# Aquaclear Filtering



## ctmpwrdcamry (May 23, 2005)

I have a 40 gallon platned tank with two aqua clear 200's(I think thats what they are, rated for 40 gallons) on my aquarium. However, even when i clean the spounges out once a week, there is still noticeable fish poop floating in the water and sitting on the plants. I dont even have a large bio load! Any idea what i can do or add to the filters? I have two spounges in each filter. The next step is to try a jebo or jebco canerster for 40 bucks.


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## csfish (May 19, 2005)

Your two AquaClear 200's should just about do a 40gal tank. What shape (dimensions) is your tank? Where are your filters placed? Are each of your AC's adjusted for maximum flow? Anything blocking the intake or outflow, ie. wood, plants, decorations? Do you have an extra intake extension on each filter to increase the circulation from the bottom to the top of your tank? I have two AC 300's on a 50gal goldfish (hence, messy) tank that do a pretty good job of filtration. Try a bit of tweaking before you put out more cash for another filter.


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## ctmpwrdcamry (May 23, 2005)

They came with the tank. The tank is actually 37 gallon, 30 long, 22h and 12d.
I have one filter on each side of the back of the tank. Each filter had an extension on it till this afternoon when i switched so one has three and the other has one(trying to promote water movement) I know there SHOULD be enough filtration, but it doesn't seem that there is. There is good water movement for an hour or two, then things get stuck in the tubes is all i can figure, like floating plants and stuff.


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## csfish (May 19, 2005)

Hmmm, that's a fairly tall tank, so adding two extra extensions, as you say, should increase the circulation, but the AC 200 motor and impeller may not be strong enough to draw that deeply. Is the water up to the level of the outflow of your filters? Have you ever noticed, while doing a water change with the filters still running, how the flow decreases the lower the water level gets? Go with the extra extensions, top up your water and see what happens.... Also, sounds like there's lots of stuff floating around in your tank that could clog up any filter. I'm just curious about that...


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## ctmpwrdcamry (May 23, 2005)

The impellers seem to draw fine during a water change. There is some plants floating in the tank, then just moral decay. As i said i changed the extensions, so i am going to see what happens...


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

If you have a lot of floating plant debris, use a net to scoop it out. This will keep it from clogging up your filter intake. 

I don't have much experience with Aquaclears but I would think two 200s would be enough for the tank. The 300 I had put out too much water in my 55g before I turned it into a planted tank!


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## ctmpwrdcamry (May 23, 2005)

I was wondering if it was the media more than anything else. I have some polly fill in the garage, would that be the same as floss? Do you think i could stuff some of that in between the sponges to get some extra cleaning power?


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## csfish (May 19, 2005)

As MatPat was saying if you have a lot of plants and debris floating around, scoop it out or it will catch in the poly and clog up your filters even faster. Are your plants dying? Is that why there's so much stuff in your water?


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## ctmpwrdcamry (May 23, 2005)

I have some plants floating because i was trying to get them to grow more before they were planted.

There are some dead leaves, but i get most of those out. Most of it appears to be fish poop. Not much that i could scoop out with a net. Some of my java fun has turned black, but the other half of it looks great.


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## hsteve (Jul 9, 2005)

You might try adding a small powerhead that sweeps the bottom of the tank to move the crud towards your AC's...? Rena model 50 is only about 2" square and moves a fairly decent amount of water- I have one on my DIY CO2 setup


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## csfish (May 19, 2005)

I have watersprite in some tanks that are mostly planted into the gravel, but some of the plantlets I let float. I have jave fern and java moss in several tanks and some duckweed too that tend to float about but rarely do I have to clear out the intake tubes or squeeze out the sponges in my filters (all AC's) any sooner than every two weeks when I do a water change. Since all my tanks are heavily planted, I only vacuum the little gravel that's not planted on the odd occasion. I'm curious about why your fish are producing so much waste...What kind are they and how many do you have in your tank? Perhaps you're overfeeding them? Otherwise, it sounds like you just have to do some regular maintenance with your tank.


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