Fluval 206 Filter: geni.us/qQsF90 Foams and Biohome Ultimate: www.filterpro.co.uk (FilterPro site has links to suppliers in other countries) The Fluval 206 is a good canister filter which is well designed, has excellent mechanical filtration and decent provision for biological filtration. However, since it 'only' holds around 1kg of biohome ultimate it is really suited to normally stocked tanks of up to 100 litres (26 US gallons) or heavily stocked tanks of up to 50 litres (13 US gallons) if you want to achieve a full cycle. A full cycle is completed by bacteria - the aerobic part of biological filtration which processes ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate followed by an anaerobic part which processes nitrate into soluble nitrogen which bubbles off to the atmosphere. Therefore it requires a suitable amount of excellent quality filter media to be able to provide the environment for both aerobic AND anaerobic bacteria - that is what Biohome ultimate does perfectly but even with such good media there are limitations and we recommend the following amounts for different stocking scenarios: (1 US Gallon = 3.8 litres) (1kg = 2.2 lbs) Average community tropical aquarium = 1kg per 100 litres Average coldwater aquarium = 1kg - 1.5kg per 100 litres Predator aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres Large cichlid aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres Malawi / Tanganyikan aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres Marine aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres Average mixed fish pond = 1kg per 200 litres Average koi pond = 1kg per 150 litres You may be disagreeing with the above figures but remember that they are for a FULL CYCLE not half a job - achieving 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite is quite easy since aerobic bacteria grows freely on any surface but the anaerobic bacteria responsible for COMPLETING the cycle needs more a specialized habitat. Size a filter properly, set it up sensibly and you will have perfect water - it's that simple....and your filter won't be the dreaded 'Nitrate factory'.....you'll spend less money on treatments too......basically the filter is the foundation of a successful aquarium. This series of videos is all about trying to squeeze more efficiency out of internal and external aquarium filters which generally have a limited filtering capacity - If you have a filter you'd like me to feature in a video then please contact me on: sales@filterpro.co.uk 07772848730 (Richard) Anyone who sends a filter (UK only at present) will have it upgraded and returned to them for free and the only cost you will pay is how much it costs to ship it to me - I'm helping to boost your filter and the resulting videos will hopefully be useful to viewers all over the world so it's a win/win. The following videos will be useful to anyone interested in learning more about filtration, bacteria and making the conditions for your fish as good as possible: Sizing a canister properly and filter set up: goo.gl/om19un Looking INSIDE different filter media: goo.gl/hZWS6c Bacteria and filter media: goo.gl/123gAF How to clean an aquarium: goo.gl/bPMhvh Aquarium tips / filtration playlist: goo.gl/pXgqVj Check out my channel for hundreds of videos on a wide range of my hobbies - many of the videos have educational content so if you have enjoyed any give them the thumbs up and share. This channel is purely a hobby for me so I will never ask viewers to donate money for any of my projects or charge anyone for information - information should be shared freely and I certainly don't consider myself an 'expert' in anything I pursue as a hobby so please do your own research, never accept anything as 'fact', reject anyone claiming to be some sort of authority or 'expert' and make your own minds up about anything you wish to study. We all are on a long path of learning......... RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS ON AMAZON: goo.gl/jMaBWy INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/pondguru_outdoors/ FILMING EQUIPMENT: Panasonic HC-VX870 HD camcorder geni.us/3UwE +Rode stereo microphone: geni.us/4OL +Rode 'deadcat' mic cover: geni.us/1pmn JVC Everio quad proof HD camcorder: geni.us/e09e +Rode 'deadcat' mic cover (opened up and held between tripod and camera base) geni.us/dee24 Zomei Z666 tripod: geni.us/1a1af3 Manfrotto MTPIXI-B PIXI mini tripod: geni.us/87f7 If you've enjoyed this video please check out the playlists on my channel for hundreds more - on a variety of subjects. Feel free to share or link any of my videos on facebook, twitter, forums etc. for the benefit of anyone you think may also enjoy watching. See you next time. Pondguru
Not really unless there was a very tall tray of biogravel - that one packs in quite tightly but is fine in normal depth trays. The biohome ultimate I used here won't affect water flow since water can flow freely around each piece no problem.
The description says that 100 litres = 38 US gallons. It's actually 26 gallons, as you correctly said in the video. And likewise 50 litres is about 13 gallons, not 19.........
I came across your channel by mistake and it was a mistake that I am glad to have happened. My name is Doug and I’m on the other side of the pond. I consider myself an intelligent person and when I listened to what you said about the “ full nitrogen cycle” it seemed like all the other people who talked about doing water changes to get rid of nitrates were lacking something. I was in that camp. It also made me realize how my filter configuration was totally haphazard and you set me straight. Now I watch you pimp filters and pre guess how your going to do it before you do it. You gave me clarity. Thanks dude your the best. Doug.
I had the pleasure of chatting to Richard this morning regarding this filter and introducing the biohome into it. What an absolute gent and legend. Got all the info I needed and now feel more confident of getting things sorted. One of the discussions below referred to a pre filter and during our conversation Richard mentioned using a pre filter as a post filter and just filling with media. Awesome idea and ideal for what I need. Thanks again for all your help. Rick
Dear Rick, That is no problem and it's always best when people ring as I can answer loads of questions in a short time. Best of luck with the filter and tank. Regards, Richard
I use this on a 20 Gallon Long planted tank. I did something like you got here but used the normal Fluval foam. 1st tray I got the black Fluval bio foam with a polishing pad ontop. 2nd tray I have Fluval pre-filter media and the 3rd has Fluval Bio-Rings. I only went with fluval because its what is available in my area and was the cheapest option as well. With a few minor tweaks this filter is a tank. My inlet and outlet was changed to Lili pipes. To those who are wondering. If you want to change your tubing on the 206 you want 16/22 Hose. You can buy generic clear tubing at your hardware store or buy the green tubing from Ehiem.
i saw this today but the store did not have the 407 replacement foams - was going to upgrade my 406 with them / = then I saw this video and found on ebay some foams like the ones used www.ebay.com/itm/222172908657 - now i play the waiting game ...
The 206 is almost exactly same set up internally as far as baskets and foam placements as the older previous versions being the 204, 205. As are the 304, 305, and 404, 405, with the only difference being size of cannisters, pump and amount of trays. And like you said with the fluval aim higher then you think you need filtration wise and especially more then fluval recommends. Thanks for all the info and help my friend.
Yes always go double what the manufacturer recommends or halve the 'up to' figure - it will both be the same result which is properly sized filter for the tank.
I had no idea you pimp these filters FOC, its great to see kind people like you and you've definitely helped me pimp my filter at home with using better products rather than going down the replacement cartridges route. Thanks :)
You see where the clips go on, those two pieces each side that stick out there's a little hole at the inside top of them that have a tendency to leak, mine went spectacularly, had about half my tank on the floor when i got home from work, and it continued to leak from there until I could afford another filter, ocean free hydra 1000 (tried fixing it but to no avail and my dad now has the same problem with his 306 and there's plenty of vids with other leaks on YT), just to balance things out, they are a good filter and they are cheep, easy to maintain and the flow is great.
Thanks for this video. Just prove that I set up mine 206 exactly the same as you. And I have it set up on fluval 125 tank and I now have hardy any nitrate and nitrates. I have your bio home ultime 1kg. Well done
Done this to my 406 about 6 months ago but i added a all pond solution 2l pre-filter for loads of mechanical Filtration before hitting the biohome... great series of videos 😎
Great pimpin! I used this filter on my old tank and I think its great BUT its kinda a pain in the butt to get all the trapped air out of it after every maintenance.. U pretty much have to shake it around, let it sit, shake it around, let it sit, tilt it back and forth etc etc.. can take hours before u get every little bit of air out :/ Usually just a little bit of shaking is enugh to make it go silent (no air around the impeller part) but to get all trapped air out u need to work a bit. other then that its a really great filter, very silent once all air is out, I had it in my bedroom no problems
I have found that the rubber gasket that goes on the head of the filter ia useless after you open the filter for maintenance once or twice. It results in leaking. Instead of buying a replacement from fluval I went to a gasket shop and got a slightly thicker gasket which doesn't leak and gives a better seal.
with mine i had a coarse prefilter sponge on the intake (i have cherry shrimp) so i then used the cartridge to hold medium and fine foams which freed up an extra tray for bio media.
