Fluval 13.5 Owners

[Ksull72487]

So guys I got home from work today. My heater was dang near exposed. Intank Media basket. That filter floss was 2 days old. And what it did was slow the flow so much through chamber 1 that it actually caused the water levels to drop in the other two chambers. Almost exposed my heater. So plugging the wholes and making this thing filter means you loose the redundancies, if your not on top of it. Fluval was thinking lol. An ATO would be more work than it’s worth. Now the 2020 model comes with a plug for the weir and a flow director so water goes into the basket not around it. I can ditch all that but then you loose the advantage of filtration as I’m staying skimmerless. Filter floss is easier to replace than dialing in their skimmer. Have any of you experienced anything similar.

One more question for those of you with similar setups how did the Sicce .5 work out for you did your water levels dropped due to the increase in GPH plugged. I didn’t have this issue on the Biocubes but then again they had two intakes.

That is the plug. Now the good thing about doing it intanks way is almost 100% of the water passes through the media. But you plug that hole and use the water director. Game over when the filter floss clogs. The funny thing is the filter floss wasn’t that dirty. I may switch things up just curious if any of you have experience the same thing.

 

[Ksull72487]

Stupid question. Small tank. A cup of water can be a big deal. An almost exposed heater a bigger one. I’ll try this again for a few days but I may be using something other than filter floss. Or ditching the flow director or plug so water can get around the media if it has too. Or just change daily to be safe. Not a big deal just curious what others have found.

 

[Ksull72487]

Hopefully that explains some of it.

 

[ScubaFish802]

I can’t image filter floss being that clogged in two days unless there was a crazy amount of stuff in the water. I have left my filter floss in for over a week in some cases without issue.
On my fluval tank the return chambers water levels change as water evaporates. I top it off once in the morning and once and night. There is a line in the back that I use to keep it at the same level each time.

 

[Ksull72487]

I can’t image filter floss being that clogged in two days unless there was a crazy amount of stuff in the water. I have left my filter floss in for over a week in some cases without issue.
On my fluval tank the return chambers water levels change as water evaporates. I top it off once in the morning and once and night. There is a line in the back that I use to keep it at the same level each time.

That’s what I’m saying I should of filmed it. I tried to post a video to explain. What happened. It wasn’t dirty at all. Maybe I cut to dense a piece. I did have some cheato stuck to return pump but the flow was still their.

 

[ScubaFish802]

Are the basket sections below the filter floss really packed in or dense maybe? I wasn’t able to see the video on my phone for some reason

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

I have a 3D printed basket and a new therm in 1, a preset backup heater in 2 and a Sicce 1 as return. Never had this issue before

 

[Ksull72487]

Are the basket sections below the filter floss really packed in or dense maybe? I wasn’t able to see the video on my phone for some reason

Where my index finger is was where the water level was around basket. Where my thumb is. Is where the water level dropped too inside the basket in all 3 chambers. As soon as I took flow director out. Everything went back to normal. Put it back in the problem resumed. I did a clean anyways today. Then replaced the floss solved all the problems but it wasn’t dirty at all. It may have been densely packed. I’m going to experiment. Bit it wasn’t dirty enough to warrant the replacement. Keep in mind this the Intank basket
From 2020. It has a flow director so literally all the water goes through it and a plug for the weir. Meaning yeah if things clog up your water levels will drop until the basket over flows.

 

[Mike from TN]

I’m glad you posted this. I never even thought of what would happen if the flow through the floss was diminished. I just ordered a sheet of 50 micron pad to run in my InTank chamber for additional water polishing. Now I know I will need to keep a close watch on the chamber 2+3 water levels. I also have the hole in the false wall plugged. If needed, I’d rather remove the flow diverter than the plug.

 

[GrapevineReefs]

I run two of these tanks side by side both are upgraded with in tank media baskets in both chambers one has the eheim upgraded pump the other has the sicce upgraded pump I have the hole plugged on both tanks I change the filter floss in chamber one every single day Abd manually top them off. They are very finicky tanks especially if the media baskets aren’t seated right. If you haven’t upgraded the pump yet the eheim is the better pump in regards to vibration and sound in my side by side experience I have healthy mini-refugiums in both tanks both refugiums are on the bottom of chamber two media basket

 

[Ksull72487]

I’m glad you posted this. I never even thought of what would happen if the flow through the floss was diminished. I just ordered a sheet of 50 micron pad to run in my InTank chamber for additional water polishing. Now I know I will need to keep a close watch on the chamber 2+3 water levels. I also have the hole in the false wall plugged. If needed, I’d rather remove the flow diverter than the plug.

I also have been running my water level below the acrylic. I could top off with more water. So it can overflow if it needs too. Or cut the acrylic down so water can go in and around the basket. But yeah if it slow flow. It’s going to raise tank level slightly since that weir dosent hold much but drop the 3 chambers dramatically. I’m giving it another run.

 

[Ksull72487]

I run two of these tanks side by side both are upgraded with in tank media baskets in both chambers one has the eheim upgraded pump the other has the sicce upgraded pump I have the hole plugged on both tanks I change the filter floss in chamber one every single day Abd manually top them off. They are very finicky tanks especially if the media baskets aren’t seated right. If you haven’t upgraded the pump yet the eheim is the better pump in regards to vibration and sound in my side by side experience I have healthy mini-refugiums in both tanks both refugiums are on the bottom of chamber two media basket

Thanks for the advice. I might just be doing that as well. Yup finicky for sure.

 

[Ksull72487]

Daily Changes might be the way to go. A big bag of the stuff isn’t that expensive. Takes 5 seconds to cut a peice. Still getting go flow through media and avoiding the risk. Of an exposed heater etc. I don’t blame Intank at all. I just saw that I’m like two days theirs no way with the tank is currently stock. Anyways I think we know why Fluval made that stupid hole in the middle. A redundancy to their stock filtration.

 

[Mike from TN]

Daily Changes might be the way to go. A big bag of the stuff isn’t that expensive. Takes 5 seconds to cut a peice. Still getting go flow through media and avoiding the risk. Of an exposed heater etc. I don’t blame Intank at all. I just saw that I’m like two days theirs no way with the tank is currently stock. Anyways I think we know why Fluval made that stupid hole in the middle. A redundancy to their stock filtration.

Once you get used to doing it, that daily change will become second nature to you. I do my daily one gallon water change before my eyes are fully open in the morning. LOL!