I use a fair amount of floating plants because the fish enjoy hiding and napping in them and if I were to have any babies the new fry would have a place to hide. I've used java moss, frogbit and a number of other plants that don't mind floating and all they do is get sucked into the filter and clogging it up. 2 days ago I woke up to one of my fish rooms covered in water because the filter (An AquaClear) was totally clogged in plant debris. I clear the plant debris in the tubing all the time but have to dissassemble the filter to get rid of the rest of it. AquaClears have this basket that holds a sponge, a charcoal filter and your biofilter - it's about the only filter I know that allows you to have so many items in the filter. So I took it apart (now this thing had just been cleaned 5 days before) and the bottom of that basket was COMPLETELY clogged with plant debris, as was the sponge, I cleaned the sponge (it was time) and scraped out all the plant debris all over the inside of the filter - reassembled it and it started working perfectly again.
Then within hours it was clogged enough to push the lid off the top of the filter so I put something fairly heavy on it. Today it had pushed the lid and the heavy weight off completely - getting ready to pour on the floor again so I unplugged it and did ANOTHER filter cleaning. I cleaned every square inch AGAIN and put it back together. It's fine for now but it's either the moss or frogbit clogging that thing constantly because it keeps floating next to the filter.
I would be lovely to be able to stuff the foilage in a bag and put it back in the tank - but the fish wouldn't get much use out of it. Fishing line in a few places might work as well - but would the fish get tangled in it?
Any ideas or is this another one of my "you just have to live with it" problems? Is this problem exclusive to the AquaClear filter - I was told it was the best so I own 6 of them - 2 are used for parts while the other 4 are in tanks. I think they are great filters but very high maintenance, Thanks in advance.
Then within hours it was clogged enough to push the lid off the top of the filter so I put something fairly heavy on it. Today it had pushed the lid and the heavy weight off completely - getting ready to pour on the floor again so I unplugged it and did ANOTHER filter cleaning. I cleaned every square inch AGAIN and put it back together. It's fine for now but it's either the moss or frogbit clogging that thing constantly because it keeps floating next to the filter.
I would be lovely to be able to stuff the foilage in a bag and put it back in the tank - but the fish wouldn't get much use out of it. Fishing line in a few places might work as well - but would the fish get tangled in it?
Any ideas or is this another one of my "you just have to live with it" problems? Is this problem exclusive to the AquaClear filter - I was told it was the best so I own 6 of them - 2 are used for parts while the other 4 are in tanks. I think they are great filters but very high maintenance, Thanks in advance.