Mattenfilter -- air or powerhead?

[mchambers]

I bought a corner filter in our Swiss Tropicals group buy last month, and a standard Mattenfilter with a jetlifter from Mark Kaprow at the BFD marketplace last weekend. I started installing the braces for the corner filter yesterday, so will finish today, and have the tank ready to go tomorrow or Thursday. The standard Mattenfilter is easier to install, since you don't need braces, so I'll probably do that today. (Not like I want to go anywhere today, with the snow and ice.)

I've been considering whether to drive the water on the Mattenfilters by air or water pump/powerhead. I've got two Swiss Tropicals jetlifters and some extra air pumps, so I've got everything I need to do it by air, but I thought I'd ask about this choice here.

Seems to me the advantages of air are:
1. Lower electricity usage (for example, seems like an air pump uses 3 or 4 watts, while a Cobalt in-line water pump uses 8 watts).
2. More aeration, maybe.
3. If I used a large air pump that could power multiple tanks and filters, I'd have even more electricity savings and fewer devices to worry about. I don't have such a pump, and it wouldn't be all that easy to set up in my fish room, at least at this point, so this doesn't factor in today, but could down the road.

Advantages of water pump powerhead:
1. More flow
2. Quieter, because the pump is in the water. I really hate hearing the hum of equipment in my fishroom.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Matt C.

 

[jonclark96]

It would follow that higher flow would cause the filter to fill up with debris faster, meaning increased maintenance, but how much faster is anyone's guess. Cleaning once every 9 months instead of 12? That wouldn't really weigh into the decision much for me. I use air because I have it readily available from my air loop in my fish room.

 

[lkelly]

Matt, I believe that there's actually some science behind the choice. More flow isn't always better, as the bacteria needs some time in contact with the water. If you turned a fire hose on full blast into a piece of Poret, you probably won't get the benefits you hoped for.

This site has some equations you can use. My guess is that ST has done some of the work for you in sizing their jetlifters appropriately. Maybe you could make your own DIY modification and raise them up several inches (inside joke there people - don't do that).

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/a-basic-guide-to-the-hamburger-mattenfilter/

 

[dogofwar]

I use air on mine both because I have air and because this is a situation where less flow is more effective.

Is it course foam? Probably doesn't matter that much with regard to how frequently it will clog unless it's not coarse...

Matt

 

[FishEggs]

The only other thing I can think to consider would be what fish you will have in the tank. Do they like less flow with higher aeration or more flow?

 

[dogofwar]

Good point...

I'm increasingly a fan of circulation pumps. Using one in my Lake Nicaragua cichlid community really seems to cut down on aggression.

The only other thing I can think to consider would be what fish you will have in the tank. Do they like less flow with higher aeration or more flow?

 

[mchambers]

Good points, Lane and Matt Q on the flow rate and filter effectiveness, and FishEggs on the fish wanting more flow. It was interesting to hear Shane Linder say Friday night that he has very high flow in most of his tanks. Of course, running both an air pump and a powerhead uses more electricity and requires more outlets, which are at a premium in most fish rooms. And good point, Jon, on the filter maintenance. Every 9 months is okay with me.

 

[mchambers]

Is it course foam? Probably doesn't matter that much with regard to how frequently it will clog unless it's not coarse...

Matt

Of coarse it is course!

 

[dogofwar]

I'd also run a box or other easily cleaned mechanical filter but that's just me!

Matt

Good points, Lane and Matt Q on the flow rate and filter effectiveness, and FishEggs on the fish wanting more flow. It was interesting to hear Shane Linder say Friday night that he has very high flow in most of his tanks. Of course, running both an air pump and a powerhead uses more electricity and requires more outlets, which are at a premium in most fish rooms. And good point, Jon, on the filter maintenance. Every 9 months is okay with me.

 

[JLW]

Air lifted mattenfilters are sensitive to changes in water level. As water level drops, the flow through them drops and can stop.

As water level drops due to evapouration, you're getting more concentrated gunk in the tank, and that is when the filter is working the least.

 

[mchambers]

Thanks, Josh, another good point! Matt Q, I'm not adding a box filter to my tank (although I do have a very old one, still NIB, lying around here somewhere)!

 

[finzz]

This is my first try at matten type filtration. I've got them in two tanks (both Corydoras) and use both air lift tubes and powerheads. One has two powerheads and one air-lifted mover so the heads can be turned off when it's "dry season" and there's still some filtration. One great thing I've found is that I'm not cleaning powerhead intake sponges every other day- they're not needed.

 

[dogofwar]

Doesn't need to be a box...just some kind of mechanical filtration to keep the sediment / solid waste under control...

Matt

Thanks, Josh, another good point! Matt Q, I'm not adding a box filter to my tank (although I do have a very old one, still NIB, lying around here somewhere)!

 

[Andrewtfw]

I run HMFs on 10 tanks ranging from 12g-135g. 2 use air, while the rest use powerheads. I like the powerheads for the ability to direct the flow and to increase water movement. I've had no issues using powerheads or air, though with powerheads, there is no hum, like from air pumps.

 

[mchambers]

Corner filter all set up, using air. Seems to work very well.

 

[mchambers]

Following my success with this corner filter, I bought a 13 x 13 piece of Poret foam and a jetlifter from MarkK at the BFD marketplace, and then bought a 39 x 39 piece of Poret and a bunch of jetlifters at a recent PVAS group buy. I've been installing corner filters on almost all of my tanks. (Had to use graph paper in Excel to figure out how to cut up the sheet of foam most efficiently.) Today, I emptied a 40 gallon, and siliconed in the braces for the last corner filter, so tomorrow I'll have 13 tanks with corner filters!

One side benefit is that moving all of the fish around has helped stimulate spawning, or at least so it seems.

Most of them are running on air, but the two tanks in the family room have pumps behind the foam (to avoid the noise of air coming through a jetlifter. Two tanks have Cobalt canister filters running the corner filters. Also, one tank (an acrylic tank) is still running on two canisters.

Last tank converted:

 

[Becca]

Thanks, Josh, another good point! Matt Q, I'm not adding a box filter to my tank (although I do have a very old one, still NIB, lying around here somewhere)!

If you find it, I will happily take it off of your hands!

 

[chriscoli]

Looks good!

I have an app on my ipad (not available for iphone) called something like "cut calculator" where you pick what you're cutting (sheet material vs. linear material), tell it the length of your raw material, tell it your blade width, and tell it how many pieces/size of final product you want. Then it tells you the most efficient layout and how many sheets/pieces of raw material to get. I use it ALL-THE-TIME for cutting poret efficiently.

Unfortunately the app is no longer supported and I really wish they had an iPhone version.

Does anyone else know of a free iPhone app that will do this?

 

[mchambers]

If you find it, I will happily take it off of your hands!

You actually had it in your hands at the white elephant gift exchange (last year?), but gave it back to me when your song and Matt Quinn's sons wanted the stuff I had!

 

[mchambers]

Looks good!

I have an app on my ipad (not available for iphone) called something like "cut calculator" where you pick what you're cutting (sheet material vs. linear material), tell it the length of your raw material, tell it your blade width, and tell it how many pieces/size of final product you want. Then it tells you the most efficient layout and how many sheets/pieces of raw material to get. I use it ALL-THE-TIME for cutting poret efficiently.

Unfortunately the app is no longer supported and I really wish they had an iPhone version.

Does anyone else know of a free iPhone app that will do this?

Good to know! Doing it on Excel as, as you might guess, not that easy, but after some start up time, I was able to get about 10 corner filters out of that sheet. Not a lot of foam left over!