otto fluidised bed filter

[yiannakos]

hello
iam using an otto fluidised bed filter and even if i run it to a lower level
than it sould work,it is spiting sand in the aquarium
iam using it for about 2 months now and i think that half of the sand of the filter is in my aquarium.
how can i prevent this?
is this harmful?
thanks a lot!

 

[wrightme43]

Are you getting air into it somehow?

 

[afishyonados]

The fluidized bed filters are more for freshwater applications. They do not function as well in lower oxygen contents, (like saltwater). If you have an adequate supply of live rock/sand, it may only be counter productive, (by breaking down nutrients into something only cyano bacterium or micro algae can use).Find a fershwater tank that can benefit from it's use.

 

[clayswim]

As afishyonados said, fluidized bed filters are not ideal for saltwater aquariums. They receive their oxygen directly from the tank water, and due to the massive concentration of bacteria inside the filter they consume every bit of O2 in the water that's pumped through them. The water coming out of the filters is almost completely void of oxygen. Since SW doesn't have much oxygen to begin with, the efficiency of these filters is reduced.

As for the problem of spitting sand though, it's a fairly common thing with these filters when you first set them up. Usually it happens when you hook up a pump that's too powerful (they require very little flow), which causes the sand to be blown out of the filter. The less sand there is the less flow is required to do this. So it's quite possible that even though you've turned the flow down from what it was originally, since half the sand is gone there's still too much flow.

Clayton

 

[yiannakos]

so you guys suggest to take it of and use it in one of my freshwater tanks?
i have almost finished cycling the tank with live sand and 3 damsels
wont that efect the concentration of bacteria in my tank ?(if i remove it)

 

[Scooterman]

Yank It, use a good skimmer & live rock along with water changes & you'll be fine, make sure you have plenty LR & skimmer for heavier bio-loads. Let your tank cycle longer & test Nitrates, nitrites & ammonia, get them down to 0,0,0 before trying to keep anything else.