Wasserpests modified Mattenfilter

[Wasserpest]

If you are undecided... I'd go for the Mattenfilter if your tank is understocked, so you can basically leave the pad in place and let bacteria do their job. If you have to remove and clean it regularly I would suggest you keep the sump, or do a HOB solution (=AquaClear) which is about as easy as it gets when it comes to cleaning.

[daFrimpster]

How about a HOB/mattenfilter combo. The mattenfilter would be round or half circle. The intake for the HOB would be inside the mattenfilter. The best of both worlds? I might give this a try one day.

[[RK]]

If the intake is inside the matten, then the matten pad will be full of all the fish poop, and the HOB will get minimal fish poop. So you'd end up cleaning the matten regularly anyway.

[Wasserpest]

Yep [RK] is right... Besides, advantages of the mattenfilter are safety (no water is being transferred out of the tank - less possibility for spills) and less things going over the tank rim, just the power cable. If you add the HOB all these good points are spoiled...

[daFrimpster]

Ahh. Good points indeed. I guess I got a little over excited

[BOTIA]

The thing is I only have to clean my sump every two months and that just entails using my python to back flush the foam and drain the sump. Can't get much easier than that.
Botia

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

If you are undecided... I'd go for the Mattenfilter if your tank is understocked, so you can basically leave the pad in place and let bacteria do their job. If you have to remove and clean it regularly I would suggest you keep the sump, or do a HOB solution (=AquaClear) which is about as easy as it gets when it comes to cleaning.

[Jane of Upton]

Wow, great idea, and great thread! The link to the site in German was very informative, too - the pictures ARE worth the proverbial thousand words!

Wow, I'm going to have to try something like this in my next setup. I've been starting to plan the re-working of my 30, and this looks like a really good option, as I'd like to get the tank closer to the wall where it is in the living room. I LIKE it!

So DO you remove the sponge for cleaning? Or do you just siphon/scrape against the sponge to reduce the buildup now and then? I'm wondering if a large-grid plastic mesh further out might be a good screen on which to hang moss and java fern and the like. Then, the sponge could be accessed more easily for cleaning. Because yeah, I had the same thought with that heavily planted sponge - what do you do to clean it up occasionally?

And I think I've seen some similar cable-containment track in a home improvement store.

So Wasserpest, did you use the 20 pore per inch, or the 30 pore per inch foam? I like the black coloring more than a blue or yellow foam (as one might get from a fabric/cushioning store, as I'd been pointed to lately).

Great thread!
-Jane

[Wasserpest]

Hi there Jane... life changes all the time, and the tank where I had the mattenfilter filtering has been replaced with the other tank that you just read about.

That said, I didn't clean the filter on a regular basis. I took it only out once or twice in two years to see if there was any buildup of stuff, but it wasn't like they were clogged or something. Keep in mind though that this might be different for a normally stocked or overstocked tank.

I used the 30 ppi sponges... but I guess you could use the 20 as well, more flow, less filtration of fine particles.

Knowing what I know now, I would use a different design. Instead of the filter sponge stuck into the corner, I would use a filter cube stuck to the inlet of the powerhead. Why? Bigger filtration capacity, easier to take off, no problems with "leaking" (water bypassing the mat somehow), no need for cable tracks and stuff.

Doing a plastic grid and planting in with mosses and ferns is still a good solution to hide the equipment, mattenfilter or not.