTH
Rabbut