So I am debating using a canister filter more or less a vacuum for detritus and unfortunately cyano and/or dinos. I already siphon these out when doing water changes, but looking for a way to more or less spot vacuum while just recirculating the water. I tried basically just siphoning through a filter sock into a brute and then just pumping the filtered water back in, but unfortunately a lot of the crud somehow just goes straight through the sock. So that brings me to the idea of using a canister. Any advice on what media in the canister to catch/clean and recirculate? Thanks
Using canister as vacuum cleaner
- Thread starter Charley75
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That should work, just might be expensive if you’re buying a new canister filter
Miller535
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That's because you used a sock with too large of a micron. If you use a 5 micron or less sock, it WILL catch the crud. Even a canister filter is not going to do that because the filter pad is not small enough micron and the "crud" will just go straight through. It's all about the pore size of the filter pad or sock. When I had dinos I did the sock trick with the small micron size, and it worked great. I believe I bought them from aquarium specialty.
Paul B
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It is a canister filter but very strong and filters out anything up to one micron. That is the size of many bacteria.
I have been using one a couple of times a year since the 60s.
I have been using one a couple of times a year since the 60s.
Old school filtration method that uses diatomaceous earth (dead remains of diatoms) to filter really small particles. REALLY polishes water.
Jon Fishman
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Love the topic. I wish I had something that was easy to operate that I could really get under my rocks etc...... I have bare bottom and the “sand” that slowly builds up from rocks etc drives me nuts. I don’t do water changes very often (every 4 months) and even when I do, after the storm settles, I see more I’d like to suck up. I’d like to basically “vacuum” my tank every once in awhile
I may get an old pump and try to fix a sock to it, but it’s not easy to maneuver around rocks I’d imagine.
I may get an old pump and try to fix a sock to it, but it’s not easy to maneuver around rocks I’d imagine.
Miller535
Valuable Member
at a LFS it would be 100 or 200 micron. Most likely 200
Miller535
Valuable Member
Fish of hex sells a filter sock holder that clips onto a 5 gallon bucket. He charges $14.99 for it. Then a 1 micron filter sock I think I paid $8 for. So for like $23 dollars you can vacuum until your heart is content. If it is real bad I would recommend maybe 2 socks.
4
My personal 3D printed 4" filter sock holder. I personally use it with a 5 gallon bucket to remove detritus from my system without having to do a water change. It comes with a pressure screw to keep it in place. The difference between V1 and V2 is the drop down of the filter sock to avoid...
fishofhex.com
I tried using a canister filter as a "vacuum cleaner" for my tank with not much success. Seems like I just stirred up more detritus than I removed. Of course, a lot of that ended up in the filter socks so not a complete loss.
Miller535
Valuable Member
Although fish of hex seems to only make a 4" and I used a 7". But here is a sock like I used. Sometimes I even just stir everything up on the bottom a bit and get it into the water column and put this into my sump. Really polishes the water nicely.
It is 1 micron for $9.99
It is 1 micron for $9.99
