I havent been posting for a while due to my disapointment with the board but this comment just needs to be answered.specks said:According to Juwel the deposit at the bottom of the filter housing should be left as its a biological substance & will enhance the water quality. Am used to a Fluval filter myself which can be removed for cleaning. ( I have always cleaned any deposits in the casing - maybe I shouldt have!!??!! )
The dirty black crap in the filter housing is rotting organic matter which will increase nitrates and raise the ammount of dissolved organic solids in the water which can cause pH crash if left in place , for Juwel to say that this benefits water quallity is terrible terrible advise.
I have two Juwel tanks and have removed the internal filters from both due to their habbit of collecting crap and causing problems with water quallity, but this is probably also partly due to the fact that i keep large and/or predatory fish which produce more waste than the average community fish. The Juwel filters were designed for the continental market where heavily planted tanks with just a few small fish are the norm rather than UK/US fish keeping styles where the focus is on the livestock and we tend to stock the tank right to the limits (and beyond).
