I've had my 60l cube aquarium set up for four months now and it is the first time for me using an external canister filter (Oase Thermofilter 100).
I noticed about a month ago that the flow rate had really deteriorated. I tried a few things, cleaning the foam filters etc and no joy. About three weeks ago I decided to clean the hoses and a LOT of gunk came out. Boom! The flow rate was back to how it should have been. By that I mean I can see a air being pulled down the overflow a good inch and a half, and the surface is rippling nicely again, causing wonderful shimmer from the Kessil. However, the flow rate in the last few days was looking decidedly poor again. It couldn't be the hoses again already, I thought? Gave them another clean, but little gunk came out. But remarkably, the flow picked up markedly and it was back to normal. It goes to show that just a little biofilm in the hoses can really drag on the water.
The downside of all this is that it looks like I'll be needing to clean those hoses about every fortnight to keep the flow optimal. It is somewhat of a PITA to do, with my tank close to the wall in a corner and the hoses running behind the tank.
I have read that hoses should be cleaned every couple of months, not every couple of weeks! Does anyone else have this issue?
I noticed about a month ago that the flow rate had really deteriorated. I tried a few things, cleaning the foam filters etc and no joy. About three weeks ago I decided to clean the hoses and a LOT of gunk came out. Boom! The flow rate was back to how it should have been. By that I mean I can see a air being pulled down the overflow a good inch and a half, and the surface is rippling nicely again, causing wonderful shimmer from the Kessil. However, the flow rate in the last few days was looking decidedly poor again. It couldn't be the hoses again already, I thought? Gave them another clean, but little gunk came out. But remarkably, the flow picked up markedly and it was back to normal. It goes to show that just a little biofilm in the hoses can really drag on the water.
The downside of all this is that it looks like I'll be needing to clean those hoses about every fortnight to keep the flow optimal. It is somewhat of a PITA to do, with my tank close to the wall in a corner and the hoses running behind the tank.
I have read that hoses should be cleaned every couple of months, not every couple of weeks! Does anyone else have this issue?