Another great filter from Fluval which is suitable for a normally stocked tank of around 50 to 60 litres (for a FULL cycle). It is relatively cheap for a quality canister filter and will be on offer from many different suppliers now that the 107 is available - check links above.
Fluval make very good filters and this one has the bonus of having lots of mechanical filtration (foams) so cleaning schedule can be extended beyond what would normally be necessary for small canister filters of a standard design.
The set up of this filter will also apply to the new Fluval 107 and the same method applies to larger filters in the range (but you will need more media for those larger models).
WHAT IS A FULL CYCLE? *If someone tells you the aquarium nitrogen cycle ends with the production of nitrate that is incorrect - please read on* A full cycle is completed by bacteria - the aerobic part of biological filtration which processes ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate followed by an anaerobic part which processes nitrate into soluble nitrogen which bubbles off to the atmosphere. Therefore it requires a suitable amount of excellent quality filter media to be able to provide the environment for both aerobic AND anaerobic bacteria - that is what Biohome ultimate does perfectly but even with such good media there are limitations and we recommend the following amounts for different stocking scenarios: (1 US gallon = 3.8 litres) (1kg = 2.2 lbs) Average community tropical aquarium = 1kg per 100 litres Average coldwater aquarium = 1kg - 1.5kg per 100 litres Predator aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres Large cichlid aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres Malawi / Tanganyikan aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres Marine aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres Average mixed fish pond = 1kg per 200 litres Average koi pond = 1kg per 150 litres
You may be disagreeing with the above figures but remember that they are for a FULL CYCLE not half a job - achieving 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite is quite easy since aerobic bacteria grows freely on any surface but the anaerobic bacteria responsible for COMPLETING the cycle needs more a specialized habitat. Size a filter properly, set it up sensibly and you will have perfect water - it's that simple....and your filter won't be the dreaded 'Nitrate factory'.
This series of videos is all about trying to squeeze more efficiency out of internal and external aquarium filters which generally have a limited filtering capacity - If you have a filter you'd like me to feature in a video then please contact me on: [email protected] 07772848730 (Richard)
Anyone who sends a filter (UK only at present) will have it upgraded and returned to them for free and the only cost you will pay is how much it costs to ship it to me - I'm helping to boost your filter and the resulting videos will hopefully be useful to viewers all over the world so it's a win/win.
The following videos will be useful to anyone interested in learning more about filtration, bacteria and making the conditions for your fish as good as possible: Sizing a canister properly and filter set up: https://goo.gl/om19un Looking INSIDE different filter media: https://goo.gl/hZWS6c Bacteria and filter media: https://goo.gl/123gAF How to clean an aquarium: https://goo.gl/bPMhvh Aquarium tips / filtration playlist: https://goo.gl/pXgqVj
This channel is purely a hobby for me so I will never ask viewers to donate money for any of my projects or charge anyone for information - information should be shared freely and I certainly don't consider myself an 'expert' in anything I pursue as a hobby so please do your own research, never accept anything as 'fact', reject anyone claiming to be some sort of authority or 'expert' and make your own minds up about anything you wish to study.
If you've enjoyed this video please check out the playlists on my channel for hundreds more - on a variety of subjects. Feel free to share or link any of my videos on facebook, twitter, forums etc. for the benefit of anyone you think may also enjoy watching. See you next time. Pondguru
Hello there, welcome back to another edition of Pimp My Filter
and in this one we're going to be
taking another look at one of the 06 series
of canister filters from Fluval. Now this one
is the baby of the bunch, this one is a 106.
I'm pretty sure that I've uploaded the 206, 306
So we've already got those ones covered, this one...
To be honest, it's going to be set up exactly the same way,
but I'll just run through where the water flows and how we've set
it up, because this one actually arrived empty, totally empty.
Now, if you want to see how one of these normally comes set up straight
from Fluval, simply search for one of Fluval's videos.
They will show you inside this,
and they'll show you all the gear that normally comes with it.
Let's get the top off, and I'll explain where the water flows,
and I'll also explain what I've done to...
basically put the inside of it back together again.
Right so if you've got eagle eyes you'll notice
that there's something missing from this top.
That is the primer button
or more accurately that's where the primer button should be.
There should be like a little toadstool sort
of shaped thing on here with a rod that you lift
up and down to prime it.
Unfortunately that has been snapped off at some point and I can
see where Rich who sent me this thing has
been grabbing a hold of that with a pair of pliers.
Or something similar to lift that up
and prime this but that is where the primer button would be.
That's in, that's out.
Now the seal on the inside of here
is a really thick lovely rubber seal
and that does get a hell of a hold
as you've seen I had a bit of a job to get that off.
So water comes in through here
which has got like a little flappy one-way valve.
It pours onto here
then it goes through two sets of foams to the bottom of the canister
And rises up through two little trees.
As I mentioned before, if you want
to see Fluval's version of this setup,
just look for one of their videos.
This one arrived empty, so this is what I've done.
So in the cartridge in the outside,
I've gone with a coarse foam on this side.
Bumpy side out.
Maximum surface area contact.
And on this one I've gone with a medium foam.
Water always takes the path of least resistance,
so first of all it's going to go through here, clog that,
then hopefully it should gravitate towards going through here.
It may go through them both at the same time, that is okay,
you could go with a coarse pad and a coarse pad, it doesn't matter.
