Hidom BF-200 HOB Filter (Amazon): http://geni.us/DZ30v Hidom BF-200 HOB Filter (Ebay): https://ebay.to/2wjs5J1 Fluval 'Edge' Foams (pre-filter): http://geni.us/dcJ5j Foams and Biohome media: http://www.filterpro.co.uk (FilterPro site has links to suppliers in other countries) This is a decent little filter - very cheap and although it is small it still manages to fit around 500g of media in making it suitable for a normally stocked community tank of around 50 litres (13 US gal.) to achieve a full cycle. At the price you really can't go wrong.....but the way it (and other HOB filters) come set up is not the best...
HOB filters aren't very popular here in the UK but I do hope to feature more of them in the future as some of the larger ones can offer decent space for media and would be suitable for larger tanks.
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'.....you'll spend less money on treatments too......basically the filter is the foundation of a successful aquarium.
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
Check out my channel for hundreds of videos on a wide range of my hobbies - many of the videos have educational content so if you have enjoyed any give them the thumbs up and share.
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 video we're going to be taking a look at a type
of filter that isn't really very popular in the UK.
This video is about
the Hydor BF200
hang-on-the-back filter.
This is a very small filter for small tanks.
It does rely on a cartridge system,
so is there anything we can do to improve it? Let's have a look.
Right, I'll get
this thing put together.
And we'll, whoa, hello there. What's that?
Right, that's not very good. Whatever that is in there
is all dropping out. I'll have to look
at the instructions to find out exactly what is meant
to be held inside that cartridge.
Tell me. Whatever it is,
it's not going to stay in there
for long. It says it's biological filter media,
but to me that looks more like hard carbon or
something, like chips of carbon, you know?
Yeah, let's just assume that it is carbon in there.
Yeah, so we've got a coarse pad.
What looks like the remains of some carbon
and then a fine pad on the front.
Now the instructions
are pretty much non-existent.
There's not even a diagram showing how it goes
together so I'm basically going to copy what
is on the box. Right that's obviously a flow
adjuster. Okay I think we've got spare down pipe there
if we want to extend the inlet any further.
Here that bit is obviously the top
for the filter and that bit I've got
no idea what that is at the moment
Now the instructions basically just consist of safety warnings
and that's about it.
The other side is in Chinese
and all of that when it's translated basically says you're on your own.
Okay so that's our completed filter.
Water is drawn in through here, just got a little
sponge on the bottom and it can
also be drawn in through here which is a floating skimmer
so you can suck from the water surface
and from further down in the tank.
If you don't want this on,
simply have straight pipes going all the way down.
Just take that off.
That is an optional extra.
The flow adjuster here, which will dictate how much the pump sucks
and therefore how much it blows out into this other chamber.
And basically our water is spat out down here.
It rises up.
There's a piece of foam in there.
You can just see it.
That acts as a barrier, which means the water comes up
and then it drops down through these cartridges.
Back out to our tank and that's our cartridge.
We've got the coarse pad where the water hits first,
the suspected carbon inside there and then the fine pad
so the water would actually exit out of
that side. So water would travel from this side through
the pad back out to the tank. So there,
yeah man, it's lucky if it's, I don't know,
three centimetres at the bottom,
Perhaps four centimeters at the top.
These cartridges slot in there and
The divider is stuck
and offers almost nothing in the way of biological filtration, but no
doubts it's going to keep the water clear.
As far as keeping it healthy, there's nowt in there
really to keep the water healthy.
Okay, so I think the solution to this particular problem
may lie with the intake.
The intake has got the world's smallest piece of foam there. I've seen
bigger dental fillings. That is absolutely tiny.
If we put a decent sized lump of foam on there,
It's a compatible foam for some Fluval filter.
It may even be a hang on the back one.
Could be a Fluval Flex.
I'll put the link to it in the video description.
You can buy these very,
very cheaply anyway. You get them in packs of one, two, five, ten.
I bought dozens of them.
That will fit on there all the way up as well.
So you've increased that draw area hugely.
And I'm sure in a little tank that will
be enough for your mechanical filtration.
That stays on there, not too bad.
If in doubt secure it at the top with an elastic band
but that should give you a good, well not
exactly good, but easily as much mechanical filtration
as you would find inside the main
filter. So that takes care of our mechanical filtration.
So that frees up the space above the
pump here and also where our cartridges were.
Right we've got some very coarse foam here and
And all we're going to do with that...
Let's just slot it inside of here, keeping it just below the surface
so the water doesn't end up coming over the sides.
Okay, that gives us more
mechanical filtration in here
and it should be coarse enough
to allow the water clean through to our biological side.
Remember originally all we had
was that as the mechanical filtration before the water entered
the pump. Now we have that. That's a hell of a difference.
Well actually we've got that.
Plus that.
I'm not expecting this to catch much muck
though. That's looking good. It's looking
mighty good. Why aye man. Look at that.
We've got approximately 250 grams of bio gravel
which is a
porous gravel in each one of these bags.
