# Build up in pipes



## Andrew Butler (18 Jan 2017)

Hi everyone, this is my first external filter and is a Fluval G3 if that makes any difference.
I have 2 issues;
firstly when I have took the filter apart the part where the baskets which house the media sit has quite an amount of 'dirty water' by that I mean there is a build up of fine particles which have a yellow/red tinge to them
secondly in the pipes there is a build up of what I assume is some kind of bacteria which whenever you disturb the pipes sends a blizzard of a small, whitish, hairy looking substance. The pipes are platinum cured silicone so I am able to see the build up in the pipes and also due to the material thought I was safe against these things?
Any info on either matter would be great, I have had a search around but especially the first matter I'm not finding the answers I'm looking for


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## zozo (18 Jan 2017)

Andrew Butler said:


> fine particles which have a yellow/red tinge to them



You mean inside the canister to the walls and baskets? This is normal biofilm build up, actualy no need to clean it off it's harmless, only rinse the sponges and or rinse the biomedia if you see it getting clogged.

In the hoses if they are clear tubes, not only biofilm but it also might be algae forming in there if you wait long enough. Clear tubes will penetrated by light and develop algae sooner. That's the reason why standard aquarium tube is green colored, these stay cleaner a lot longer, are not penetrated by light and or you just do not see it get dirty so soon. But if the tubes spits out a lot of particles after restarting the pump, it is time to clean them with a pipe/tube brush.


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## Andrew Butler (19 Jan 2017)

Unsure if you are sure about the workings of a G3 but there is a pre filter cartridge which is where I assume the water passes through first and I have the fine one in at the moment, whilst I know this is filtering stuff out of the water there seems to be a reasonable amount passing through to where the biomedia is. There is no sponge or similar in the system aside from the pre filter.

Yes the hoses are clear but being constructed from platinum cured silicone I didn't think that a biofilm or similar would stick - I was wrong there! They are all hidden out of the way of light and there is no green tinge to the build up. It has been in operation around 6 weeks so didn't think they would need cleaning so soon. It is only released when the pipe is disturbed which means it unsticks and flies up the pipe.

On another note I have added a Jecod copy of the Maxspect gyre to the aquarium and noticed a large amount of particles flying around, not all are the ones which are building up in the pipes and are fish poop. Do I need to add a more powerful filter? The filter shows it is running at maximum flow so I don't put it down to the style of return, position on the other hand I do question as it is sat next to the flow but notice many tanks with this style of set up.

To review - I don't know what I'm doing and could use a bit of input!


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## Zeus. (19 Jan 2017)

If you getting detritus settling on plants/substrate etc the flow within the tank may not be enough to hold the detritus in suspension long enough for the filter to catch it. Your filter return position may just tweaking a little to aid better current in the tank( twist left /right, up/down a bit) just trail and error and even similar tanks can have very different needs to get the flow right. 

You say you noticed bits flying around which is good as there held in the water. Small tweaks in outlet position hopefully will aid the flow to get them moved towards to filter intake. Some settling of detritus is inevitable even it tanks with great flow. A gentle light disturbance is usually all that's needed to get it back in suspension again. Regular removal by syphoning of the detritus hot spots also good idea at WC which I'm sure your doing anyway.

How long has the new filter been on the tank also? The new filters flow may just be playing catch up on the detritus the old filter wasn't getting. Regular cleaning the filters mechanical media in old tank water in early days/weeks is a good idea as it will prevent the buildup of the detritus in the filter which in turn will reduce flow. Canisters are great but a pain to clean also. Once the filter has caught up and matured it will require cleaning less often.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## KipperSarnie (19 Jan 2017)

A thought & only a thought no scientific basis.
Could the pipe build up be part biological filtration rather than algae or other?
I've always put dirty water in the filter down to disturbance by me when opening it up?


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## zozo (19 Jan 2017)

I can understand that keeping answers short only raises more questions..  But it doesn't realy matter how the system is designed or constructed and how many chambers and bells and wistles are attached in the end all do the same thing.. If it is all in one canister there can be a prefilter sponge placed before the water hits the biomedia, or the prefilter sponge is placed at the filter inlet in the tank. Or you have several canister where the first one is the prefilter and any other behind that has biomedia or chemical media etc.

