Habitat - Indoor :: Can a filter be too big?

[PridgNYC]

I had some microbubbles for the first couple weeks, I just turned down the output a tiny bit until they went away. They are harmless to the turtles anyway.

[steve]

Seems like those are from defective units. The cycling shouldn't be a problem for a turtle.

[Tokapeli]

yea i thought that sounded weird

[PridgNYC]

Not so much defective units, more like defective installation. I neglected to thoroughly read the manual before installing and left the intake tube too short so that the join from the corrugated tube to the intake tube was above the water level, so it was introducing a small amount of air to the canister. Mineral or gunk build-up since then has resolved the issue for me, and turning down the output helped it to not suck as much air into the canister.

Edit: I only read the quick install section where it says leave 6 inches of the bendy tube inside the tank, of course 6 inches in a turtle tank wouldn't have put the join underwater anyway, but that is beside the point. The intake tube was very long, and I didn't want to cut too much off of it, so I only left about 3 inches of the bendy tube. I figured out later that this introduced the small air leak into the system. Fortunately the FX5 automatically purges air from the system every 24 hours, so it was never a problem except for the popcorn sound from the filter and the microbubbles.

[VeipaCray]

Microbubbles are caused by an impeller chopping up air bubbles it has nothing to do with flow rate or tank size or how big a given filter is in relation to a tank.

No, there are no issues with the FX5 and microbubbles if it's setup properly.

[steve]

Thanks for the explanation guys. When I looked over the reviews, it seems like they were implying an actual defect on the canister.

[slider_keeper]

Ummmmm, so your saying micro bubbles are a bad thing? I just want to clarify this but doesn't those little bubbles help to exchange oxygen in the water? Which, if I'm not mistaken is a good thing.

[PridgNYC]

They are not a bad thing, they just make the water look cloudy. The only bad thing is you really don't want your impeller to be chopping up air, it causes the same kind of damage as cavitation. So, you figure out where you air leak is, or reduce the flow enough so that it doesn't suck up any air. As Veipacray says, it is usually setup that causes microbubbles, as in my case.

[slider_keeper]

Ok just curious thanks

[VeipaCray]

+1 PrigNYC

Microbubbles are more of a problem to fish and in saltwater to corals.

[slider_keeper]

how is that? doesn't the ocean have bubbles in it from waves and such. I'm not saying anyone is wrong here but I don't find evidence that what you guys are saying is right. Bubbles is what exchanges oxygen with co2 and helps to replenish the oceans so the fish and others that use oxygen to survive. Please don't find me rude. I've just never heard this before and it is opposite from what I know.

[J0NATHAN85]

Busy week, but I'm back. I set up the xp3, and looking back it was surprisingly easy. Unfortunately, having no aquarium experience, I didn't precisely follow the directions and ran in to an issue. When cutting down the intake tube, I decided to leave it a little longer than what was recommended. The directions said that too short was an issue, but nothing about having it too long. I'm sure the experienced members on the forum already know what I'm going to say, but when I went to fill the canister with water, a vacuum wasn't able to be created. I therefore tried to fill it manually, and was initially unable to remove all of the air. I worked it out, and everything is working fine now though. Overall I'm very happy with the purchase. Rookie mistake I suppose.

Regarding using such a big filter on roughly 25 gallons of water, its working just fine. I have the spray bar aimed at the wall of the tank (when it wasn't the current was way too strong for my turtle to swim), and I'm not experiencing any issues with the flow of the intake. Charlie adapted to his new surroundings very quickly, and seems very happy with the extra space for swimming.

If I get some time this week, I hope to update with some pictures.

Once again, thanks for all of the help through this process.