I must say these videos are more useful then any reviews out there (and even advice from some of the "pet store" professionals. Think most of em think the cycle ends with nitrate building up in your tank wich can only be fixed with water changes and having a jungle of fast growing plants. But anyway this video made the choice for this filter somewhat easier for my new (just 70 liter tank) setup.
Thanks and I'm glad you find the videos useful as I am using this series to build up a great resource on filters which I'm adding to my website - that page is not live yet but should be in the next few weeks. There's about 20+ more videos shot which I need to edit but time is my enemy lately. I hear you about some of the 'review' and 'filter set-up' videos out there as they usually are nothing more than an unboxing or simple set up exactly how the manufacturer sends out the filter which shows no independent thought and shares nothing useful. Try and find a video about the nitrogen cycle or information via a google search and you'll just see the same thing repeated over and over again from novice to 'professional' fish keepers which is really lazy, sad and misleading. UA-cam should be all about sharing information but over the last few years it just seems to have devolved into a 'look at me' / fake drama / money making scheme for so many channels that I love my position here as the outsider sharing information freely and actually helping people to make the lives of their fish longer and happier - it feels like a revolutionary act, lol
The foam is available in the United States but what people don't know is they go to the wrong place to buy it. It's not at the fish store but it is at any craft store and most major box store that have a sewing section. Asian Fish stores also carry them sometimes but I have mostly seen only flat pads.
Thank you for this series. It helped me correctly set up - or "pimp" - my Aqua One Aquis 700 I picked up with a cheap tank package deal. Stuffed it full of sponge, Poly Filter and Marine Pure with bits of Matrix to fill in the gaps. Many thanks :)
your filter pimping is easy to understand and straight to the point not pulling one brand of filter doon just the best way to improve on what filters ppl have and especially ppl on a budget not everyone has the pennys to buy a big expensive filters.. thanks. carry on pimping
No worries and I'm glad you enjoy the videos - I'm not affiliated with any filter manufacturers so I have no dog in the race as far as promoting anything goes. Although I use the biohome for the reason of trying to achieve a full cycle viewers are free to use whatever media they want - if they take nothing else away from the videos at least they will understand the way water flows through their filter and then if they want to implement changes they know the sensible way to do it and why. I get companies wanting to affiliate with me for the purposes of promoting their stuff all the time but I turn them down as I don't want that to influence what I think about them and I believe it is very important to stay open to new products and methods of filtration as there is never a 'one size fits all' solution.
Brilliant demo, only problem is, no mention of how silent or noisy this filter is. Most people I am sure like myself, will have the tank either in the room with them (bedsit) or pretty close by. So not matter how fancy all the bells and whistles are, this pump would be useless to me if it made an unacceptable noise and destroyed the ambience of my apartment.
I had nothing but trouble with my 206. I ended up getting an eheim. Every time i did a maintenance it would leak. I was forever buying o rings. I felt the lid didnt shit tight enough.
Great video, very helpful information. Just ordered Foams and Biohome Ultimate media. Great upgrade to my African Cichilds 40 gallon tank and Fluval 206...Thank You
Another great, well explain video. Started following your channel because Im looking to be building a koi pond in garden and find it very informative. This video is very helpful has my tank has a 306 filter. I currently have a set up of fluval sponges in side rack, black fluval sponge and fine sponge pad in bottom tray, fluval ceramic tubes fill the middle tray and bio max topped with carbon bags (didn't know they were only good for 8 weeks and I've been keeping fish for 20+ years lol, so will be taking that out shortly). Im now going to be changing over to the biohome ultimate.
Thank you so much for doing this filter I buy all your sponge Media and your biohome ultimate off eBay .no matter what I did with this filter every week I opened it up it would be rotten could never work the best solution out thank you for the demonstration. a big fan of your channel for a very long time thank you for your helping from Liverpool
The bottom tray I cut that black foam in half and filled it up with ehiem round small ceramic media then the top tray I use a medium pad and fill more media
I had two 206’s setup almost exactly like this on a 100 ltr aquarium. I found packing to much media in caused a, I won’t say leak, but a seep of water. So much so I had to place both 206’s in trays. Eventually after days the seep would stop but I always hesitated to clean them again as I knew the problem would reoccur regardless of replacing the O ring’s. That’s why when I updated my aquarium to a 250 ltr I went with the FX6.
Great Video.Thanks for doing the 06 Fluvals.I have 5 of these cannisters running and think they are a great filter.The black foam in the bottom tray is Fluval Bio Foam.I run that and then the rest of the trays have Fluval Bio Max and Lava rock.I would like to get BioHome media in them also.I really like Your idea of cutting pond foam to put in the filter tray.
As far as great filters I'm not so sure I also have 6 fluval cannisters and they do certainly have their positive and def each has their negative and flaws but I agree thanks for the video on them
YESSSSS I’ve been awaiting this.. I’ve added the 1 kg bio gravel I bought from you and had room for more bio home mini ...but I’ve not changed the bottom foam, the fluval foam isn’t half bad. The white foam sheets from you are far better then fluvals to be honest. In the red section that’s where I crammed in my u3 sponges... but I like your idea.. The beige foams area really course... I think the blue and black will def catch more muck.. I’ve only had my foams for 6 months and they are looking a bit thin.. def won’t be buying fluval replacements I’ve also out sponges on the intake and output... really keeps the sponges clean
Yes having an extra sponge on the intake can make a real difference. I did another video a few days after filming this one on the 306 and I left the black foam in the bottom tray and just put the fine pad on top of it - either way is good.
Thank you very much for taking the time and effort into making your videos. I really appreciate your insight, and look to these videos while researching filters for my future tank. Keep up the great work! P.S. Definitely stocking biohome ultimate and a 3 tier foam system regardless of the filter I end up with. Thanks for the tip!
Richard, I highly suspect those foam filters are probably not as ubiquitous in the U.S. market due to fish keepers' overwhelming preferences towards cheap Polyfil pillow stuffing from Walmart and/or the big rolls of bonded (pink or blue) mech filters. Personally, I'm currently using Sera filter wool, however, after watching all of your Pimp uploads, I'm now more interested in your types of high surface sponges. I've seen them for sale on amazon & eBay, although GreatWaveEngineering has the flatter design.
Yes the bumpy sort are available on amazon.com but seem to vary wildly in quality. Don at Greatwave uses the Poret foams as far as I know so they will be very good quality. It's fine to use flat foams but I prefer teh bumpy ones due to initial contact area being greater and when multiple foams are being used it creates useful voids between them which holds lots of muck.
Paused at 4.50. my guess is (and what I'd do) put the fine filter pad on top of the black sponge and replace the carbon with good bio media. Before I watch the rest I can't really think of what else you can do really.
Hi, I really enjoy how thorough your videos are ! But I noticed you haven’t mention if you are allowing for just fresh water or salt water in your videos. Just out of interest, I have a fluval 306 for my marine tank and thanks to your previous videos I now have the 3 layers of foam in the bottom tray in one half and fine floss wrapped around Rowaphos in the other half, then in the middle tray I have bio pearls in both halves and top tray active carbon in both halves, my phosphate is now at zero as is my nitrates are also at zero, but I have switched to natural sea water, which is so much better than a chemical sea water mix. I look forward to your next video with interest.👍
Fresh or saltwater is the same as far as canister set up goes but if you want to go mechanical straight into chemical and control levels that way it's fine. We do a 'marine' version of the biohome ultimate but any of the media will work no problem. The only difference between the 'freshwater' and 'marine' version is that the added trace elements are different and tailored for fresh or marine bacteria for maximum efficiency. I have a sump which I will film 2 video on - one for fresh water and one for salt water but I'm waiting for more equipment to arrive for that.
