# Canister filter... Help please..



## yotis (Jan 10, 2008)

Hello all,

I am not sure which section to post in so I thought this is close enough, if not could a mod kindly move to a more appropriate section please? Basically I have an establish fish tank with gold fish with internal filters, but I just bought a canister filter (aqua pro cf1000, comes with carbon, white cotton filter and also bio balls) this afternoon and I have it all connected up. Once I turned on the canister filter the whole tank is cloudy black in color, I have since turned off the canister filter and just left the original internal filter running.. Fish looks fine, but is this going to kill the fishes? What should/can I do now?

Help is greatly appreciated....


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

Just a guess- did you rinse the dust off the carbon before turning on the filter? That's happened to me a few times 

If that's the issue, just give it a little time and the water will clear up once all the carbon particles have run through and gotten trapped in your filter floss. You may need to change out your floss a few times to keep the filter from clogging, though, depending on how much stuff is floating around in the tank.

If it's carbon it won't hurt your fish or plants. You don't really need to use carbon at all in a well-planted tank, however.

If you have black substrate in your tank, the water flow stirring that up would be my next guess.


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## yotis (Jan 10, 2008)

No I didnt rinse the filter at all.. Realized that might be my mistake after I see the tank all cloudy.. So it should be ok for me to turn the canister filter back on?

Also on the changing of the floss, this is my first canister filter.. I have no idea how to empty out all the water first before I can change the floss.. Would I just turn off the canister then manually pump out all the water, before disconnecting?

Thank you for help.


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

Yes turning back on the filter should help in the long run- the carbon will all eventually either settle to the bottom, float to the top (where you can skim it out with a net or paper towel) or get trapped back in the filter floss.

I'm afraid I don't know anything about that particular brand of canister filter- if it didn't come with instructions, I'd try to find the company website and/or do an online search?


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I'm not sure how long you had the filter off, but you should take it apart and rinse all of the media out before turning it back on. Any bacteria that may have gotten in there can't sit too long without moving or it can die and turn toxic, plus you'll be able to get that carbon dust out of there faster. If you only had it on for a few minutes the bacteria shouldn't be an issue though.

I'm not familiar with that brand either, but with my Eheim pro, I just carry it to the sink, full of water, then dump some of the water out while I'm holding the media down. Then after you remove all of the media, you can dump the rest out.


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## yotis (Jan 10, 2008)

Thanks for the help laurel and Jan. 

The filter was only off for a few hours, it was then turned back on and has settled down alot more now. I plan to take it apart tomorrow or the next couple of days to clean out the "was" white filter media.. Guess I will put the hoses into a bucket and carry the whole thing over to the sink... Between the canister and the tubing there are at least 10L of water in there, so I really don't want to do that too often.

I was thinking of getting some of the white filter media and put them into intank filter as well to assist in getting the carbon out faster. Think that would help?


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

Yep- the fine floss should help catch the carbon particles.

A big plastic bin is a great investment when working with canister filters.

Pain in the butt, isn't it? Can't tell you how many times I've done it, either...


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Oh, a couple of hours off is fine.

Does your filter have shut-off valves in the hoses? If not, you probably can buy them, and that makes it much easier. My Eheims have them, so I assumed most of them did.


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## yotis (Jan 10, 2008)

laural: Seems I will have to invest in one of these big bins as I only have small buckets that is good for water changing... Just realised that this is going to be fun too.... there isnt much space and undoing the join from the pipes to the water input and output everytime is going to be a pain......

JanS: no shut-off valves, so I will have to head over to a hardware store and make some enquiries me think..

BTW. would either of you know what order should the filter medias be? Mine is empty tray (will have to get some noodles for one of the trays), white filter media, then carbon. Is this right ?


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Activated carbon is beneficial for every type of aquarium EXCEPT for a planted tank. Carbon is amazingly good at removing "impurities" from the water. Carbon removes nutrients that are essential to plant growth though. Also, the plants do a fabulous job of keeping the water clean for the fish, removing the so-called "impurities" as part of their normal processes.

People set up their filters in different ways. They are usually designed to provide mechanical (floss/sponges), biological (media with large surface area), and chemical (carbon) filtration. For a typical planted tank, mechanical filtration is far more important than the others.

I use ceramic noodles, a coarse filter pad, ceramic coccoa-puffs, and finally a fine filter pad. This is the default setup for an Eheim filter and it works well enough. There are lots of planted aquarium people that fill the whole thing with coarse filter pads though.

Your life (or at least a small part of it) will be millions of times easier if you get some quick disconnects for the intake & outflow lines. Look at these.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

guaiac_boy said:


> I use ceramic noodles, a coarse filter pad, ceramic coccoa-puffs, and finally a fine filter pad. This is the default setup for an Eheim filter and it works well enough.


Ha, so I'm not the only one who thinks they look like cocoa puffs....


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

It's a good idea to get a plastic bin that fits inside your stand, and just leave the canister inside it... just in case of accidents?


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## A_Shea (Jun 2, 2007)

Activated carbon doesn't remove nutrients from the water. Zeolite is the one that does and its an important one at that... Potassium! Activated carbon absorbs colors, odors, and some heavy metals


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Activated carbon does a pretty good job at remove chelators. These are relatively large molecules that form complexes with heavy metals. Most iron supplements make use of chelating agents to extend the period of time that iron is available in the water column. Remove those, and iron defeciency problems can ensue.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

lauraleellbp said:


> It's a good idea to get a plastic bin that fits inside your stand, and just leave the canister inside it... just in case of accidents?


I sure can't hurt.... I don't have any because my canisters are in the basement, but I should anyway because if the 125 gallon started to siphon, it would most definitely reach some of the carpets. :shock:


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Someone mentioned drilling a hole in the intake tube below the normal water level to break the siphon in case of accidents. When you do a water change, plug the hole - I think he used the tacky/putty stuff used to hang posters. At least that way you don't end up with your entire tank drained. I've got to get busy and do that for my canister filters, even though I have wood floors I don't want all that water everywhere!


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## yotis (Jan 10, 2008)

guaiac boy: thank you very much that is exactly what I need to find at the hardware store now that I know what they look like and what they are called. 

laural unfortunately space is tight.. so I will have to find a bucket that is small but big enough to fit the space where the filter is and also with the filter in it.

What are ceramic coccoa-puffs btw and what are they for?

Btw. this is what I got http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1000L-H-CANI...photoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I'm pretty sure they're calling the Eheim Ehfisubstrat and similar products ceramic coccoa-puffs: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4136+4327&pcatid=4327

That's what they look like to me too. They are for providing surface are for bacteria to colonize for biological filtration. It isn't as important in a heavily planted tank, but they came with the filter and I don't see any harm in using them.

I just noticed the link to the filter you bought and it says it has quick release valves already so you shouldn't need to buy anything else. When you remove the top black piece from the main body of the filter it "should" prevent the water from flowing out of the tubing, at least that's the way two of my Eheims work. You can then take the main body of the filter to a sink/bathtub to clean it out. I always set the top piece in a bucket to catch any residual water.


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## yotis (Jan 10, 2008)

Ok thanks for the explanation, I saw the note about the quick release when I pasted the link too.

Thanks for the help all.


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