Internal To External Filter Transition?

[fmervin]

Hello everyone,

I have a 65 litre tank with an internal filter. This is a pain to clean since when I open to clean it all the dirt goes into the tank and messes up the tank. Also since the tank is planted, small leaves clog up the filter and really reduce the water flow. So for these reasons I plan to migrate to an external filter. Few questions I had are:

1. Which external filter? I have seen from reviews that the tetratec Ex600 is really good for my kind of tank. Is this a good one? If not can you suggest an alternative make/model?
2. Any idea where I can purchase an external filter for cheap
3. How to make the transition to the external filter? I initially thought that I'd transfer all the media from the internal filter to the external one and the bacteria can colonise in the filter media in the external filter. However, the lfs suggested that this is a less effective way and it is better to run both filters together for at least a month. I don't mind either way, just need to make sure that I am doing the right thing.
4. Does anyone with an external filter face problems with small leaves/ferns clogging up the external filter as I do with my internal one? If so, how do you manage it?
5. How often do you clean the external filter? I usually clean my internal filter every 2 weeks

Quite a few questions, but I am a newbie here and hope the gurus out here can help me out

 

[Miss Wiggle]

1 - not familiar with the models recommended for that size of tank, however on the whole tetratec are reasonably good, also look at eheim and rena

2 - ebay is good

3 - i would just put the media into the external filter, either way will work but my preference would be to just transfer the media

4 - there will be an inlet pipe for the external filter this will have a sort of grill over it to stop big debris and fish being sucked in, get a pair of tights and put some of that over it and secure it with an elastic band or something like that. if you regularly get leaves falling off plants then you'll need to remove these from here, but if you just do it every couple of days it'll take no more than 2 mins and that'll keep on top of things.

5 - depends on the bio load going through the filter, so no set timescales, clean it when the flow rate drops significantly, when you're doing your weekly maintenance put your hand in the outlet flow and feel how strong it is, when it's dropped off noticably then the filter needs cleaning.

 

[fmervin]

Thanks for that Miss Wiggle Nice to see you back again, how is your new job going?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

which new job? when i stopped coming on it was cos i had a new job, which turned out to be an utter nightmare for reasons i won't go into on a public forum. i now have another new job which is properly awesome

 

[raptorrex]

i'd go for Miss Wiggle's way. but i might just wring out the old filter sponges into the new external, first off. then i would run the two together. after a week, wring the sponges out into the external, again. once more should see the external well up and running. i would now remove the old filter and pop the media in a bag or old stocking, and put them in the tank for another week. should all be done by then.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

way i see it is this

you already have enough bacteria to support the tank, if you run the filters in tandem (wringing if you like!) then the bacteria will spread roughly 50/50 between the two filters after some time. if you then remove the internal you only have 50% of the filter bacteria population and therefore a chance of the tank cycling.

if you just move the media to the new filter then you have all the bacteria needed, you will loose a small amount in transit but noweher near enough to start a cycle.

so just moving media is the safest way IMHO

 

[SJ2K]

The EX600 is too much for your tank, 10x turn over in a planted tank is a bad idea. Somthing like the eheim 2213 (400lph) would be a little more appropriate though still a bit over kill.

 

[fmervin]

Thanks everyone for the useful info

The EX600 is too much for your tank, 10x turn over in a planted tank is a bad idea. Somthing like the eheim 2213 (400lph) would be a little more appropriate though still a bit over kill.

SJ2K, the EX600 says it is for tanks between 60-120 litres. I always thought that higher the water flow the better it is. Is this not the case? Is it bad for the tank if the water flow is too high?

Thanks everyone for the useful info

The EX600 is too much for your tank, 10x turn over in a planted tank is a bad idea. Somthing like the eheim 2213 (400lph) would be a little more appropriate though still a bit over kill.

SJ2K, the EX600 says it is for tanks between 60-120 litres. I always thought that higher the water flow the better it is. Is this not the case? Is it bad for the tank if the water flow is too high?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

in planted tanks you go for less flow generally, because the increased flow and water turbulence disperses the Co2 which the plants need.

 

[fmervin]

Thanks Miss Wiggle, that could explain why my plants don't do so well. So what kind of flow would you recommend for a 65ltr tank? My tank is quite heavily planted. I think my current internal filter has a flow rate of 450Ltr/hr

 

[Miss Wiggle]

don't know tbh, i'm far from an expert on planted tanks, ask in the planted tank forum for recommendations

 

[fmervin]

Thanks Miss Wiggle, I think I'll go in with SJ2K's suggestion and install the 2213. Out of interest which is the best place in the tank to install the filter? Currently I have it at one end of the tank which means the water moves in concentric circles. Is this good? Since the internal filter is big and ugly I couldn't attach it to the side of the tank so it doesn't create as much of a circular motion. Any advice on that?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

generally you want to sit the box of the filter underneath the tank, then have the inlet and outlet pipes at opposite ends of the tank, but depending on your decor you may want to have both pipes at the same end hidden by some bogwood or something like that.

doesn't make a hell of a lot of a difference though IMHO

 

[vinylman]

All I did when I swapped my old Fluval 4 Plus internal for my lovely Tetratec EX700 was (as Miss W. says) simply cram the filter media from the Fluval alongside the Tetratec's media. Never had a problem. Bear in mind, too, that when a manufacturer quotes a flow rate on a filter it's usually the flow rate WITHOUT any filter media in it. I wouldn't worry too much about having an external on a planted tank; just direct the flow so that it barely ripples the surface. I did that just so I'd know it was still working, it's so quiet.