Suspended particles

[Golfmad]

Hi

I have a 6 footer with 2 Ehiem 2028s running. Tank was setup in April 03. General health of plants and fishes OK. My problem is that the water has never been clear. I have alot of suspended particles in the water. What can I do to get rid of it ? I was thinking of converting one of the filters to mechanical by replacing the bio chips/rings with wool ? Will this work and are there any other means of clearing the water ?

Tks,Kelvin

[Sleepy_lancs]

Hi,

I had this problem before. To clear it up, you can do the following:

1. Change the tank water
2. Change the filter foam (for ehiem 2028 its the top white foam)
3. Add chacoal foam into the filter (keep it there for 2 weeks then remove)
4. Put in a surface skimmer.

Hope this helps you

[sherchoo]

I suggest not using carbon for filtration cos it does nothing for water clarity since you mentioned suspended particles. I believe mechanical filtration would be more effective. Try using those filter wool and compact it as much as possible into the media basket.

I'm not sure if this is true but since I've reduced (not intentionally) the flow of my Eheim 2028, the water had become clearer. Probably the dirt is not flung around by the water current too much enabling the particles to settle onto the gravel. If you want, you could try that too.

[David]

Perhaps its the direction of your outlet does not create a cycle with your inlet pipe. I used to have this problem and after changing the position of the two pipes, the water cleared up.

[Golfmad]

Hi all

Thank you all for the advise. Originally, I had a "network" of PVC pipes instead of hoses. This seemed to have lowered the pressure/flow rate considerably. I have now changed back to hoses and the pressure is alot higher. I will now try packing one of the baskets with wool and will monitor the results.

Tks, Kelvin

[juggler]

It could happen that the white filter wool wasn't placed properly or more compact as Sherwin said. I used to have the same problem as you. It was so much better after I took out the filter to adjust the media properly to make sure water flows through the wool and not around it.