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I have just purchased my first HOB Aquaclear 30 filter it is for the now 40lt Cardinal Tetra tank.

I have several questions.

1 Why is the Biomax media at the top and not the bottom where the water comes into the filter case as in Canister filters?

2 Can I add a lot more Bio Mix (I have plenty of Eheim ceramic) instead of that small amount of ???? what ever it is?

3 Instead of any Bio mix can I use the foam and top up with the fine filter pads (which I can cut to size?

4 Is there any other combinations you have used or are now using.

At the moment I have the Eheim Internal and the HOB filters running, I also add some Seachem Stability to kick it along.

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Keith

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I believe the BioMax (ceramic beads with micropores, I believe) is at the top so that it is in a more aerobic environment. Also, the sponge is used for mechanical filtration, and at the bottom is where it is most efficient for this. When I clean my Aquaclear I find the mulm is thickest on the bottom of the sponge. You can add as much BioMax as you want, I would just make sure it is contained. I would use the BioMax rather than filter pads, as the ceramic beads have a higher surface area than pads.

I don't use the activated carbon in mine, I haven't added an extra packet of BioMax to either of them, but I think I may at some point.

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My Eheim Pro11 has two containers of Bio-mix the first being a fine Scoria (volcanic red rock) then small balls 3-5m in diameter, it also has a course sponge as well as the finer filter pads I use.

This is where I am drawing the comparison from.
The dirtiest waste water comes in from the bottom and works its way up through the various levels of fine filtration.

By the time it gets to the last filter material there is no dirt at all and out come perfectly clean water.

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Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
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I wouldn't set an Aquaclear up with the media arranged like an Eheim - the filters are engineered to work best with the specific media. I suppose if you want clearer water, you could add a fine filter floss between the regular sponge and the BioMax, carbon, or whatever you have on top. I would not put a finer material on the bottom layer - with the regular sponge, if/when enough mulm accumulates (if you don't rinse the sponge out regularly), the water current pushes the filter basket up and some of the media can even be raised above the water when that happens (and even dry out if you don't notice it immediately). I would think if you put a fine filter at the bottom this would happen quite easily even with regular maintenance.

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Thank you superlion
That was the exact info I was looking for. I can see how the foam could rise up and this would be another reason for putting the Bio mix on the top. I have removed their bio mix and replaced it with the ceramic small tubes. Also I will not be adding a fine filter pad on top.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
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Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

I have had happen what superlion describes.. where the basket rises, so keep an eye on that... Otherwise, I have three AC HOB filters on three diff tanks. They've all been great.

I use the bio filter and the sponge only. I only use carbon to remove meds. So far that has worked well for all my tanks. I've not had problems with cloudy or unclear water either, so I dont mess with floss pads or anything.

And, I never clean out both the sponge and the bio media at the same cleaning.