The foams that you're using I believe they sell them here in the US at UPS Store the shipping store AKA The Brown delivery hope that helps cuz they do packaging for people in I've seen them use it in their shipping stuff
As long as they have not been treated with flame retardant chemicals (as many packaging / furniture foam has been) it should be fine to use that but considering the low cost of pond / aquarium foam I'd personally say play safe.
To be fair I did speak to a couple of the higher-ups in Fluval on a conference call when I was designing a modular internal filter a few years ago and bumpy foams were discussed at length. It makes sense for them to use bumpy foams.
Brilliant videos copied all your filter pimps aqua one 1250 x2 fluval 406 x2 fx6 x1 my aquarium has never looked so clear and I’ve got big cichlids oscars etc I did use seachem products but the way you set them up really helped me out never even realised there was a gap at bottom of aqua one brilliant videos thanks bud
I recently received a Fluval 406. It came with the top 2 trays filled with carbon. I'm replacing at least one of them with Biohome ultimate. Seems like overkill on the carbon. Not sure what Fluval was thinking.
but...…….. if your having a medium foam in the slop side then there's no point in putting a coarse foam in the bottom tray section is there? apart from that, great video
The course foam provides more surface area for biological filtration bacteria, without impeding he flow of the water coming from the slop side. The purpose of the course foam is not for debris (particulate) removal.
Hello pondguru....I really like your video , I learn a lot from you video. But there are still one thing i can't understand About the mechanical filter Why use 3 different sponge ,why not just use 3 white fine sponge..?
OK, I'm a bit confused (actually quite a bit confused). The water entering this filter first goes through the foam filter pads, either through the two front pads or the two rear pads before they both emerge at the bottom of the canister. That being the case what is the point in using two different grades of foam? You have a coarse pad on one side and a medium pad on the other and this is the first stage taking water straight from the tank. Unless I'm missing something it seems to me that the medium pad will just block well before the coarse side and all the water will then flow through the coarse foam rendering the medium foam redundant. The water now has to pass up through the three media trays and you have put a coarse foam pad in the bottom of the lowest tray with medium and fine pads on top. The water has already passed through either a coarse of medium foam so what is achieved by then passing it through a second coarse foam, it's hard to see what this coarse pad will achieve since half of the water has already been through a medium pad. Would it not make more sense to have all four of the initial foam pads made from coarse foam and then fill the lower of the media chambers with medium and then fine foam on top of that?
Thanks for the order - yes it does cost a fair old bit to set filters up properly but that is the foundation of a good tank system so is well worth the expense.
Nice job on the media but what you think if instead of the foam sleeves and holder, a sheet of plexiglass 3" shorter in length and the same width as the foam cartridge holder, glued with silicone against the divider sleeves inside the filter, then fill that side with foam filter, to give a more type of full filtration area before the water goes into the media section of the canister, I want to know your advise on this before I start on this project!
Casually trying to get a new filter for my 65l tank, using a Fluval U2 and it's just meh and takes up too much room. Now getting my head around canisters
Hey, Pondguru I love your videos and especially the pimp my filter series. I am waiting very impatiently lol for the giant pond filter update and I am wondering if there is anyway that you can do the pimp my filter to the Zoo Med macro 75 please :)
Sure no problem as I haven't featured one like that in the series yet - just send me an email to sales@filterpro.co.uk as I miss so many comments on UA-cam, luckily this one came through as a notification but 80% don't.
If I get the time I will go fishing no worries but work has been crazy this year so it is very difficult finding tome to get out. I'm working on a huge filter for my pond so that is taking up any spare time at present.
Tnx for the reply b4 I was just wondering if u thought it would be a bad idea to skip the filter pads in the bottom tray of my 106 and have biomax instead as my tanks about 120ltr slightly planted full of Molly's I was hoping to get a full cycle that's all tnx Jon Oh and it was really informative to know exactly how it works when she's running keep up the awesome work🤘✌
If you went with a couple of the medium density pads down the side you could potentially do away with the pads in bottom tray and fill it with media - sounds like the filter is way too small for the tank presently.
Pondguru Yea I had it on a smaller tank it's just funds won't really allow for a new one yet but I will be investing in something bigger in the future tnx for all your help
what is this full cycle you speak of, I had one 406 on a 55 gallon tank, so I watched your videos and got a 2nd 406 both filled with biohome altimate. no reduction of nitrates at all, so I found a used 306, very cheap so I bought it and filled it with biohome ultimate. hooked it up to my tank, and did a water change. waited 1 week and with all three filters on my 55, my nitrates were just the same . So I waited 3 monthes to let the good bacteria build up in the new media and my nitrates were the same. I now have 3 filters on a 55 with almost 19 pounds of biohome media and my nitrates are the same.
Are you using any chemical media or treatments which claim to reduce / detoxify / bind ammonia, nitrite or nitrate? If so then they may be having a real starving effect on the bacteria 'food' and be actively retarding the bacteria development / preventing a full cycle. Commonly reported problem treatments would be purigen, safe, prime, chemipure and many of the 'instant start' chemicals. Also, it would help to have an idea of the stock you have in the tank and how long the media has been in although 19 lb (8.63 kg) should be way more than you should ever need to achieve a full cycle (time permitting) for that volume of water and a heavy stock. As each tray of the 306 / 406 holds just under 1kg I'm not sure how you got that much into the filters so an idea of how they are set up would definitely help as I'd expect to get under 8kg in 2 x 406 and 1 x 306. Even 4kg-5kg would be enough for a heavily stocked tank of 55 gallons (US?) / under 200 litres. It is not possible to send pictures via youtube and your channel has no videos so feel free to send any relevant pictures to sales@filterpro.co.uk Regards, Richard
Hi Pond Guru, I have just bought the Fluval 406 and I am trying to get ideas from your videos. What would you put in that extra 4th tray you get with the 406 filter. Would you have 1 tray of foams and 3 of filter media or 2 foam, 2 filter media for the most efficient filtration? Love your videos and your videos are part the reason I got the bigger 406 for my 180l amazon puffer tank.
Ben Scolari usually pond guru recommends running bio mendia in the extra tray to house more beneficial bacteria. I'm currently running a 306 on a 55g with coarse foams in the red vertical tray (obviously). Out of the box, the bottom tray comes with the black bio-foam and has a bit of extra room. Simply take a spare coarse foam that normally goes in the red tray, cut it in half and drop it in and place the bio-foam on top. There should be enough room to fit both snugly without causing clearance issues for the trays above it. The second tray I have filter floss/polyester fill and bags of Fluval ammonia remover due to a recent spike, but normally have activated carbon. The top tray I have bio rings but plan on trying out lava rock in the near future. I've seen folks with the 406 run all foams in the bottom 2 trays for overstocked tanks that produce large amounts of waste. And you can use an intake foam that sleeves over the intake strainer to help pre-filter water before it reaches the actual canister. I have a red eared slider in my tank, so instead of a foam over the intake I disassembled the strainer and cut-to-fit a coarse foam and placed it inside the strainer to prevent my turtle from eating the foam. There's really no single right way of setting up these filters, they're customizable to fit the needs of different tank setups. Just have patience and see what works for you. Hope this helps. Edit: not sure if this is your first canister filter, but just a friendly reminder to use food-grade silicone lubricant on the o-ring/gasket before reassembling to prevent any leaks. I learned the hard way.
