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The seemingly intelligent man at my LFS guided me through my impulsive tank buy a few months ago. when he arrived at the area of filtration, he said the

only way to go

was with a hang-on skimmer and a shiny new fluval 404 that would "polish" the water. (he also said to leave lights on 6-8 hours a day, and sold me $3 a pound "cured" live rock %!

he forgot to inform me that cleaning biweekly is necessary. so i did nothing until yesterday. well after completing the disgusting thing i hooked it back up and to my dismay pure brown crap started to pour out in my tank , spiking my nitrates and who knows what else. i am still lost as to where it came from

bottom line - unless your commited to long, biweekly intense cleanings, i highly do not recommend one of these mofos.%!

Last edited by igotsomefish at 18-Jan-2005 00:24

Last edited by igotsomefish at 18-Jan-2005 00:25

Well you obvously know nothing about the symbiatic relationship betweeen fluvals and fish. J/K

Man am I glad I didn't buy one. You almost talked me into buying one. And by the way, I would try to find out what exacley that little white stuff was floatin around your tank.

the stuff was stuck in the motor of the fluval, it was light brown, and for some strange reason my levels stayed exactly the same, due in part to its venture through the activated carbon and white cylindar ice cube thingies

The cylinder ice cube thingys are ceramic for bacteria to live in. I use a fluval 304, and have been for over 12months now. It's brilliant. I do monthly inspections of it, washing the activated carbon out and replacing the additional filter wool i have fitted inside. I do not do anything to the noodles. Before re-installing the fluval on my tank, i prime it (run the tank water through it to remove air and gunk) into my normal draining bucket, for about 10L or so. This flush any algae that managed to bypass the filter out of the system before i fit it back on the tank. This is all obviously done with one of my routine water changes, so the level drop by priming the Fluval is of no consequence.

But this of course is all on fresh water... i didn't think Fluvals where the right thing for a salt water tank...

Last edited by jester_fu at 18-Jan-2005 23:56

Its completly natura to have some gunk flying after cleanings. Its not necessary to clean the filter's motor every two weeks..

I've got a fluval 304 in a Freshwater tank. Check the motor every two months and just remove the gunk with a brush or something. I disconnect the filter to clean the hoses every six months, depending on how dirty the clear intake tube gets. If you see the inside completly dark, then its time for a complete disassembly. If this rigid tube is not totally covered, then i wait more.

when you say prime it, do you mean to leave the intake in the tank, and place the outtake into your bucket? i tried this reversely and it was a disaster, although due to my mistake

Yeah, thats what i mean. I leave the intake in my tank and run the outlet into my bucket. With the difference in elevation, it also helps to get the suction going again without the need to use the priming plunger or to suck on the outlet (like a syphon...). I've cleaned my motor once during the 12month's i've had it, but like i am using it on a fresh water tank, so maybe it's a different scenario for salt/reef??

Yes, i cleaned the main compartment very well, so i guess i will clean the motor more often. i'm pretty sure SW is a whole different deal, but im gunna be stuck with it for a while due to my budjet so its all cool.

Last edited by IgOtSoMeFiSh at 19-Jan-2005 22:27