AC Mini Problem

[depthC]

Well ive got myself a AquaClear Mini power filter. Many people here have suggested, bragged, ect about how great these brand of filters are so i went out and got one a few months ago. Its been running and doing its job, hasnt proved to be anything great as of yet but its a decent filter.

Now my problem is this thing doesnt do a great job on mechanical filteration. Im using 2 foam blocks that go into that plastic basket. When i want to go clean the foam out after a few weeks i pull the basket out and a bunch of dead algae, plant matter and what ever else gets in there floats up after the basket and back into the tank.

So is there something im not doing right to not be catching all this debris? Any suggestions to improve my experience with this brand of filters is appreciated. Thanks.

.depthc

 

[TurbineSurgeon]

I know what you are talking about with all the "stuff" that seems to stay behind when you pull the basket out. The same thing happens with my AC500. And since it is in fact trapped there and not floating in your tank means that it is doing a good job of mechanical filtration.

If you unplug the filter first so it isn't pumping, you could dump or siphon out the bigger particulate matter that hasn't decomposed enough to get trapped in the sponge. Personally, I don't worry about it too much. I just rinse and squeeze the foam a couple of times and put it back in on top of the crud. It'll decompose soon enough.

The only other course of action I can think of would be to put a piece of foam (I've seen Lotus recommend a piece of panty hose) over the intake pipe. This would stop these bigger pieces from getting to the filter box in the first place. This has a couple of drawbacks, though. It would need to be cleaned more frequently than you currently have to or else it might clog, and it doesn't sound that attractive.

 

[SomethingFishy]

I have the AC mini too. I also put two foam sponges in the filter have the same problem. Definately turn off the filter or at least pull out the intake tube. Then you can pour the left over stuff in the sink.

Also be sure to clean the intake tube and impeller frequently to improve the filter performance.

What size tank do you have and is this the only filter? How often do you clean the filter media?

 

[depthC]

The AC mini is on my planted 10G. And its the only filter i use in the tank. I clean the sponges every couple weeks whenever i feel like it. But ill start to kill the power to it and then just dump the excess into the sink even though this may be a un-needed hassle. Thanks.

.depthc