@@JoseJimenez-fk9wh cheers for the reply, I decided to go with: in the bottom tray the foams the 406 comes with, the next tray up with lava rock, the next after lava rock with the ceramic media that comes with the filter and lastly in the final top tray I have EHEIM Substrat pro. See how it goes, might put the substrate floss after the bottom trays medium foam. I am also planning on a foam over the intake
Could you just have medium pad and fine pad in bottom and put a mesh bag of media on top of that just to get more media in it since the pro will get has course and medium foam
I set up both my 306 filters that I have on my fluval Roma 240 with filter pro media and foams. They have been working great and were an improvement over the stock setup. I have also set up my ADA filter, the super jet 300 on my ADA 0 P60 tank with your biohome ultimate filter media but have stuck with the standard small carbon cubes. I would be interested to see what you would do to set one up.
That is one I am not familiar with so if you want to send it up just send an email as I often don' t see comments on youtube for weeks unless I go looking for them.
very good video, i have just inherited a 206 and it doesn't have the top media tray and the white cover between the tray and the pump, is this something that is available from somewhere. I am in Canada.
Regarding foam. I'm from Denmark and I'm having big trouble finding that type of foam anywhere. Are there any alternatives I can use, say like from a hardware store. Or is it a specific type of foam made specifically for aquariums?
If that is 30 US gallons it is around 114 litres so if the tank was lightly stocked to normally stocked I'd say the 206 would be big enough but if it was heavily stocked go for the 306 as you can get either 1kg of biohome ultimate in 206 or 2kg ultimate in 306. Allowing for loss of water volume in decor and substrate that would give you either 1kg per 100 litres or 2kg per 100 litres. Glad you enjoy the videos - thanks for watching.
You took the carbon out but didn't put any back in? I'm very new to this and have seen resin infused ammonia remover filter media and nitrite filter would I put these in the bottom like you did the 3 sponges? Or would I just be wasting my money?
Richard with the change of foams you suggested, one being finer than the other. Do you not think you would just route more water down the coarse sponge as the water takes the path of least resistance? Or is the difference so minor it would have no effect in terms of resistance? Thanks for this update, been keeping an eye out for this 👍
It would possibly take the easier route but if the finer pad was on the side facing out to the side of the filter that would probably be in the heaviest water flow so would catch more muck than if it was on the inside. I think I may have had it the wrong way but it was past midnight by the time I was filming that part, lol
I have a question what if you have a freshwater tank that has three times the volume of coarse Rock and it and the size of the tank would that be significant enough surface area 2 healthy anaerobic bacteria grow to completely cycle the tank
just recived my order of foams thanks pondguru and all at filterpro. I Will be using them in next filter clean. Where did you get that guilotine cutter for your foams from as cutting with just a pair of scissors is a nightmare.
It seems like your video did pop up when i googled the Fluval 106-206. Thanks for the information, absolutely great content! I wonder what's your opinion on my dilemma. I've a 50L tank, lightly stocked, but prefer having a bit of extra power so I'm leaning towards the 206. My fish won't thrive with a strong water flow (750+ really is too much). Is there any way to set the 206 to 500-600 L/h? Should I maybe get the 106 instead or do you have other suggestion? Thanks in advance! Greetings from Holland.
What's your best way of handling ammonia problem in tanks ? I don't have nitrites or nitrate. Doing water change every other day or so. Ty. Great pimps, I learned a lot from you.
It is very unusual (unless it is a new tank) to have only ammonia unless the cycle has never got going in the filter. If you give me some idea of tank volume and filter size / set up, any chemical treatments you use etc. I could shine some light on the situation.
@@pondguru , 20 gallon tank, four dwarf gourami and one Cory catfish,albino... Been running since May, had an issue with ick, twice, used Tetra lifegaurd all in one... Now useing stress coat plus, used stress coat zyme plus for a month, just added bio Ring's to filter again with zeolite and activated carbon. Bio Ring's have been in for a couple weeks now, I removed because I didn't know if it was working. I have a aqueon quiet Flo 20, ...I had to set up or as you say pimp mine up. It's made so it goes through bio Ring's, zeolite then carbon, then course ammonia Spong, then fine cartridge with charcoal. It's such a small filter, but it's working great with quality of water, crystal clear, pH is spot-on, no nitrites or nitrate but just a rise in ammonia every few days or even sooner...did water change today, 8 gallons, added new zeolite and carbon...will check level of ammonia in two hours. Ty for the help.
New zeolite may make a difference as it only has a limited useful life. Sounds like the filter is quite limited due to the design of HOB filters and would be way too small for the tank if it was normally stocked but you have a light stock so it should be OK.
@@pondguru I've been waiting for this to fix itself, maybe I need more time with bio Ring's, I added new zeolite too....fish are fine and swimming around even albino Cory catfish.....yes filter is limited and small, I threw out two plastic pieces that took up room., And could only hold a small piece of filter Spong....I want to add one more female and one male gourami to this tank but need to figure this out so not to stress any of them out. Thanks for the help, your awesome. Maybe a pimp on my filter?? I'd love to see ..!!!
I have done a couple of HOB filter videos now but I'm not sure how many have been edited and uploaded. I've currently got another 4 videos in the series uploaded and scheduled for going live every 4 or 5 days from Wednesday. Hopefully I can get through the backlog of editing to continue the releases for the next few months as there are still 20+ to edit. Sounds like you may need a bigger filter for the tank but see how it goes with new zeolite.
![Fluval 306 [Priming Fix/Teardown]](/img/n.gif)
Fluval 206 Filter: geni.us/qQsF90
Foams and Biohome Ultimate: www.filterpro.co.uk
(FilterPro site has links to suppliers in other countries)
The Fluval 206 is a good canister filter which is well designed, has excellent mechanical filtration and decent provision for biological filtration.
However, since it 'only' holds around 1kg of biohome ultimate it is really suited to normally stocked tanks of up to 100 litres (26 US gallons) or heavily stocked tanks of up to 50 litres (13 US gallons) if you want to achieve a full cycle.
A full cycle is completed by bacteria - the aerobic part of biological filtration which processes ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate followed by an anaerobic part which processes nitrate into soluble nitrogen which bubbles off to the atmosphere.
Therefore it requires a suitable amount of excellent quality filter media to be able to provide the environment for both aerobic AND anaerobic bacteria - that is what Biohome ultimate does perfectly but even with such good media there are limitations and we recommend the following amounts for different stocking scenarios:
(1 US Gallon = 3.8 litres)
(1kg = 2.2 lbs)
Average community tropical aquarium = 1kg per 100 litres
Average coldwater aquarium = 1kg - 1.5kg per 100 litres
Predator aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres
Large cichlid aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres
Malawi / Tanganyikan aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres
Marine aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres
Average mixed fish pond = 1kg per 200 litres
Average koi pond = 1kg per 150 litres
You may be disagreeing with the above figures but remember that they are for a FULL CYCLE not half a job - achieving 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite is quite easy since aerobic bacteria grows freely on any surface but the anaerobic bacteria responsible for COMPLETING the cycle needs more a specialized habitat.
Size a filter properly, set it up sensibly and you will have perfect water - it's that simple....and your filter won't be the dreaded 'Nitrate factory'.....you'll spend less money on treatments too......basically the filter is the foundation of a successful aquarium.
This series of videos is all about trying to squeeze more efficiency out of internal and external aquarium filters which generally have a limited filtering capacity - If you have a filter you'd like me to feature in a video then please contact me on:
sales@filterpro.co.uk
07772848730 (Richard)
Anyone who sends a filter (UK only at present) will have it upgraded and returned to them for free and the only cost you will pay is how much it costs to ship it to me - I'm helping to boost your filter and the resulting videos will hopefully be useful to viewers all over the world so it's a win/win.
