? About Fluidized Bed Filter

[kahkaw]

From everyones experienc and knolwdge, what are the pros and cons of fluidized bed filters.

For fish only?
Good for reef tank?

Any input would be appreciated.

[chainsaw5vent]

eh. i had a rainbow lifeguard fluidized bed filter and i could never get it adjusted right. it eventually blew out all of the sand.

[Kenzy]

They were a good idea in theory, but in real world application they didn't work very well.

[billdogg]

i turned both of mine into reactors for my carbon & GFO - works great for that!!!

[kahkaw]

thaks for the input. i was planning on building my own for a new 100 gallon setup im currently making. im about to start plumbing and thought i could Y off one of my drains and with the use of carefully placed valves on both legs of the Y be able to control flow into the FBF. It may be a long shot as far as getting it to work right but if i can, how beneficial could it be as a biological filter in a reef setup?

[Finsky]

I used to have two FB600's Lifeguard fluidized filters in a hangon setup. I have them leaking through the outflow know which attaches with two tiny blunt ended screws. I woke up one day with water coming from the front of my tank where is meets the top of the stand! I went crazy calling aquarium shops to find a replacement tank until I followed the hard to see drip line running down the back of the tank to underneather it and out the front.

I thru them both in the trash after they second one leak sand into the tank and chewed up the impeller on one of my 110 Aquaclears.

I run my two canisters with two liters of Eheim Efisubstrate Pro biomedia in each of them. I also put one liter of Eheim Efisubstrate Pro in each of my Aquaclear 110 powerfilter by using 6" x 10" course media bags. Now I have six liters of a reusable, just rinse the pea sized sintered glass bio-media in aquarium water.

I also have 150 pounds of live rock with excellent water circulation with a Hydor Mag 8 and 1100 SEIO although I want to add a second Hydor Mag 8.

I try not to think about those filters which caused me so much grief.