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Oase biomaster pre-filter best ppi for low maintenance

W

Wadders

New Member
Joined
4 Mar 2022
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2
Location
Devon
Hi All,

I've just got an Oase biomaster thermo 600. I'm trying to reduce the amount of times I need to open up the main filter compartment for cleaning. I don't mind cleaning the pre-filter once per week with water changes, so my thinking is going for a fine sponge (45ppi?)

Just wondering what others have found to be the best setup. I've read a review which complained about the pre-filter being too fine, which I see they have now changed, but would this be such a bad thing if it means you don't need to clean the major compartment out very often and can just give the pre-filter a clean with weekly water changes?

Anyway, i'd love to hear what other peoples maintenance routines are with the biomasters, and what they have found to be the easiest method.

Cheers,

Tom
 
Hi Tom,

Welcome to the forum! You will find a few Oase users here, but I'll give you my view.

If you do not have a large fish load, then you should find that cleaning the pre-filter once a week or so will mean you don't need to touch the main filter for 6-12 months. (I am on month 9 for one of my Oase 250's, and the internal unit sponges remain pretty clean as per last check). The pre-filter does a good job of 'protecting' the main trays and is a great feature of the Oase. In fact, you are better off not touching the main unit sponges and HELX-13 media for as long as possible (i.e. until the flow is significantly low) so you don't disturb the good critters that live there. Clean your pre-filter every one to two weeks and leave the rest alone.

I have messed around with 10PPI, 30PPI, 45PPI and 60PPI foams and, as expected, the higher the PPI the quicker it gets clogged. However, the new Oase should come with the new black pre-filter tube (the old one was clear and thin) which has larger holes and a lot more of them. This means that the time between cleaning gets longer - even with the 45PPI and 60PPI foams. It was a great design move from Oase to improve this area.

Overall, just stick with the media that comes with the Oase and clean your pre-filter once over 1 or 2 weeks (you will see the flow drop to alert you) and do as little touching of the internal unit as you can.

Brad
 
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