The following videos will be useful to anyone interested in learning more about filtration, bacteria and making the conditions for your fish as good as possible:
Sizing a canister properly and filter set up: goo.gl/om19un
Looking INSIDE different filter media: goo.gl/hZWS6c
Bacteria and filter media: goo.gl/123gAF
How to clean an aquarium: goo.gl/bPMhvh
Aquarium tips / filtration playlist: goo.gl/pXgqVj
Check out my channel for hundreds of videos on a wide range of my hobbies - many of the videos have educational content so if you have enjoyed any give them the thumbs up and share.
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We all are on a long path of learning.........
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See you next time.
Pondguru
Apologies if I look a bit tired in this video - it was just before midnight when I started filming this and I was falling asleep by the end of it, lol
Can packing in the biohome media (maxing out each tray) cause too much water resistance?
Not really unless there was a very tall tray of biogravel - that one packs in quite tightly but is fine in normal depth trays. The biohome ultimate I used here won't affect water flow since water can flow freely around each piece no problem.
Ahh I see. Thanks for the reply.
The description says that 100 litres = 38 US gallons. It's actually 26 gallons, as you correctly said in the video. And likewise 50 litres is about 13 gallons, not 19.........
I think Fluval has been watching this. Have you seen the new ones?
I came across your channel by mistake and it was a mistake that I am glad to have happened. My name is Doug and I’m on the other side of the pond. I consider myself an intelligent person and when I listened to what you said about the “ full nitrogen cycle” it seemed like all the other people who talked about doing water changes to get rid of nitrates were lacking something. I was in that camp. It also made me realize how my filter configuration was totally haphazard and you set me straight. Now I watch you pimp filters and pre guess how your going to do it before you do it.
You gave me clarity.
Thanks dude your the best.
Doug.
I had the pleasure of chatting to Richard this morning regarding this filter and introducing the biohome into it. What an absolute gent and legend. Got all the info I needed and now feel more confident of getting things sorted. One of the discussions below referred to a pre filter and during our conversation Richard mentioned using a pre filter as a post filter and just filling with media. Awesome idea and ideal for what I need. Thanks again for all your help. Rick
Dear Rick,
That is no problem and it's always best when people ring as I can answer loads of questions in a short time. Best of luck with the filter and tank.
Regards,
Richard
I did your set up using your recommended materials on a 406, 3 years ago and my fish are largely still alive and healthy. Thank you!
I use this on a 20 Gallon Long planted tank. I did something like you got here but used the normal Fluval foam. 1st tray I got the black Fluval bio foam with a polishing pad ontop. 2nd tray I have Fluval pre-filter media and the 3rd has Fluval Bio-Rings. I only went with fluval because its what is available in my area and was the cheapest option as well. With a few minor tweaks this filter is a tank. My inlet and outlet was changed to Lili pipes. To those who are wondering. If you want to change your tubing on the 206 you want 16/22 Hose. You can buy generic clear tubing at your hardware store or buy the green tubing from Ehiem.
The new 07 series come with the dimpled foams. They obliviously saw your videos.
i saw this today but the store did not have the 407 replacement foams - was going to upgrade my 406 with them / =
then I saw this video and found on ebay some foams like the ones used www.ebay.com/itm/222172908657 - now i play the waiting game ...
I have the 407 and that's exactly what I thought! Now fuval pimps thier own filters.
There supposed to hold and be better for holding bio bacteria aswell.
The 206 is almost exactly same set up internally as far as baskets and foam placements as the older previous versions being the 204, 205. As are the 304, 305, and 404, 405, with the only difference being size of cannisters, pump and amount of trays. And like you said with the fluval aim higher then you think you need filtration wise and especially more then fluval recommends. Thanks for all the info and help my friend.
Yes always go double what the manufacturer recommends or halve the 'up to' figure - it will both be the same result which is properly sized filter for the tank.
I had no idea you pimp these filters FOC, its great to see kind people like you and you've definitely helped me pimp my filter at home with using better products rather than going down the replacement cartridges route. Thanks :)
(my other channel) No worries and I'm glad you find the videos useful as I put them out to help.
You see where the clips go on, those two pieces each side that stick out there's a little hole at the inside top of them that have a tendency to leak, mine went spectacularly, had about half my tank on the floor when i got home from work, and it continued to leak from there until I could afford another filter, ocean free hydra 1000 (tried fixing it but to no avail and my dad now has the same problem with his 306 and there's plenty of vids with other leaks on YT), just to balance things out, they are a good filter and they are cheep, easy to maintain and the flow is great.
Thanks for this video. Just prove that I set up mine 206 exactly the same as you. And I have it set up on fluval 125 tank and I now have hardy any nitrate and nitrates. I have your bio home ultime 1kg. Well done
Awesome stuff - great to hear and I'm glad you enjoy the videos.
This was the video I was waiting for. Many thanks Richard.
No worries, glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching.
Done this to my 406 about 6 months ago but i added a all pond solution 2l pre-filter for loads of mechanical Filtration before hitting the biohome... great series of videos 😎
Great stuff - I'm glad you enjoy the videos as I love making them (when I can...)
I done this exact same set up for my fluval 306 filters and it seem to be working really well is a very good set up .
What did you replace the carbon with
Thanks Richard,
I did my 406 this way
1st tray medium/ fine filter.
3 trays of filter media regular sizes.
Side tray has stock coarse filter.
Sounds good to me - groovy.
Great pimpin! I used this filter on my old tank and I think its great BUT its kinda a pain in the butt to get all the trapped air out of it after every maintenance.. U pretty much have to shake it around, let it sit, shake it around, let it sit, tilt it back and forth etc etc.. can take hours before u get every little bit of air out :/ Usually just a little bit of shaking is enugh to make it go silent (no air around the impeller part) but to get all trapped air out u need to work a bit. other then that its a really great filter, very silent once all air is out, I had it in my bedroom no problems
Unfortunately you get that problem with many canister filters but when it's out they do run very quietly.
make sure output is not in the water so when filter fill with water all the air comes out of the filter.
I also find turning the pump off for a second lets everything settle and then purges the air out when you fire it up again
I have found that the rubber gasket that goes on the head of the filter ia useless after you open the filter for maintenance once or twice. It results in leaking. Instead of buying a replacement from fluval I went to a gasket shop and got a slightly thicker gasket which doesn't leak and gives a better seal.
with mine i had a coarse prefilter sponge on the intake (i have cherry shrimp) so i then used the cartridge to hold medium and fine foams which freed up an extra tray for bio media.
I must say these videos are more useful then any reviews out there (and even advice from some of the "pet store" professionals. Think most of em think the cycle ends with nitrate building up in your tank wich can only be fixed with water changes and having a jungle of fast growing plants. But anyway this video made the choice for this filter somewhat easier for my new (just 70 liter tank) setup.
Thanks and I'm glad you find the videos useful as I am using this series to build up a great resource on filters which I'm adding to my website - that page is not live yet but should be in the next few weeks. There's about 20+ more videos shot which I need to edit but time is my enemy lately.
I hear you about some of the 'review' and 'filter set-up' videos out there as they usually are nothing more than an unboxing or simple set up exactly how the manufacturer sends out the filter which shows no independent thought and shares nothing useful. Try and find a video about the nitrogen cycle or information via a google search and you'll just see the same thing repeated over and over again from novice to 'professional' fish keepers which is really lazy, sad and misleading.
UA-cam should be all about sharing information but over the last few years it just seems to have devolved into a 'look at me' / fake drama / money making scheme for so many channels that I love my position here as the outsider sharing information freely and actually helping people to make the lives of their fish longer and happier - it feels like a revolutionary act, lol
I have a 306 and I'm thinking about posting a video about it because there's not that much out there and I had to learn everything myself
The foam is available in the United States but what people don't know is they go to the wrong place to buy it. It's not at the fish store but it is at any craft store and most major box store that have a sewing section. Asian Fish stores also carry them sometimes but I have mostly seen only flat pads.
