Aqua Flow XL on Amazon: http://geni.us/ilVPy Aqua Flow XL on Ebay: https://ebay.to/2IxaMbS An internal filter which has a decent provision for biological media? Surely not.... Biohome products: http://www.filterpro.co.uk Dremmel 3000: http://geni.us/4uMl This series 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 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. *Please do not send any filters without contacting me first as I want to try and cover every type of filter, not 20 of the same make and model*
Due to the high international shipping cost I am currently only taking filters from the UK but I'm hoping that as this series progresses a useful database of knowledge will be built up which will help viewers understand how their filters work, the limitations and the steps you could take to improve filtering capacity and efficiency.
The goal with any filter is to try and achieve FULL CYCLE filtration which is the reduction in ammonia, nitrite AND nitrate - if you look anywhere online you'll see people tell you that the nitrogen cycle in an aquarium ends with the production of nitrate which is removed by regular (often large) water changes. That is HALF the cycle and is done by AEROBIC bacteria which favors highly oxygenated conditions and is very easy to grow on any surface. The last part of the cycle (reduction in nitrate) is completed by ANAEROBIC bacteria which favors an environment which is very low or devoid of oxygen. It takes filter media with a very specific internal structure to support both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria to allow for full cycle filtration but a suitably sized, well set up filter, will allow the full cycle to complete which results in more stable water conditions and less water changes (typically 10% every 1-2 weeks). Canister filters will generally offer the best provision for filter media but even internals can be significantly improved to boost water quality and fish health.
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 anywhere you think others may benefit from viewing.
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.
Hello there, welcome back.
In this video we're going to be taking a look at another internal
aquarium filter. Now I actually bought this one,
this isn't a one that somebody has sent me
and the reason I bought it is because it seems
to have quite a lot of space for biological media.
Now in the first episode of Pimp My Filter we had a German filter,
in this episode we've got one
from the Netherlands, although it is made in China,
the company supplying them is in the Netherlands.
This one is a Superfish Aquaflow XL,
it has an adjustable flow rate and according
to the box it's suitable for aquariums between 100 and 200 litres.
Let me just work out what that is in US gallons
for my viewers in the US.
Okay, 100 divided by 3.8,
about 26 US gallons to 52 US gallons.
Now, like most...
Internal aquarium filters.
It hasn't got a cat in hell's chance of providing full
cycle filtration for 100 to 200 litres.
It will however cope with the ammonia
and the nitrite. Most filters will
do that but we are really looking for a
full cycle, not just half a job,
a full cycle and that reduction in nitrate. So
we'll take a look at this, see how it works,
see if and how it can be altered
Felted, and...
See what you think.
Okay, let's have a look at what's in the box.
That's our filter.
That is our spray bar.
This is a very easy one to put together.
All we do is push that into the pump outlet and that's it.
I'll just take that off while I explain how this works.
And this is a really, really simple filter.
Water's drawn in through here, goes through a coarse foam,
goes through media, into the pump, back out to the tank.
And the pump is controllable from maximum flow to minimum flow.
There we go, flow 250 litres per hour to 500 litres an hour.
You would divide 500 litres by 3.8
and that would give you the output in US gallons.
Okay we've basically got a two-part filter here.
We've got the pump which is attached to a large back plate
and we've got this semi-clear
Acrylic front which contains our foams and media.
This can be lifted off and to do that it's got a little tab here which
doesn't really seem to connect to anything but it prevents this thing
from falling off.
So you just press on there, it comes apart.
You notice there's a seal there, that helps to keep it
tight together.
And this lever here adjusts how much the pump can suck in
and therefore how much it can blow out. Fully open,
Mostly closed.
Now the part we're really interested in is this.
This is where the magic happens.
Or where it should happen. The back just comes off like that.
And in here you've got two pieces of coarse foam
and something called Crystal Bio Max?
Sorry, Crystal Max. Now that is a very, very hard, extremely dense
Dense media, made into a ring shape, and to be honest,
It's a bit of a travesty. It's not very good at all.
It's so fine and dense, any porosity it has is going to get clogged up
pretty much within hours of turning this filter on.
So they are really surplus to requirements as a biological media.
See the gaps there? That's where all the water comes in,
goes through the foams, through these openings here,
mills around in the media, through there into our pump.
Very, very simple. Let's take a look at these foams.
Now, these foams are exactly the same.
You notice they're rounded on one end
and each one has a hole in the middle and in the
middle of there we've got carbon.
So really in essence what we're provided
with here is mechanical,
chemical and biological filtration. And in this
episode using this filter we're not going to be drilling any holes or
altering this in any way.
Well at least not altering this particular structure
in any way. We are however going
to put something in here that's very useful.
Now we're going to start with this section where the foams were.
We're going to put foams in there
but ours are going to be ones that we've cut from pond foams.
Pond foams are really cheap,
very very good and they're available in a wide range of porosity.
So we've got the black one
which isn't very dense, that one is a coarse foam.
Then we've got the blue one which is a
more medium grade foam.
These actually fit together quite well.
That allows that to fit in there.
So now our water is going to come in,
coarse, medium, then into this chamber.
And when we want to clean this out, it becomes really clogged.
We simply take that apart and it cleans really, really well.
That leaves us one section, or possibly two sections.
This one is obviously going to be for our biological media.
That's what the water hits last.
And this one here, which would ordinarily just be a void,
is going to be filled with those.
That is Eheim Mech.
It's an extremely hard mechanical filtration.
This would be the first stage of your filtration,
where the water would hit, hopefully it would diffuse the flow,
heavy muck would settle out in here and save your foams a little bit.
It does have a slight biological sort of activity as well,
but not much. Primarily used for mechanical filtration.
So we're going to fill this gap up here
with that and because it's quite open and it's going to be
put in here loosely it will not slow
the flow down coming through the filter.
Fits in there
very very well and in this section we're going
to get as much media in here as we possibly can
because remember most internal filters have
very very little space for good media.
So in there I've got a little mesh bag
and it's pretty much crammed full of bio gravel.
This is a porous gravel made from the same material as Biohome.
It's a really unique product.
It just allows you to max out very small filters.
And there's approximately 400 grams
in there.
Now we do have a little space in the top of here available.
Probably about half an inch which is about 12 millimeters
or just over one centimeter.
And into that we're going to put a reasonably thin fine pad.
So that goes in there.
So now we've got primary
settlement, coarse foam,
medium foam, fine pad,
biological media and we've
got a hell of a lot more stuff
in there than we did have originally.
Look at that. Drop that back
onto there. One maxed out filter.
Here's what we did have in the filter. Here's what we have now
in the filter. It's a hell of a difference.
Now I'll put a link to this in the video description
If you're interested in buying one of these,
And I think this one, when I bought it last year,
was somewhere between 25 and 30 English pounds.
Before I put this one away, I just want to make
a note about some of the reviews that you might see
of this particular filter online, saying that it's noisy.
The design of it can trap air in where the impeller is.
So when you put it back in your tank, tip it upside down,
move it around to make sure that all of the air is out of it.
Then when you switch it on, it'll be a lot quieter.
In a future video I'm going to be giving this one away,
so watch out for that.
Let me know what you think about this upgrade,
give it a thumbs up if you've liked the video,
share the video wherever you want,
and thanks very much for watching, I shall see you next
time.
