# JBL CristalProfi e1501 - filter media question



## Jake101 (15 Oct 2014)

Hi,

Any suggestions/experiences for how to modify the standard filter media in JBL e1501 to make it "better"? I am not sure what better means here, so lecturing about the basics of external filters is ok. In my case the aquarium is a shallow 210 litres tank, 100(l)x60(w)x35(h) in centimetres. It will be a stream biotope for corys.

You can see the filter media combination in this picture
http://www.zoomagazin.lv/616-730-thickbox/jbl-cristalprofi-e1501-greenline.jpg

The side pieces in the top basket are the pre-filter foam pads (10 ppi). Then the water flows down and starts rising through the white "biofilter" media. In both two middle baskets there are 2 layers of rather coarse (20 ppi) foam. In the top basket there is one 20 ppi foam pad and one 30 ppi foam pad. So basically after the "bio media" the water runs through 6 layers of foam pads.


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## ian_m (15 Oct 2014)

The older e1501 has ceramic media in as below, two trays of ceramic balls and one of rings. I have this but with the media trays half -2/3'rds full to as to not obstruct flow too much. I would have thought too much foam would block the flow.






I did play with mine before installing, in order to wash it through. I filled a 40l tub of water on kitchen worktop, filter on floor (so easier to prime) and pumped water through the filter back into sink and timed how long to empty the 40litres. Can't remember exact values but was as near the 1400litre/hour the filter is specified for and that was with the rather long hoses supplied uncut, which in the actual tank are considerably shorter.

Biggest issue I get is the coarse inlet filters need cleaning every two weeks (or even weekly) as they accumulate plant debris and also removing fish fry that regularly get sucked in who seem no worse for wear after their escapade.


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## Jake101 (15 Oct 2014)

Interesting change. I remember reading that someone said that someone said (meaning it means nothing, but is still an interesting thought) that JBL has packed the filter with foam to keep the selling price low enough. 

I could take pads away from the second lowest basket and add some unused ceramic tubes (from my closet) about half the basket.

Anyhow, if I have understood correctly the biological filtering is not that effective in external filter, so I might just concentrate on mechanical filtration and keeping flow rate high.


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## ceg4048 (15 Oct 2014)

Adding more ceramic is the worst thing you can do. Remove the ceramic that's there and replace it with foam.



Jake101 said:


> Anyhow, if I have understood correctly the biological filtering is not that effective in external filter,


No you've got it all wrong. The biological filtration will happen in the foam.

Cheers,


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## Jake101 (15 Oct 2014)

Thank you for the advice. I'll do that.


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## Pinkmummy79 (16 Oct 2014)

ceg4048 said:


> Adding more ceramic is the worst thing you can do. Remove the ceramic that's there and replace it with foam.
> 
> 
> No you've got it all wrong. The biological filtration will happen in the foam.
> ...


 
Same filter, are you saying just leave say the bottom basket with bio media and not add any additional in the other trays? or remove the rings totally and replace all with foam?

I currently have the bottom basked with broken up alphagrog and a lesser amount in the next 2 baskets as well, I'll remove the bio media from these addtional baskets then and add back my sponges if I understood correctly, just leaving the base basket with bio media only.

cheers Clive
Clive


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## ceg4048 (16 Oct 2014)

Hi Clive,
           You know, vendors like to market "bio-media" as if it were some special magic material. That's so they can charge you a premium. At the end of the day though, EVERYTHING is biomedia, even the noodles. Bacteria do not have an estate agent telling them where's the best place to live. They adhere to any submerged surface and the only difference between "bio-media" and chopped up plastic teaspoons is the total available surface area.

In a fish only tank the only mechanism of nitrification is the filter media, so it's an advantage to colonize as much surface area with nitrifying bacteria as possible. The sintered ceramic media have a high surface area, but so does a lot of less expensive materials such as activated carbon, for example.

In a planted tank, healthy plants uptake ammonia/ammonium as a nitrogen source as well as Nitrate, so in effect they bypass the bacterial nitrification process to some extent. As a result, there is no need for the high surface area sintered ceramic media. Foam will hold plenty of bacteria.

In a CO2 injected planted tank, especially one belonging to typical megawatt loving Klingons (you creatures know who you are) the most important feature of a filter is it's ability to deliver flow, and therefore CO2 and nutrients to the surface of the leaves. The job of noodles specifically is to reduce the filter throughput so that larger or heavier particles fall out of solution and are trapped. Foam, alfagrog and a lot of other material will do just as good a job of trapping large heavy particles - but they will NOT reduce the flow throughput nearly as much as the ceramic media will.

So what I'm suggesting is that  you think more in terms of hydrodynamics and use "low drag", low cost media, such as alfagrog/foam/chopped up plastic, which all  have the advantage of not inhibiting flow too much, and yet will still retain an acceptable level of nitrification.

If your filter throughput is good now then leave well enough alone, but if you are struggling with flow and have CO2 distribution issues using a filter packed with ceramic media then you normally can help alleviate that problem by using the lighter materials in lieu of the ceramic.

Hope this clarifies.

Cheers,


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## ian_m (16 Oct 2014)

Here is mine the other day, spray very much the same flow as when I got it. Amount of ceramic noodles and rings didn't really affect the flow (I put them all in after running for ages with 1/2 in and found made no difference), what does make a difference is the coarse inlet foams getting blocked with plant debris (every couple of weeks) and the final fine foam getting gunged up (a month or two). Rinsing them restores flow, back to the front of tank hitting strength in the video. Have to be careful at full strength as the water splashes everywhere and starts getting things wet, like floor, lounge walls, fire extinguisher etc etc.


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## Jake101 (16 Oct 2014)

How about having coarse foam pad (or maybe pantyhose) on the intake tube? Easy to see when it starts to get clogged and easy to clean.


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## parotet (16 Oct 2014)

Cleaning once a month the coarse sponge on the intake part of the filter is what works better for me and improves significantly the flow. I have just this sponge and a bag of ceramic rings... 1/3 of the filter volume. A piece of foam on the intake pipe avoids the coarse sponge clogging quite a lot and makes filter husbandry easier 

Jordi


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## dw1305 (17 Oct 2014)

Hi all,
I do the same as Jordi, PPI10 or PPI20 sponge as a pre-filter on the inlet. If you have a big foam block, you don't have to clean it very often, but you may have trouble hiding it. I usually give these pre-filter sponges a quick rinse every week, but I only open the filter very occasionally, usually when I'm cleaning the hoses, and the flow has slowed.

I don't think it matters what you put in the filter body as long as it isn't too full. I've got PPI10 sponge in some, ceramic or glass rings in others, Eheim "coco-pops", hydroleca or alfagrog and one with floating cell media, they all work.

The one that clogs least is the coco-pops (Eheim Substrat Pro). I've used this because it came with a filter and it is the favourite, but I wouldn't pay the extra money to buy it over hydroleca, floating cell media or alfagrog.

cheers Darrel


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