Aquaclear Filter inserts

[turtlefish]

i have a Aquaclear 500 on my tank. I own fish and turtles, and turtles make a huge mess. Thats why I havea filter rated for 100 gallons and a 46! Anyway, i notice alot of floating debris around at any given time, and the debris seems to be able to bypass the sponge onmto the biomax! I know it does not somehow work through the sponge, becuae that sponge is huge and the piece definetly would have been trapped. SO i see it bypass the sponge alltogether through the sides of the media basket!!!
What do you all use as media in this filter? Alot of peole use jsut sponges, does this work well? Is a sponge adequate biological filtration, vs a bag of biomax? Is it worth getting filter floss for it? What can I do to stop bypass?

 

[seastaar88]

i would just add some floss between the sponge and biomax. there will be plenty of room for it.

 

[Avalon]

I've noticed this as well on my AC500. I am not a happy camper. I keep a big cichlid tank with some good sized fish, and I need all the filtration I can get. I don't think the floss would be a viable long term solution, particularly if you are using only one filter. I use the AC and an Eheim Pro II cannister, so I've got a buffer for bio-filtration.

I got the AC500 to use solely as a mechanical filter, while my cannister does the bio work along with the plants. AC filters are really nice filters, but when it comes down to the serious filtration that messy fish/turtles necessitate, they show their weakness. I find that the Hagen powerheads with the quick filter attachment work well, but the filter needs to be changed about once every 7-10 days. This isn't so bad since you can use filter floss to wrap the small basket with. Other than this, I've yet to find a filter that's up to the job, aside from multiple filters.

 

[turtlefish]

Im pretty sure I have grasped the answer. There seems to be two gaps in between the media basket (right side) and impeller chamber. It is the plastic board that covers the impeller and motor and that the U tube goes on. Well the Media basket fits in a little protruding piece of it that holds the basket iun place. Well on the sides of the protruding piece there are gaps. Im pretty sure if you fill these gaps you are good. There no other way un filtered water can get into that chamber without going through the sponge.