But are they pure, or have the been treated with flame retardants.
@@jimmccorison to be honest I just got some off Amazon that is for aquariums for pretty cheap and I bought Bio home altimate on amazon too
I did pimp my chit!!
Thank you for this series. It helped me correctly set up - or "pimp" - my Aqua One Aquis 700 I picked up with a cheap tank package deal. Stuffed it full of sponge, Poly Filter and Marine Pure with bits of Matrix to fill in the gaps. Many thanks :)
your filter pimping is easy to understand and straight to the point not pulling one brand of filter doon just the best way to improve on what filters ppl have and especially ppl on a budget not everyone has the pennys to buy a big expensive filters.. thanks. carry on pimping
No worries and I'm glad you enjoy the videos - I'm not affiliated with any filter manufacturers so I have no dog in the race as far as promoting anything goes. Although I use the biohome for the reason of trying to achieve a full cycle viewers are free to use whatever media they want - if they take nothing else away from the videos at least they will understand the way water flows through their filter and then if they want to implement changes they know the sensible way to do it and why.
I get companies wanting to affiliate with me for the purposes of promoting their stuff all the time but I turn them down as I don't want that to influence what I think about them and I believe it is very important to stay open to new products and methods of filtration as there is never a 'one size fits all' solution.
Brilliant demo, only problem is, no mention of how silent or noisy this filter is. Most people I am sure like myself, will have the tank either in the room with them (bedsit) or pretty close by. So not matter how fancy all the bells and whistles are, this pump would be useless to me if it made an unacceptable noise and destroyed the ambience of my apartment.
Just purchased this filter & your 1kg filter upgrade kit after watching your video 👍🏻
Groovy - thanks for the order and I' glad you found the video useful.
I was just about to ask for a Fluval 306 ride... and there you are! Thank you.
I had nothing but trouble with my 206. I ended up getting an eheim. Every time i did a maintenance it would leak. I was forever buying o rings. I felt the lid didnt shit tight enough.
outstanding product i have a fluval 306 and is set up same as shown outstanding results many thanks pondguru
Yes they are really good filters - well made too as all Fluvals seem to be.
Pimped my fluval 306 and JBL e901 on my 180 litre tank the same as your clips so should be great now. Thanks for the tips
No worries and I'm glad you found the videos useful - thanks for watching.
Brilliant video. Thank you. I use the 306 and was excited to watch from start to finish. 😉
I'm glad you found the video useful - thanks for watching.
Love your videos. I has highly influenced my aquarium setup. Thank you so much for the clear information.
Great video, very helpful information. Just ordered Foams and Biohome Ultimate media. Great upgrade to my African Cichilds 40 gallon tank and Fluval 206...Thank You
Always a smart move to have a spare aqua stop valve for the fluval 206.
I repeated mine with some PTFE tape , easy to disassemble
Another great, well explain video. Started following your channel because Im looking to be building a koi pond in garden and find it very informative. This video is very helpful has my tank has a 306 filter. I currently have a set up of fluval sponges in side rack, black fluval sponge and fine sponge pad in bottom tray, fluval ceramic tubes fill the middle tray and bio max topped with carbon bags (didn't know they were only good for 8 weeks and I've been keeping fish for 20+ years lol, so will be taking that out shortly). Im now going to be changing over to the biohome ultimate.
Sounds good to me and I'm glad you found the video useful.
good day to you rich !! another awesome pimp my filter video !!
No worries man, glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching.
I replaced the smooth foam which came with my fluval 107 with "bumpy" medium and course foam and it works well on an 80L tank.
Thank you so much for doing this filter I buy all your sponge Media and your biohome ultimate off eBay .no matter what I did with this filter every week I opened it up it would be rotten could never work the best solution out thank you for the demonstration. a big fan of your channel for a very long time thank you for your helping from Liverpool
No worries and I'm glad you find the videos helpful - I just make them to share any useful information.
The bottom tray I cut that black foam in half and filled it up with ehiem round small ceramic media then the top tray I use a medium pad and fill more media
I had two 206’s setup almost exactly like this on a 100 ltr aquarium. I found packing to much media in caused a, I won’t say leak, but a seep of water. So much so I had to place both 206’s in trays. Eventually after days the seep would stop but I always hesitated to clean them again as I knew the problem would reoccur regardless of replacing the O ring’s. That’s why when I updated my aquarium to a 250 ltr I went with the FX6.
That's a strange one as it would take a real increase in pressure to force water out of the filter.
Make sure you click the side clamps twice! They click and then click a second time to fully lock.
Great Video.Thanks for doing the 06 Fluvals.I have 5 of these cannisters running and think they are a great filter.The black foam in the bottom tray is Fluval Bio Foam.I run that and then the rest of the trays have Fluval Bio Max and Lava rock.I would like to get BioHome media in them also.I really like Your idea of cutting pond foam to put in the filter tray.
As far as great filters I'm not so sure I also have 6 fluval cannisters and they do certainly have their positive and def each has their negative and flaws but I agree thanks for the video on them
YESSSSS I’ve been awaiting this.. I’ve added the 1 kg bio gravel I bought from you and had room for more bio home mini ...but I’ve not changed the bottom foam, the fluval foam isn’t half bad. The white foam sheets from you are far better then fluvals to be honest.
In the red section that’s where I crammed in my u3 sponges... but I like your idea..
The beige foams area really course... I think the blue and black will def catch more muck.. I’ve only had my foams for 6 months and they are looking a bit thin.. def won’t be buying fluval replacements
I’ve also out sponges on the intake and output... really keeps the sponges clean
Yes having an extra sponge on the intake can make a real difference.
I did another video a few days after filming this one on the 306 and I left the black foam in the bottom tray and just put the fine pad on top of it - either way is good.
Thank you very much for taking the time and effort into making your videos. I really appreciate your insight, and look to these videos while researching filters for my future tank. Keep up the great work!
P.S. Definitely stocking biohome ultimate and a 3 tier foam system regardless of the filter I end up with. Thanks for the tip!
No worries and thanks in advance for deciding to use the biohome in your filter.
Richard, I highly suspect those foam filters are probably not as ubiquitous in the U.S. market due to fish keepers' overwhelming preferences towards cheap Polyfil pillow stuffing from Walmart and/or the big rolls of bonded (pink or blue) mech filters. Personally, I'm currently using Sera filter wool, however, after watching all of your Pimp uploads, I'm now more interested in your types of high surface sponges. I've seen them for sale on amazon & eBay, although GreatWaveEngineering has the flatter design.
Yes the bumpy sort are available on amazon.com but seem to vary wildly in quality. Don at Greatwave uses the Poret foams as far as I know so they will be very good quality. It's fine to use flat foams but I prefer teh bumpy ones due to initial contact area being greater and when multiple foams are being used it creates useful voids between them which holds lots of muck.
Paused at 4.50. my guess is (and what I'd do) put the fine filter pad on top of the black sponge and replace the carbon with good bio media. Before I watch the rest I can't really think of what else you can do really.
Hi, I really enjoy how thorough your videos are ! But I noticed you haven’t mention if you are allowing for just fresh water or salt water in your videos. Just out of interest, I have a fluval 306 for my marine tank and thanks to your previous videos I now have the 3 layers of foam in the bottom tray in one half and fine floss wrapped around Rowaphos in the other half, then in the middle tray I have bio pearls in both halves and top tray active carbon in both halves, my phosphate is now at zero as is my nitrates are also at zero, but I have switched to natural sea water, which is so much better than a chemical sea water mix. I look forward to your next video with interest.👍
Fresh or saltwater is the same as far as canister set up goes but if you want to go mechanical straight into chemical and control levels that way it's fine. We do a 'marine' version of the biohome ultimate but any of the media will work no problem. The only difference between the 'freshwater' and 'marine' version is that the added trace elements are different and tailored for fresh or marine bacteria for maximum efficiency. I have a sump which I will film 2 video on - one for fresh water and one for salt water but I'm waiting for more equipment to arrive for that.
