Little Box on Back of Hang on Back Filter

[Souperman]

This may be a stupid question but is the little box just for water to be held in or is there extra filtering media that I can put in there along with the filter pads?

 

[Demeter32]

Could you take a picture of which box you mean? On all my HOB filters there the box that holds the media and the box that holds the mechanical bits. It's always good to stuff filter floss in the open spaces, so long as there is zero chance of it tangling up the propeller bit.

 

[Souperman]

This is the box in questions. Also what is filter floss?

 

[NickAu]

Yes you can fill that space with media, I did on my HOB.

 

[Demeter32]

Filter floss is basically the stuffing you find in a cheap pillow. Polyester fiber is all it is. I use it in all my filters to fill empty spaces, such as yours. It does a great job at catching the smaller particles in the water column.

 

[AbbeysDad]

This is the box in questions. Also what is filter floss?

You could fill that area with filter material, just don't obstruct the water flow or get media in the impeller.

Filter floss is polyester fiber. There is a huge mark-up in pet stores. I get a big bag at Wally World for about $4. It's the stuffing for pillows and such in the craft section. Just make sure it has no additives like chemical fire retardants.

 

[Souperman]

Okay thanks will look into that. Also how often would you replace the filter floss?

 

[AbbeysDad]

Okay thanks will look into that. Also how often would you replace the filter floss?

As with all filter media, it's use life before cleaning (or in the case of filter floss, replacing) is relative to how much waste the tank produces and how meticulous you want to clean it out.
As a minimum, polyester filter floss should be checked and either cleaned* or replaced every week when you do your partial water change. *You could rinse it out a couple of times before discarding. However, filter floss is so inexpensive, you may wish to just toss it and replace it every time.

Also - handle the cartridge carefully as it is your only bio-media platform in this type filter.