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Alternative filter media for marineland emperor 400 filter?

Started by Guest_John4ds_* , Oct 14 2013 08:06 PM

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11 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_John4ds_*

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Posted 14 October 2013 - 08:06 PM

I have two marineland emperor 400 filters running in my 125gallon. I was wondering what else can I do instead of buying replacement cartridges for these filters? Is there another alternative? Could I use sponges instead, if so which one would work best? What modifications or alternatives could I use to improve these filters, and stop the need of buying more cartridges :/
Or is there a more DIY way to improve these filters or make a better one for a 125gallon sunfish tank
Thank you for any advice or suggestions

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#2 Guest_Owain4_*

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Posted 14 October 2013 - 10:40 PM

I have two emporer400's on my 72 gallon tank. What I've noticed is that they tend to slow down quite a lot as they get clogged up. Since my tank is planted I've taken the carbon out of the back of the main inserts, just to keep some nutrients in the water. I stopped buying new inserts about 6 months ago and I've just been washing the gunk out of filter with tank water to keep the flow up. They don't make any other insert options unless you insert sponges or foam into the grey tray. Another great option may be to stack up the scrubbies that most people use to clean dishes in area where the first tray would be. On a side note I've noticed that for my bioload that I needed quite a boost in filtration. I've added a fluval 304 and a filstarxp2 to help with filtration (I think i'd prefer the mechanical filtration of an aquaclear)

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#3 Guest_Dustin_*

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Posted 15 October 2013 - 06:26 AM

I used the same filter cartridges for over 5 years. The carbon will eventually not do anything and be colonized by beneficial bacteria. I just rinsed when I noticed it needed it.

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#4 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 15 October 2013 - 11:35 AM

Poret polyether foam from swisstropicals - comes in 1" or 2" thick sheets - cut to whatever size/shape you need. Lasts 10+ years. Make your own filters out of any odd container, or retrofit filters made for use with "disposable cartridges" (worst idea ever).

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#5 Guest_John4ds_*

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Posted 15 October 2013 - 01:52 PM

I do rinse out the cartridges for reuse, but now they don't let water flow through them properly, forcing the water to over flow over the older cartridge and it slows down the water flow :/

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#6 Guest_EricaLyons_*

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Posted 15 October 2013 - 02:41 PM

I use these sponges:

They're $2 and are hanging on the sides of aisles in Walmart.

My plants eat a lot of the ammonium and nitrate in my tanks, but sponges are useful too because they filter out particulates and make the water clearer. Caveat: You have to wring the sponge out to remove the particles after the sponge becomes full. This could be once a day to clear initially dusty kitty litter water or every two weeks if your tank's relatively clear. But at least this gives sponges an advantage over activated carbon: unless you've got Seachem Purigen, there is no 'wringing out' and renewing.

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#7 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 15 October 2013 - 03:58 PM

Depends on what you want the sponge (or any other media) to do: capture particles or grow nitrifying bacteria. For me, bacterial growth is the higher priority, and the open-cell foam (Poret or AquaClear foam blocks) can run longer than the bath sponges without clogging. Dirt particles I can siphon out -- I don't need the filter for that. For fans of fluidized bed filters, the whole idea is that these filters DON'T trap dirt - they just grow sticky bacteria that coat the sand, plastic bead, or whatever media is used. Loose dirt passes on through.

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#8 mattknepley

NANFA Member

Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 15 October 2013 - 05:08 PM

Poret polyether foam from swisstropicals - comes in 1" or 2" thick sheets - cut to whatever size/shape you need. Lasts 10+ years. Make your own filters out of any odd container, or retrofit filters made for use with "disposable cartridges" (worst idea ever).

Good to know! Even with shipping, if you can get ten years out of one retrofit-cut Poret foam that's a good deal. Keeping the good bacteria around is certainly a plus.

Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

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#9 Guest_EricaLyons_*

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Posted 15 October 2013 - 05:38 PM

Depends on what you want the sponge (or any other media) to do: capture particles or grow nitrifying bacteria. For me, bacterial growth is the higher priority, and the open-cell foam (Poret or AquaClear foam blocks) can run longer than the bath sponges without clogging. Dirt particles I can siphon out -- I don't need the filter for that. For fans of fluidized bed filters, the whole idea is that these filters DON'T trap dirt - they just grow sticky bacteria that coat the sand, plastic bead, or whatever media is used. Loose dirt passes on through.

True. My sponges aren't really for bacteria, although I bet there could potentially be a lot in them because the water pushes through them and there's a high surface area. (My plants eat all their nitrogen food, though). In that vein of thought, I have run several tanks without filters or sponges at all and they work fine.

Behold Bucket Tank.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uIvjlV6Z38

Years later it's still running, and it's actually been more reliable than the 55 gallon, which crashed when we went away for honeymoon (the surface plants grew too much and blocked out light from the bottom plants), and the bacterially filtered 10 gallon, which crashed when the power went out and the filter emptied and remained dry all day while I was at work). Bucket tank doesn't crash. I <3 bucket tank. It's actually at this exact moment the only of my five tanks producing fry. (lol?)

Bucket tank works because of high surface area and because unlike terrestrial plants, aquatic plants prefer ammonium over nitrate:
http://www.theaquari...ical_Filtration

So yeah, there are alternatives to bacterial filtration. And sponges. And filters, actually. And like Gerald said, it's all about what you want out of your sponge. I use mine as a scrubber to remove dust from the water, so that's what the "Best Aquarium Sponge" video in my post above shows: a good dust scrubber. I'm not sure if it houses bacteria or not (it probably does) because I switched all my tanks to plant nitrogen processing after the "The light switch does not control the lights. It turns off the power going to the fish tanks" fiasco of 2011.