So that's roughly 500 grams in this filter. That's about a
pound in imperial measurements.
pound of media in this little filter makes a hell of a difference.
Do you know what? I think we've got room
for a fine pad on top of there as well.
The water will actually run underneath the fine pad
but it should catch a lot of muck.
A little hole.
Yeah, look at that man.
Awesome stuff.
Right, so we'll lay that loosely on there.
The muck is actually going to collect
on the underneath of there because that's just in the water.
Right, so let's get this put back together
and we'll run through exactly how it's going to work.
Okay, so that is our HyDom BF200 hang on the back filter pimped up
and made to be
pretty effective, I think. So this is how it's going to work now.
Water comes in through the bottom.
That hopefully will catch a lot of muck,
although it probably will need taking off every few days
and just squeezing out and cleaning.
It then travels up into our pump,
but it also travels through the surface skimmer into our pump.
It then goes up through some very coarse sponge
which shouldn't restrict the flow at all.
It then comes over here and to be fair
the majority of the water will just go
straight down here and back to our tank
but some of it will swirl around and around and around
through the bags of media
and that media will support a ridiculous amount of good bacteria.
Then the water will rise up, hit the underneath of this fine pad
which should skim off the very fine muck that has managed
to find its way this far into the filter
then it'll drop back to our tank.
And that's a hell of a lot different to how it actually came
set up from the manufacturer.
It's got a vast amount of biological media in there as far as
the available space goes
and that'll drastically improve the quality of the water when it drops
back into the tank. So I'm quite pleased with that.
Now this setup isn't restricted to the
To the hang-on filter.
You could use this in pretty much any hang on the back filter
because they all work in a similar way.
Water gets sucked in into the pump and then it tends
to go through a series of cartridges
which really have close to bugger all in them.
I know, just a total waste of time and money long-term.
You don't need those if you set it up
in a similar way to that.
But if you've got a different way of setting up,
your hang on the back filter that works for you,
please let me know in the comment section below.
That's what that comment section's there for.
It's for people who've set up similar filters,
use them long-term, put your report
of how it's working down there.
Other people will benefit from that.
So a big thanks to Robert who sent me this up to take a look at.
He never actually had this installed on his tank.
This got sent straight to me
from the manufacturer when he bought it.
So thanks again Robert. Hopefully these changes
will be good for you and because there's about 500 grams
of media in there this should have no
problem whatsoever achieving a full cycle and that is zero ammonia,
zero nitrite and very low nitrates.
For a tank of maybe 50 to 60 litres
and in imperial measurements for you guys in the US
that is 13 to 15 US gallons I think
for a full cycle.
Remember in this series we're not interested in just doing half a job.
Any filter will do half a job
and quite easily keep zero ammonia zero nitrite. We want the
nitrate to be affected as well
and that's why we use porous good media to support aerobic
and the anaerobic bacteria which will in turn eat the nitrate,
well process the nitrate.
And just in case anybody's wanting to ask whether the biogravel can
be used as a biosense or an anoxic sort of filter,
yes it can. It does have huge benefits over stuff
that's normally used for those,
where you would get a container, packet full of gravel-type stuff,
have the water slowly moving through it to create anaerobic conditions,
because with the biogravel...
not only do you get the anaerobic conditions building up between
the pieces of media but you
also get them building up inside the media
as well with it being so porous so you get
a double effect you know i mean i'm saying it'll
provide full cycle filtration for 50 liters it
may well be more than that because
of that boosting effect you know there we have it
this is going back to robert
and if you've got a filter that you'd like me to take a look at
By all means get in touch, my contact details
are in the video description and also in the pinned comment.
I've put my email address and also my phone number on there.
Phone is the best one because I've always got my phone with me.
I get dozens and dozens of emails every day
and I sometimes can't get to them all.
If you want a quick answer
or you want to talk something through, just phone me.
It's not a problem.
Okay, so, Haida BF200 as it was.
As it is, boing. Now the manufacturer recommends
this filter for around about 80 litres which is
asking far too much, far too much of it.
50 to 60 litres yes, 80 litres yeah maybe as if it's
extremely lightly stocked
but for a normally stocked tank 50 to 60 litres and the pump pumps
500 litres an hour which is about 110 gallons an hour
or thereabouts and also the full name of it
...is Hanging Waterfall BF200.
Now I missed that full title out earlier on in the video.
And to be honest, Hanging Waterfall kind of sounds like
a location you might find on Game of Thrones or something.
Where are you off to? We're off to the Hanging Waterfall.
That's gonna end well, isn't it? You know.
Okay, I'm gonna let you
in on a little trade secret now.
I actually shot about 10 to 15 minutes of extra footage.
Where I was literally scratching my head, if I had any hair
to pull out, I would have pulled it out until I saw that, because
I really didn't have a clue what to do with this particular thing,
believe it or not, because of the ridiculous lack of space
and the reliance of these cartridges, I was stumped,
my brain just went to sleep, but hopefully you'll be able to see
that by working things out and just thinking of simple little fixes.
It's resulted in something that's actually going to be useful.
