Stream(ish) project

[hx]

Looks great. Mesh behind the mattenfilter is very good, it keeps fish away from the pump chamber when you clean the foam.

A thing that comes to mind (and that I have with mine)is that it's not easy to get fish off from below the false bottom, if they ever end up there. Babies might be small enough to go through the mesh.

But looks very good, certainly KISS. Way to go.

[oilhands]

Real nice Martin. Can anybody think of a reason you couldn't setup Matten filters at both ends rather than just the one end? Flow issues/problems or something like that which I just can't visualize at the moment?

This is a really sweet idea guys. I wonder if The Wife would be interested in me setting up another tank sometime soon.

[Martin Thoene]

Looks great. Mesh bhind the mattenfilter is very good, it keeps fish away from the pump chamber when you clean the foam.

A thing that comes to mind (and that I have with mine)is that it's not easy to get fish off from below the false bottom, if they ever end up there. Babies might be small enough to go through the mesh.

Putting mesh behind the mat was specifically for if serious maintenance is required to the sponge. I was thinking of using a pretty small mesh such that I don't believe hillstream babies would squeeze through.

You could use a mattenfilter at both ends. It would double the biological filtration media capacity. Most large particles of grunge would end up on the intake end sponge and be syphoned off during maintenance so it's quite possible the outlet would require little maintenance as it would receive pre-filtered water.

Martin.

[oilhands]

You are right Martin. The second filter media would hardly ever clog. Worst case would be a lack of flow into the pumping chamber past the first matten. It would be possible, I suppose, to have that volume of water being punped into the tank without it being able to flow through the first matten. I would think both ends of the matten would need to be able to waterfall into the next chamber of the system if the water is unable to flow through. The second matten would need to be slightly higher than the first, it seems to me. Space considerations might deter a second matten as well.

Would that mesh be made of stainless steel? I wonder where you could pick stuff like that up.

[Barnsten]

Okay curiousity ruled out for me. I'm wondering how the mattenfilter is cleaned in the pictures at the beginning of the thread. It looks like it's 2 pieces secured together, are they both removed at the same time? Plants are growing on one side of the filter too, do those get peeled off or just rinsed in a bucket of removed tank water along with the filter?

I'm considering making a mattenfilter in my 55 gallon tank, and was going to try the curved type in one corner, with a powerhead (intake) behind the mattenfilter, and if it reaches low enough the intake on the canister filter will also be behind the mattenfilter.

I'm really not sure how much room I should leave in the corner though, I'm not that great with math, LOL. The tank is 48 inches long and nearly 12 inches deep (18 inches tall if that matters at all).

If someone wants to help me figure out how large of a space to use for the mattenfilter that would be wonderful!

[Martin Thoene]

Here's one oilhands:
http://www.smallparts.com/s?ie=UTF8&pf ... xgod9hQj8g

Martin.

[hx]

Okay curiousity ruled out for me. I'm wondering how the mattenfilter is cleaned in the pictures at the beginning of the thread. It looks like it's 2 pieces secured together, are they both removed at the same time? Plants are growing on one side of the filter too, do those get peeled off or just rinsed in a bucket of removed tank water along with the filter?

Hi.
Yes, the whole assembly is taken out and hosed in a tub for cleaning. The vegetation is Riccia, which doesn't grow roots, so it can be just peeled off.
Others have succeeded in growing many kinds of plants on mattenfilters, making them look really nice. Rooted plants are not taken out for cleaning.

I'm considering making a mattenfilter in my 55 gallon tank, and was going to try the curved type in one corner, with a powerhead (intake) behind the mattenfilter, and if it reaches low enough the intake on the canister filter will also be behind the mattenfilter.

I'm really not sure how much room I should leave in the corner though, I'm not that great with math, LOL. The tank is 48 inches long and nearly 12 inches deep (18 inches tall if that matters at all).

If someone wants to help me figure out how large of a space to use for the mattenfilter that would be wonderful!

In my stream tank the matt is really a prefilter for the Tunze pump. But I'm also running a sump on it, so I can regulate filtering quite freely with it.
A genuine mattenfilter works on a certain flow rate. So what you need to do is decide either your flow or the size i.e. the surface area of the matt and calculate the other. The math is very easy.