The foams that you're using I believe they sell them here in the US at UPS Store the shipping store AKA The Brown delivery hope that helps cuz they do packaging for people in I've seen them use it in their shipping stuff
As long as they have not been treated with flame retardant chemicals (as many packaging / furniture foam has been) it should be fine to use that but considering the low cost of pond / aquarium foam I'd personally say play safe.
love his voice
Good video Richard...
Since you added coarse and medium outside, the bottom tray could contain one fine foam only with rest of it filled with bio media.
Was thinking the same for my new 407 then id have pretty much 4 trays full of bio media. Have you tried it ?
Another well presented informative blog . ☺ great job Richard
No worries, man - glad you enjoyed it.
I feel like these videos are why the 07 series uses reticulated foam in the pre filter cartridge
To be fair I did speak to a couple of the higher-ups in Fluval on a conference call when I was designing a modular internal filter a few years ago and bumpy foams were discussed at length. It makes sense for them to use bumpy foams.
Brilliant videos copied all your filter pimps aqua one 1250 x2 fluval 406 x2 fx6 x1 my aquarium has never looked so clear and I’ve got big cichlids oscars etc I did use seachem products but the way you set them up really helped me out never even realised there was a gap at bottom of aqua one brilliant videos thanks bud
Amazon.com has set of three here in the USA. That’s where I bought mine.
Fantastic Presentation!
I recently received a Fluval 406. It came with the top 2 trays filled with carbon. I'm replacing at least one of them with Biohome ultimate. Seems like overkill on the carbon. Not sure what Fluval was thinking.
Another good pimp my filter video Richard. All the best Aengus
I'm glad you find the videos useful - thanks for watching.
but...…….. if your having a medium foam in the slop side then there's no point in putting a coarse foam in the bottom tray section is there? apart from that, great video
The course foam provides more surface area for biological filtration bacteria, without impeding he flow of the water coming from the slop side. The purpose of the course foam is not for debris (particulate) removal.
Hello pondguru....I really like your video , I learn a lot from you video.
But there are still one thing i can't understand About the mechanical filter
Why use 3 different sponge ,why not just use 3 white fine sponge..?
OK, I'm a bit confused (actually quite a bit confused). The water entering this filter first goes through the foam filter pads, either through the two front pads or the two rear pads before they both emerge at the bottom of the canister.
That being the case what is the point in using two different grades of foam? You have a coarse pad on one side and a medium pad on the other and this is the first stage taking water straight from the tank. Unless I'm missing something it seems to me that the medium pad will just block well before the coarse side and all the water will then flow through the coarse foam rendering the medium foam redundant.
The water now has to pass up through the three media trays and you have put a coarse foam pad in the bottom of the lowest tray with medium and fine pads on top. The water has already passed through either a coarse of medium foam so what is achieved by then passing it through a second coarse foam, it's hard to see what this coarse pad will achieve since half of the water has already been through a medium pad.
Would it not make more sense to have all four of the initial foam pads made from coarse foam and then fill the lower of the media chambers with medium and then fine foam on top of that?
Just purchased 10kgs of biohome ultimate...you're costing me a fortune mate!!! lol
Thanks for the order - yes it does cost a fair old bit to set filters up properly but that is the foundation of a good tank system so is well worth the expense.
Nice job on the media but what you think if instead of the foam sleeves and holder, a sheet of plexiglass 3" shorter in length and the same width as the foam cartridge holder, glued with silicone against the divider sleeves inside the filter, then fill that side with foam filter, to give a more type of full filtration area before the water goes into the media section of the canister, I want to know your advise on this before I start on this project!
Love this series 👍
I'm glad you find the videos useful - thanks for watching.
Awesome series. So informative
I'm glad you find the videos useful - thanks for watching.
Thanks for pimping the fluval
I'm glad you find the videos useful - thanks for watching.
Casually trying to get a new filter for my 65l tank, using a Fluval U2 and it's just meh and takes up too much room. Now getting my head around canisters
Well I had mine setup like this already because I have been following you with other filter so mine have been running like this for 3 months
Sounds good to me - thanks for watching.
I got all information I need from this video..thank you very much
Love this series of videos, some great tips about improving filters :)
No worries and I'm glad you find the videos helpful - I just make them to share any useful information.
Hey, Pondguru I love your videos and especially the pimp my filter series. I am waiting very impatiently lol for the giant pond filter update and I am wondering if there is anyway that you can do the pimp my filter to the Zoo Med macro 75 please :)
Sure no problem as I haven't featured one like that in the series yet - just send me an email to sales@filterpro.co.uk as I miss so many comments on UA-cam, luckily this one came through as a notification but 80% don't.
Awesome video. I have been looking forward for this.
I'm glad you find the videos useful - thanks for watching.
Just bought one...now to pimp it out!!
They are a great filter when upgraded with good media for sure.
Good video. Now, when are you going fly fishing again?
If I get the time I will go fishing no worries but work has been crazy this year so it is very difficult finding tome to get out. I'm working on a huge filter for my pond so that is taking up any spare time at present.
Tnx for the reply b4 I was just wondering if u thought it would be a bad idea to skip the filter pads in the bottom tray of my 106 and have biomax instead as my tanks about 120ltr slightly planted full of Molly's I was hoping to get a full cycle that's all tnx Jon
Oh and it was really informative to know exactly how it works when she's running keep up the awesome work🤘✌
If you went with a couple of the medium density pads down the side you could potentially do away with the pads in bottom tray and fill it with media - sounds like the filter is way too small for the tank presently.
Pondguru Yea I had it on a smaller tank it's just funds won't really allow for a new one yet but I will be investing in something bigger in the future tnx for all your help
Great video, cheaper to cut your own foam than buying the original foams.
Yes it's always cheaper to buy foams in big sheets and cut them down to the correct size.
You took a stock 206 and PIMPED it out!!! Subbed!!
what is this full cycle you speak of, I had one 406 on a 55 gallon tank, so I watched your videos and got a 2nd 406 both filled with biohome altimate. no reduction of nitrates at all, so I found a used 306, very cheap so I bought it and filled it with biohome ultimate. hooked it up to my tank, and did a water change. waited 1 week and with all three filters on my 55, my nitrates were just the same . So I waited 3 monthes to let the good bacteria build up in the new media and my nitrates were the same. I now have 3 filters on a 55 with almost 19 pounds of biohome media and my nitrates are the same.
Are you using any chemical media or treatments which claim to reduce / detoxify / bind ammonia, nitrite or nitrate?
If so then they may be having a real starving effect on the bacteria 'food' and be actively retarding the bacteria development / preventing a full cycle. Commonly reported problem treatments would be purigen, safe, prime, chemipure and many of the 'instant start' chemicals.
Also, it would help to have an idea of the stock you have in the tank and how long the media has been in although 19 lb (8.63 kg) should be way more than you should ever need to achieve a full cycle (time permitting) for that volume of water and a heavy stock. As each tray of the 306 / 406 holds just under 1kg I'm not sure how you got that much into the filters so an idea of how they are set up would definitely help as I'd expect to get under 8kg in 2 x 406 and 1 x 306. Even 4kg-5kg would be enough for a heavily stocked tank of 55 gallons (US?) / under 200 litres.
It is not possible to send pictures via youtube and your channel has no videos so feel free to send any relevant pictures to sales@filterpro.co.uk
Regards,
Richard
Hi Pond Guru, I have just bought the Fluval 406 and I am trying to get ideas from your videos. What would you put in that extra 4th tray you get with the 406 filter. Would you have 1 tray of foams and 3 of filter media or 2 foam, 2 filter media for the most efficient filtration? Love your videos and your videos are part the reason I got the bigger 406 for my 180l amazon puffer tank.