The prefilter sifts out the larger particles from the water can be anything thats light enough to float around and get caught by the filter suction. Melting plant parts, little snail shells, small shrimps, fish fry you never noticed, poop, etc.. This all ends up in the prefilter and as long as it is in there i will keep breaking down (stay rotting) into smaller particles. All these smaller particles, small inough to pass through the prefilter end up in the biomedia and are broken down even further with the help of the huge bacterial colony in there. Smaller particles called nitrate, phosphate, carbon and other useable and also unuseable substances. It will never be 100% clean, even if it looks cristal clear to you it contains loads of small particles to small to see.

Those bacteria are actualy everywhere in your substrate, on your plants, the glass, the hardscape, in your hoses and in the filter, if there is moist there is bacteria. It doesn't matter how smooth a surface feels under a microscoop it is still pretty rough and looks like the grand canyon, since bacteria aren't much bigger then microscopic it is rough enough for them to grab a hold and populate that surface and even hold on to eachother. Hence you see those filamentous bacteria strains waving in the current if there are enough. There they live, eat, sleep, poop, propagate, buildup and die. What dies looses grip floats away and around and ends up in the same cycle again. This whole bacterial surface attaching to anything possible is called the biofilm everybody is talking about.. This biofilm is slimey and sticky and it collects tiny dirt particles and algae spores. This is a process that keeps going on and on, if it gets to dirty you clean it out and the moment you start up the filter again it start to repopulate again and catching particles again, since these are so tiny you wont notice the first few weeks. Till it builds up in vissible quantities and looks dirty again. Since it keeps building up and if you never clean it,  it will let loos at one point en spit out into the tank.

We have to make sure the flow in the filter stays optimal and its the prefilter that will clog first with accumulating large debri.. This is the one we want to clean regularly.. If you dont the flow will finaly reduce, the prefilter stops catching dirt and everything there after will clog as well with debri. And it will finaly stop filtering. If you regularly clean your prefilter, you actualy do not need to worry about the biomedia part, leaving this well alone to it's own devices is the best thing to do. No need to distrub it. You do not even need to look at it that much. The debri you find in the biofilter compartiment also contains beneficial bacteria you want to have. You can clean it out, but it'll reduce the biological process and it needs to build up again.

It's the prefilter that needs regular cleaning and the biological media behind that only needs a check every few months to see if it isn't clogged. Just a look to be sure, but if your prefilter does it's job and you maintain it correctly, the biomedia can do years without our intervention.

If your filter capacity is enough is hard to say from this point.. It depends on several things, like how do you maintain it and how is your tank setup. Do you have a lot of bioload you need a larger capacity to work it away. All depending on that a turnover from 4 to 10 x is needed and or sufficient.. Usualy newly setup tanks are very dirty the first few weeks or months.. Lots of plants can be melting and causing a lot of debri accumulating on the substrate or float around in higher turnover tanks. This can be prevented by better husbandry, cut melting plant parts off and remove it from the tank. Syphon out larger debry from the substrate.. Once all plants are established and growing well this will reduce on it's own.. Than it comes down to how is your tank stocked, is it overstocked and do you need to feed a lot, you may need a bigger filter with more flow..

If you have a lot of debri floating around you obviously have a dirty tank.. Why remains to be seen..


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## Andrew Butler (22 Jan 2017)

I've had it all apart today; cleaned all the pipework, bio-media, lily pipes, filter etc. Let's see how long this takes to come back.
I was quite surprised at how quick the inside of the filter gets dirty


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## Andrew Butler (24 Jan 2017)

KipperSarnie said:


> I've always put dirty water in the filter down to disturbance by me when opening it up?


It is not from inside the filter but from the inside of the flow/return pipes - its is in both also



Zeus. said:


> the old filter wasn't getting


It is the same filter, I have just added a powerhead but I think it is too strong



zozo said:


> This is the one we want to clean regularly


The filter is a Fluval G3 and if anything the prefilter is cleaned too often (if that is possible!) 

The filter has always showed it is at full flow on the history.


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