[andyroo]

I'd suggest against the false-floor. I've tried. Fish (particularly loaches) always seem to get into the cavity. They live well/happily there, but it's a little precarious. Never a clue how they get there :)
I suggest sticking with discrete return-pipes.
A

[andyroo]

What about fitting the mat filter-chamber into the corner? Sponge etc... has to be cut into a triangle, but that's not too dramatic. Takes less space and can hide it behind some streaming plants.
Sorry if someone has already brought this up.

[hx]

What about fitting the mat filter-chamber into the corner? Sponge etc... has to be cut into a triangle, but that's not too dramatic. Takes less space and can hide it behind some streaming plants.
Sorry if someone has already brought this up.

Hi Andy, thanks for your 2c.
The corner version is pictured in the link given on the first page. It is just a "curved" version, i.e. 1/4 of a circle. Gives more actual surface than a straight version, no?
There are many other possibilities in using filter matt foam. I have a couple of filters made by just glueing two equal-sized pieces of matt together and then cutting a hole for a pump. They are great in breeding or growout-tanks, no risk of filter sucking in babies...
Also, if someone has not checked them out, there is at least three coarsenesses (<someone give me a better word) of foam for different purposes or choises. Fine, medium and rough, respectively...

Just an example of mattfoam: link

[Barnsten]

Thanks for clarifying how you clean your sponges. I plan on trying out the corner mattenfilter, but it's not the only filter system I'm putting on the tank, I'm also going to run an eheim 2128 professional thermofilter 2 with a UV filter attached to it, I figure this should give plenty of mechanical filtration as well as all the biological filtration with the mattenfilter sponge at the end of the tank.

[hx]

My pleasure.
Sounds like you are going to have plenty enough filtration. If I was me, I would not rig the Eheim intake behind the matt. You need a relatively big mat to cope with all that flow, if you want to keep biological filtration optimal. Also, they tend to be easier to clean without disturbing the tank, so I'd rather lengthen the cleaning cycle of the matt and shorten that of the outside filter.
Also, I think the Eheim will do the mechanical filtration better, when you can position the intake strategically.

[daspricey]

Beautiful fish tank!!!


Kinda related to the discussion, this is what i was planning for my 30" river tank when i finally get round to setting it up, (birds eye view)



Blue bits would be sponge pads. I would us plain black or blue acrylic, should be quite easy to cut to size, cut grills at top of "inlet" and silicon together. No equipment will be seen from the front, just a nice simplistic plain background, although that can be adapted to a rocky wall similar to hx 's.

Once again, wonderful tank!

David

[Barnsten]

My pleasure.
Sounds like you are going to have plenty enough filtration. If I was me, I would not rig the Eheim intake behind the matt. You need a relatively big mat to cope with all that flow, if you want to keep biological filtration optimal. Also, they tend to be easier to clean without disturbing the tank, so I'd rather lengthen the cleaning cycle of the matt and shorten that of the outside filter.
Also, I think the Eheim will do the mechanical filtration better, when you can position the intake strategically.

I wasn't sure where I should put the intake for the Eheim, thought about putting it behind the sponge for the mattenfilter but thought it might not filter so well (the Eheim), I figure if I put it at the same end of the tank as the Mattenfilter but just next to it that should work well enough. Obviously my outtakes for the powerhead will be at the other end of the tank from the intakes.

Will the powerhead and the eheim combined I will get more than enough circulation for the Sewellia's, but not sure if it will be too much for the Mattenfilter, after translating the german site and figuring out the math they use to figure the sizes of mattenfilters, I will need one that is 18inches tall by 19 inches wide to support just the flow of the powerhead, should I make it even bigger than 19 inches wide even though the Eheim intake will not be behind the mattenfilter? I still have to get my hands on the Sponge filter material, my local fish store does not carry it

[hx]

Beautiful fish tank!!!


Kinda related to the discussion, this is what i was planning for my 30" river tank when i finally get round to setting it up, (birds eye view)



Blue bits would be sponge pads. I would us plain black or blue acrylic, should be quite easy to cut to size, cut grills at top of "inlet" and silicon together. No equipment will be seen from the front, just a nice simplistic plain background, although that can be adapted to a rocky wall similar to hx 's.

Once again, wonderful tank!

David

Thanks David.
Nice design. One question: why not put just one large sheet of foam back there, so that it is a bit slanted? Like this: l/l (nice graphic, I know. l:s are the backwall and the fake backwall, / is the foam, right?)
You'd get a lot better flow when water goes through just one layer than when it has to go through many, no?