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Post by parker002 on Mar 17, 2011 10:43:28 GMT -5
A couple of quick questions? 1) What's the best way to situate to inflow and outflow tubing? Today, I have the inflow in the back right corner of the tank. The outflow from the canister goes through my UV25 sterilizer and to the outflow tubing in the back left corner of the tank. I have a 90-degree coupler on it with a single spraybar attachment. The spraybar is mounted on the SIDE of the tank, not the back. It is about 2" below, and parallel with, the surface of the water but is facing the tank wall to avoid too much turbulence. 2) Having never owned a canister before, I have NO IDEA HOW TO CLEAN IT. It seems to me that it's going to leak water everywhere, I must be missing something obvious. Thanks in advance.
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Post by Carl on Mar 17, 2011 13:22:34 GMT -5
(1) There is no one best way IMO, it is what works best for you. As an example, I often situate the spray bar to make as much agitation as possible, but since you are keeping live plants, your method of application is probably best. So the bottom line (assuming the picture in my head is correct) is that I think this is correctly mounted for what is best for your tank and to optimize water flow for UV Sterilization. (2)Making at least a little mess in unavoidable when servicing a canister Filter, especially when you consider the water trapped inside the UV Generally I shut over valves and then remove the tubing to then drain the UV into a waiting bucket. I also keep plenty of towels around, but that said, most of the time (with practice) at most I spilled a couple of ounces of water. BTW, I would caution ANY reader from buying from TruAqua, these people are very dishonest. Carl
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Post by parker002 on Mar 17, 2011 13:47:52 GMT -5
1) Does this picture help? 2) Therein lies the problem. I don't have any valves to my knowledge. Unless that's what that undocumented small "T" is on the inflow tube? 3) I'm also not 100% sure I installed the filter media in the right order. I have the Seachem Matrix/bio-ball basket on the very bottom. Then I have the carbon pillow in the middle. I have the filter cotton on the top layer.
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Post by Carl on Mar 17, 2011 17:39:31 GMT -5
(1) the first picture is exactly as I pictured it in my mind and I think this is perfect for your application with probably the best over all flow pattern too.
(2)As for valve, the AquaTop utilizes a spade valve in the intake/exhaust assembly that just off flow when removed (minimizing spillage). This is actually a better style than many older filters with valves beyond the filter that trapped water
(3) you want your coarsest filter media at the bottom with your most fine at the top, which again seems to be your case
Carl
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Post by parker002 on Mar 17, 2011 19:47:13 GMT -5
1) Thanks!
2) There is a little white plastic "flap" inside the outflow connector on the filter head itself. Are you suggesting I can just remove the head and clean it that way? Is there a video somewhere that I might be able to watch?
3) Perfect, thanks!
I am really glad I did this. The tank looks SO much better without all the mechanical "stuff" in it. I even bought another Glo-Lite and another Von Rio...
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Post by Carl on Mar 18, 2011 10:56:04 GMT -5
There is a black flap that is both a valve shut off and then allows removal of this assembly in "one motion"
There is no video for this filter: (Maybe someday I will ask Steven who works with me to make one, but right now our work load is preventing even considering it for the time being; in fact yesterday was a good example of how frustrating our days often are as Steven had several projects lined up to photo shoot for "how to" demonstration pictures that he is very talented at, but the volume of basically lazy emails and phone calls that often are for products not even purchased from us and/or we have already very good information for prevented him from getting even started. One person in particular took up more than 2 hours of his time with questions and even then arguing with his answers about a how too lighting project where she simply wanted to do it her way and thus was not happy with the answers we gave. Sadly a typical day that prevents us from either promoting our business or improving our how to articles/pictures)
Carl
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Post by parker002 on Mar 18, 2011 22:16:33 GMT -5
I guess I'll have to play with it and figure it out. Maybe I can put it in a 5G bucket to be safe!
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Post by parker002 on Mar 31, 2011 11:27:00 GMT -5
Hey Carl, I need to do a water change and it got me thinking about this again.
It looks like there's a backflow preventer on the OUTPUT side of the canister head. However, right now I think that if I remove the canister head, water is going to pour through the INPUT side. I don't see anything preventing the intake from just draining my tank.
I wonder if it's actually INSIDE the little black piece that clamps onto the head?
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Post by Carl on Mar 31, 2011 16:41:21 GMT -5
I would recommend closing this valve (the back piece) if water levels will fall below the intake. Then once below the intake open and drain these lines and restart the siphon after cleaning.
If the water level will not fall below the intake, simply turn off the filter while draining water, then restart the filter when done (unless you are also cleaning the filter, then close the valve and remove the filter for cleaning.
Regards; Carl
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Post by parker002 on Apr 1, 2011 7:10:57 GMT -5
Thanks. I'll try it out today, wish me luck!
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Post by Carl on Apr 1, 2011 9:01:35 GMT -5
Thanks. I'll try it out today, wish me luck! From what I know of you & your abilities, you will not need any luck Carl
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Post by parker002 on Apr 1, 2011 9:22:29 GMT -5
I think I figured out the confusion.
The black piece with the lever and input/output connectors DOES have stop valves in it. They engage when you raise the lever.
I just assumed the lever was there simply to secure the connectors to the head.
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Post by parker002 on Apr 1, 2011 17:57:33 GMT -5
Yes, it was just that easy. I lifted up the lever, popped off the in/out assembly and viola! No water. One question though, you said it's generally best to stack the media from bottom to top, coarse to fine. Each basket shipped with a white floss pad. The bio-ball and carbon baskets had the floss pad on the BOTTOM while the blue foam basket had the floss on top. I removed all 3 floss pads, put the bio-ball basket (with a bag of Matrix in it) on the bottom, put the carbon basket on next, and then finally put the blue foam basket in third. I then put ALL THREE floss pads on top of the blue foam, put the top plastic grate on, and reassembled the canister. Do you see any issue with that?
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Post by Carl on Apr 2, 2011 11:41:58 GMT -5
This is basically correct. Although I would probably move the blue foam pads ahead of the carbon (closer to the bottom). AquaTop, Via Aqua and so many canister filters manufacturers do not pre-assemble their filters in the best way for optimum filtration IMO. Basically; the coarsest media including bio media goes nearest the entry point of the water with chemical media ( carbon, purigen, etc.) near the end and with the finest media (the white poly pads) the last media the water passes through. Carl
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Post by parker002 on Apr 2, 2011 12:17:54 GMT -5
OK, that makes sense.
From what I can tell of the design, the pump draws water through the hole in the trays, essentially bypassing all filtration, all the way to the bottom of the canister. That causes water to be circulated from the bottom of the canister to the top. Is that correct?
If so, I think my permanent configuration will add a 100 micron filter pad and replace the giant carbon insert with a smaller bag like so:
Bottom tray: bio-balls + Seachem Matrix Middle tray: blue foam (bottom) + carbon (top) Top tray: polyfilter pads (bottom) + 100 micron pad (top)
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Post by Carl on Apr 2, 2011 14:51:03 GMT -5
Yes, this is a good layout Carl
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