But the most important thing is, the bumpy bits want
to point out towards where the water is hitting them.
That's the area of biggest surface.
See there, a lot of surface area there.
Because this is bumpy, that'll trap a lot of muck in here.
And that ability to trap a lot of muck
will hopefully extend the cleaning times
because you don't wanna be into this thing
every five minutes to clean it out.
And really, that is quite a big foam cartridge
for such a small filter.
That is offering you a lot of mechanical filtration.
But we do have more mechanical filtration to come.
So ultimately the water goes through this.
Out the bottom,
into the bottom of here and rises up through these trays.
To show you the bottom tray first,
so this is what the water's hitting first,
comes up from the bottom,
it then hits coarse pad, the bumpy side down,
medium pad with the bumpy side down and then a fine pad.
So that is all our mechanical
filtration done.
Then the water travels up through here and out to the pump,
back out to the tank.
Unlike the other 06 series that I set up,
I haven't put Biohome Ultimate in this one.
I've actually gone with Bio Gravel
and there's 700 grams in there which is probably about a pound
and a half for you guys in the US and that has absolutely maxed it out.
And because it's
round in shape the water can get through there okay,
it's not going to restrict the flow.
Well at least it's not going to restrict it too much,
certainly no more than any of those pads.
Of course, you can use this media
in any other of your canister filters.
I'm just putting it in here because,
really, this is the only place for media.
I want to max out this.
Generally, for a canister filter, I would go with the Biohome Ultimate.
If you wanted to go with the Ultimate in here,
you'd get about 500 grams, which is about 1.1 pounds.
Of course, if you wanted to go with
something else that was gravel-shaped,
you could go with Eheim Substrat Pro.
That's a pretty good media, and you'd...
It's a little bit lighter than bio gravel
so you'd probably get 450 to 500 grams in there.
Basically anything that's good and porous will do.
So that's a cartridge
of really good effective bio media.
If you did want to use any chemical media it would go
on top of the top tray so it was the
last thing water hit.
Remember we always go mechanical, biological then chemical so the
chemical media is operating in the cleanest possible water
and that will extend its life
and increase its efficiency.
So you'll notice that this sponge here is raised up a little bit
that is basically to create some sort of barrier between this side
and that side so when the water
Water pours in.
It mostly stays in here.
You might get some going down the side there,
but hopefully the trays are tight enough together
to minimise any bypass.
The idea behind that is that the water goes down here
through the foams and then up,
so it travels where you want it to go.
If you cut those too short, the water might come over here,
it might sneak in under there, I don't know.
Keep those up.
About a centimetre, maybe it's a centimetre and a half, roughly
three quarters of an inch above this cartridge, and you'll be good.
Okay, so the top goes on, and when I'm pressing that down,
I can really feel that seal just rolling in nicely.
That's it.
Jobs are good.
Really good, solidly made, very efficient little filter.
I really like the Fluval 06 series of filters.
I've seen some people online whinging about them but
really I can't find much of a fault with them you know.
The little faults that they have had
have been addressed in the new series which is the 07
and in the next video I'll be taking a look at
one of those filters. They're just a good solid honest sort
of a filter you know. There's nothing
fancy about them but everything is there for a purpose.
You've got a good amount of
Mechanical filtration,
and you've got a reasonable provision for biological filtration.
Ideally, I would like to see that a little bit bigger.
But that's why they offer the four different sizes.
I mean, in this one, if you're going with a BioHome Ultimate,
you get 500 grams, which is a pound.
In the next one up, which is the 206,
because it's got the extra tray, which is the same size,
you can get a kilo, which is 2.2 pounds.
In the 306, you can get a kilo in each tray,
so the two upper trays would give you two kilos,
which is 4.4 pounds.
And in the 406, you've got an extra tray again,
So, one, two, three.
Three trays of media,
that gives you three kilos of BioHome Ultimate, which is 6.6 pounds.
Anyway, back to the 106.
Now, because we've got approximately 700 grams of media in there,
that makes this one suitable for a tank of roughly 70 litres,
if you want it to see a full cycle whilst using the BioHome products.
And 70 litres, for you guys in the US, is about 18.5 US gallons.
If you weren't bothered about a reduction
in nitrate you could go well above that you know
I mean this one is rated for tanks up
to 100 litres generally you would have that to be safe
so if it recommends 100 litres you use it on a 50 litre tank.
The next size up for 200 litres
use that on a 100 litre tank
and if you set it up like this with good media you cannot go wrong.
So a normally stocked tank to see
a full cycle setting it up like we've done
Roughly 70 litres or 18 and a half US gallons.
That might seem pessimistic but it's realistic
because it's that last part of the cycle,
the anaerobic part, that needs a certain amount of
specific media to make it happen. That's what dictates what, you know,
the size of the filter and how much media we need
to provide a full cycle.
If you want any clarification on that,
just head to the Q&A page of the Filter Pro site.
I'll put the link in the video description
and also in the pinned comment.
And if you want to check out
the newer version of this, which is the 107.
I'll put a link to the Fluval video
which explains the improvements that they've done
and I'll also put a link to any sellers of the 106
in the video description because there's
probably people doing deals on this with it now being the old model.
Still a very good filter though.
If you've enjoyed this video,
give it a thumbs up, share it wherever you want.
I'm sure there's plenty of people with these that would like
to see how to set them up efficiently.
So share it wherever you want.
Thanks for watching. See you next time.