Ben Scolari usually pond guru recommends running bio mendia in the extra tray to house more beneficial bacteria. I'm currently running a 306 on a 55g with coarse foams in the red vertical tray (obviously). Out of the box, the bottom tray comes with the black bio-foam and has a bit of extra room. Simply take a spare coarse foam that normally goes in the red tray, cut it in half and drop it in and place the bio-foam on top. There should be enough room to fit both snugly without causing clearance issues for the trays above it. The second tray I have filter floss/polyester fill and bags of Fluval ammonia remover due to a recent spike, but normally have activated carbon. The top tray I have bio rings but plan on trying out lava rock in the near future. I've seen folks with the 406 run all foams in the bottom 2 trays for overstocked tanks that produce large amounts of waste. And you can use an intake foam that sleeves over the intake strainer to help pre-filter water before it reaches the actual canister. I have a red eared slider in my tank, so instead of a foam over the intake I disassembled the strainer and cut-to-fit a coarse foam and placed it inside the strainer to prevent my turtle from eating the foam. There's really no single right way of setting up these filters, they're customizable to fit the needs of different tank setups. Just have patience and see what works for you. Hope this helps.
Edit: not sure if this is your first canister filter, but just a friendly reminder to use food-grade silicone lubricant on the o-ring/gasket before reassembling to prevent any leaks. I learned the hard way.
@@JoseJimenez-fk9wh cheers for the reply, I decided to go with: in the bottom tray the foams the 406 comes with, the next tray up with lava rock, the next after lava rock with the ceramic media that comes with the filter and lastly in the final top tray I have EHEIM Substrat pro. See how it goes, might put the substrate floss after the bottom trays medium foam. I am also planning on a foam over the intake
Pondy another great video
I have a 306 and this makes me want to pimp my filter I'll certainly be changing up how it's layered thanks :)
Sounds good and best of luck with the upgrade.
@@pondguru thank you, and thanks for the video...
Could you just have medium pad and fine pad in bottom and put a mesh bag of media on top of that just to get more media in it since the pro will get has course and medium foam
I set up both my 306 filters that I have on my fluval Roma 240 with filter pro media and foams. They have been working great and were an improvement over the stock setup.
I have also set up my ADA filter, the super jet 300 on my ADA 0 P60 tank with your biohome ultimate filter media but have stuck with the standard small carbon cubes. I would be interested to see what you would do to set one up.
That is one I am not familiar with so if you want to send it up just send an email as I often don' t see comments on youtube for weeks unless I go looking for them.
is the bio media that comes with the fluval any good? If not what do you recommend? I'm liking your channel and you explain everything so well~!
Great pimp my filter, was thinking of getting one, now i know i would need bigger than i was looking at
No worries, glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching.
Fluval obviously watched this video!! 👌🏽
very good video, i have just inherited a 206 and it doesn't have the top media tray and the white cover between the tray and the pump, is this something that is available from somewhere. I am in Canada.
Thank you !.
Regarding foam. I'm from Denmark and I'm having big trouble finding that type of foam anywhere. Are there any alternatives I can use, say like from a hardware store. Or is it a specific type of foam made specifically for aquariums?
Spent the video trying to pin the accent turns out your 30miles away :)
I have a 30 gallon tank...using your method would the 206 be good enough or should I go for the 306 or 406? Your videos are absolutely fantastic!
If that is 30 US gallons it is around 114 litres so if the tank was lightly stocked to normally stocked I'd say the 206 would be big enough but if it was heavily stocked go for the 306 as you can get either 1kg of biohome ultimate in 206 or 2kg ultimate in 306. Allowing for loss of water volume in decor and substrate that would give you either 1kg per 100 litres or 2kg per 100 litres.
Glad you enjoy the videos - thanks for watching.
You took the carbon out but didn't put any back in? I'm very new to this and have seen resin infused ammonia remover filter media and nitrite filter would I put these in the bottom like you did the 3 sponges? Or would I just be wasting my money?
Richard with the change of foams you suggested, one being finer than the other. Do you not think you would just route more water down the coarse sponge as the water takes the path of least resistance? Or is the difference so minor it would have no effect in terms of resistance? Thanks for this update, been keeping an eye out for this 👍
It would possibly take the easier route but if the finer pad was on the side facing out to the side of the filter that would probably be in the heaviest water flow so would catch more muck than if it was on the inside. I think I may have had it the wrong way but it was past midnight by the time I was filming that part, lol
Oh gr8 been waiting for this one 😀
I have a question what if you have a freshwater tank that has three times the volume of coarse Rock and it and the size of the tank would that be significant enough surface area 2 healthy anaerobic bacteria grow to completely cycle the tank
just recived my order of foams thanks pondguru and all at filterpro.
I Will be using them in next filter clean.
Where did you get that guilotine cutter for your foams from as cutting with just a pair of scissors is a nightmare.
I think I bought it from ebay and it wasn't very expensive - I'm glad everything arrived in good order.
It seems like your video did pop up when i googled the Fluval 106-206. Thanks for the information, absolutely great content!
I wonder what's your opinion on my dilemma. I've a 50L tank, lightly stocked, but prefer having a bit of extra power so I'm leaning towards the 206.
My fish won't thrive with a strong water flow (750+ really is too much). Is there any way to set the 206 to 500-600 L/h? Should I maybe get the 106 instead or do you have other suggestion?
Thanks in advance!
Greetings from Holland.
Thank you for your tips.
My fluval 206 foam slot does not slide in as easy as yours does lol
Maidenhead aquatics are selling the 206 with a 190l corner tank.
How do they get away with this?
Can you use purigen with biohome ultimate? Or is that a waste? Thanks...great channel btw
What's your best way of handling ammonia problem in tanks ? I don't have nitrites or nitrate. Doing water change every other day or so. Ty. Great pimps, I learned a lot from you.
It is very unusual (unless it is a new tank) to have only ammonia unless the cycle has never got going in the filter.
If you give me some idea of tank volume and filter size / set up, any chemical treatments you use etc. I could shine some light on the situation.
@@pondguru , 20 gallon tank, four dwarf gourami and one Cory catfish,albino... Been running since May, had an issue with ick, twice, used Tetra lifegaurd all in one... Now useing stress coat plus, used stress coat zyme plus for a month, just added bio Ring's to filter again with zeolite and activated carbon. Bio Ring's have been in for a couple weeks now, I removed because I didn't know if it was working. I have a aqueon quiet Flo 20, ...I had to set up or as you say pimp mine up. It's made so it goes through bio Ring's, zeolite then carbon, then course ammonia Spong, then fine cartridge with charcoal. It's such a small filter, but it's working great with quality of water, crystal clear, pH is spot-on, no nitrites or nitrate but just a rise in ammonia every few days or even sooner...did water change today, 8 gallons, added new zeolite and carbon...will check level of ammonia in two hours. Ty for the help.
New zeolite may make a difference as it only has a limited useful life. Sounds like the filter is quite limited due to the design of HOB filters and would be way too small for the tank if it was normally stocked but you have a light stock so it should be OK.
@@pondguru I've been waiting for this to fix itself, maybe I need more time with bio Ring's, I added new zeolite too....fish are fine and swimming around even albino Cory catfish.....yes filter is limited and small, I threw out two plastic pieces that took up room., And could only hold a small piece of filter Spong....I want to add one more female and one male gourami to this tank but need to figure this out so not to stress any of them out. Thanks for the help, your awesome. Maybe a pimp on my filter?? I'd love to see ..!!!
I have done a couple of HOB filter videos now but I'm not sure how many have been edited and uploaded. I've currently got another 4 videos in the series uploaded and scheduled for going live every 4 or 5 days from Wednesday. Hopefully I can get through the backlog of editing to continue the releases for the next few months as there are still 20+ to edit. Sounds like you may need a bigger filter for the tank but see how it goes with new zeolite.