# Anything to use to make filter stronger?



## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

In my goldfish tank, where I have 2 of them, 29 gallon. I have an HOB filter. It has room for 2 b sized filter cartridges and I put one in at a time. It also has a bio wheel, but it stops spinning a day or two after I put a new cartridge in! They are also very dirty when I change them out. I can't afford to change them every 3 days, is there anything I can do? Any cheap filtration? 

My other tank doesn't get nearly that filthy, and I don't change it often because I have plants and instead of carbon use a pillow stuffing looking type thing in the cartridge. 

The filter is supposed to be good for up to 45 gallons. *sigh* I do a weekly water change of about 5 gallons on both tanks, sometimes ill do another in the middle of the week for the Goldie's. once they outgrow the tank I'm giving them to a pond, although one of them was my first fish ever ;(


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

surely 2 goldfish shouldn't produce that much waste it would clog it in a few days!!
are you sure its fish waste? uneaten food getting drawn into it? do you vac the substrate clean of all waste on water changes?
only other thing I would suggest is a canister filter, I clean mine every month, left for 2 months as an experiment and still did not clog it to excess


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

weedkiller said:


> surely 2 goldfish shouldn't produce that much waste it would clog it in a few days!!
> are you sure its fish waste? uneaten food getting drawn into it? do you vac the substrate clean of all waste on water changes?
> only other thing I would suggest is a canister filter, I clean mine every month, left for 2 months as an experiment and still did not clog it to excess


I do gravel vac, and I forgot to mention I also have a bristlenose pleco in there, all very messy fish. I don't over feed, not like they'd ever allow food to be leftover anyways! Maybe the occasional zucchini for the pleco. 


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## squeekee35 (Feb 9, 2010)

I use these in my filters for my goldfish and i only change them out once a month when they start turning brown. they act a bit like carbon so you don't need carbon and they absorb everything. i use a 4 inch by 4 inch piece in my filter for my 29 gallon. it's supposed to be 1/2 square inch per gallon.

http://www.poly-bio-marine.com/

--Angel


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

pull the pump and take out the impeller..clean it good and then clean out the channel where the impeller goes in..clean it all the way to the bottom..
also clean every little opening on the filter no matter how small...


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

rinse the cartridges in the sink under faucet, alternate cartridges. Don't replace until they start to disintegrate. Clean the axle and the place where the axle sits on of the bio wheel, it can get "limed up" Its okay if the bio wheel turns slow or intermittently, as long as it doesn't completely dry out. Keep the tank full, low levels can lower the flow. Clean the power filter intake tube and strainer.

There are also 3rd party cartridges for most of the common filters that are somewhat cheaper. Try kensfish.com.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

emc7 said:


> rinse the cartridges in the sink under faucet, alternate cartridges. Don't replace until they start to disintegrate. Clean the axle and the place where the axle sits on of the bio wheel, it can get "limed up" Its okay if the bio wheel turns slow or intermittently, as long as it doesn't completely dry out. Keep the tank full, low levels can lower the flow. Clean the power filter intake tube and strainer.
> 
> There are also 3rd party cartridges for most of the common filters that are somewhat cheaper. Try kensfish.com.


The impeller and tube is clean. I clean that weekly. The bio wheel isn't slow. Just completely stops. It spins the first 3 days once the cartridge is cleaned. levels are high. The filter takes in plenty, but the cartridge gets clogged and lets water through slower, and the water finds it's way around the tube instead. I notice this happens faster when I feed the zucchini for my bristlenose.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

You may need to rinse the cartridges every other day.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

So, would it be better if I had 2 in there instead of one?


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