YUCK... Canister filter hoses

[poconogal]

This thread is almost a year old! Talk about a "bump"!

I know, Marie, I totally forgot about it! LOL!!!!

Be careful , an air hose might carry some oil from the compressor !

roberto.

I was thinking he was wondering about an aquarium air pump, but that's a good point, Roberto!

[lybrasoft]

Hi,
lybrasoft, are you saying that what you saw was flat worms?
Do you have the ability to get a picture with your microscope? what power did you use?

I'd love to hear if others examine their "white stuff" also to see if there is a comman thread hear.

Their latin name is Planaria indeed like Connie said. But i disagree that is a sign of a dirty filter. I read the same opinion somewhere and i removed the filter to clean it. I couldn't believe how clean it was. Like new.
So i researched and found out that overfeeding and lefover food is the main reason. The best way to get rid of Planaria is to keep the tank clean. They can't survive much without intensive feeding.
I WAS HAPPY TO FIND A PDF FROM A GUY WHO LICENSED IN MICROBIOLOGY THAT THEY ARE NOT HARMUL TO THE FISH.
I got rid of them fast (4-5 days) feeding carefully small amounts that were consumed by the fish immediatelly.

I will be glad to make you some pictures but they are really not that small. I hope you will not have the chance to have them. they get pretty big and attach to the glass. The one i managed to extract with a medicine dropper was about 3mm.

[uli and ria]

I had this problem with my first fluval and 55 gal tank for cichlids. I bought a bottle brush, it worked ok for a while, but had an overstocked tank, so I would catch the first bucket of water when I turned the canister on with the tank 1/2 empty during water change, then I went to menards looking for some pc for fish to hide and ran into water hoses for sprinkler heads. Now I just buy every 4-5 months new hoses. no problems.

[RockHound]

Planeria range from about 1/64th of an inch, as babies.
To, over 1/4 inch, as adults.

They are usually white, off white to gray.
But can be darker, or even light red, depending on what food they eat.

Usually, they get into tanks along with new fish, plants, or live food.
Often, they accompany live black worms, grindal worms, etc..

They will eat about anything they can get in their mouths.
In nature they eat algae, diatoms, daphnia, dead insects, worms, fish, meat, etc.

They thrive on beef heart, fish/shrimp meat, pellet & flake food.

Usually, if you have lots of them, it is a sign that uneaten fish feed is accumulating somewhere.
Most often, under gravel, in sponges, or canister filters.
(google “ planeria canister filter”, to get an idea how prevalent it is)

Well fed fish seldom eat them, but sometimes do.
Severely cut back on feeding your fish & after a few days, fish will usually eat them.

If planeria are thriving in an aquarium.
You are overfeeding your fish & need to cut back.
Plus, increase maintenance / cleaning your filters.
Planeria often thrive in dirty sponge filters, HOB filters & canister filters.

They are light sensitive & prefer darkness. So they mostly come out at night.
They are not free swimming & move along surfaces (unless dislodged).

You can remove some by hanging a small piece of beef heart in nylon netting, in the tank.
Place it against the inside glass at night, then remove it in the morning & discard, or wash.
Repeat for several days.

Planeria will not go after mobile fish, but will eat fish eggs.
For sure, you do not want them in a breeding tank, for that reason.

[Harriett]

I think if you use use big prefilters on your intakes which catchs even fine stuff before it goes into the hoses and filter, you can cut down 90% of this problem. --I use the cylinder foam pieces used for air filters. They are available in a dense and a more open pore foam; I use the dense pore. I thoroughly clean those 1-2 x week and the filters stay very clean for a lot longer. I rarely have the snowflake blow out you are describing, as a result. If the prefilters are cleaned weekly, they do not impede the water flow at all. When I clean them, it's in straight tap water from the sink; I collect all that yucky water and it goes straight to my houseplants. I really like the nylon stocking over the spray bar idea, though--that's great.
Best regards,
Harriett

[sp33dy25]

i ve been using my xp3 for 3 yrs + now..
my hoses are clear and clean. never cleaned them.

my friend had black gunk in his hose... he just run it through some hot water under his kitchen faucet and 99% of the stuff came out.
you can give that a try.

[poconogal]

LOL Well I started this thread over two years ago and was really surprised to see it pop back up again! During all this time the tank snow had stopped, my hoses became pretty clear and clean. I haven't cleaned them at all and they've been and still are fine now!

[zoe]

So I am having this. What do you account for your not having this issue any longer, poconogal?

[poconogal]

I think the hoses originally got a buildup of something which was coming out of the hoses and once it was all gone, it didn't come back, except that it has come back a bit this spring, over 2 years after I started this thread, lol! It is now clearing up again. No idea why.

[shawnhu]

If you use heavy floss in your canister, you'll see a lot less of this debris in the return hose. Clear hose can harbor algae, but I don't think that is the issue in this case. The downside to having a lot of floss in the canister is that it will require more frequent maintenance.

[poconogal]

Shawhu, you just provided the answer to my mystery. I began using regular, good old cheap filter floss in my XP3. The canister hoses cleared out, no more "tank snow." Just this late winter/early spring, I decided to again try using the floss pads made for the XP3 and I started getting some tank snow again. At the last cleaning, I put 2 filter pads in and the snow has been clearing up some. But now, I've already decided to go back to regular floss because I think it does a better fine filtering job, so I'll definitely do it when I clean the canister this time and not wait until I use up the pads. I only went back to the pads because it was easier and quicker to just pop a pad in there.

[Daniella]

I clean mine each month or it is so bad that it slow down my filter debit! Mine are semi clear sort of but the light in the room is very dimmed and my tank as no plant and very low light.

I was thinking of turning my UV back on to see if that help. It,s a pain to clean this!

Reid, yep, they're clear hoses. But not only can I see the gunk, it snows in my tank when I turn the filter back on. How often do you clean your hoses? You said a couple months at a time, which is? I'd have to do it about every other month. Seems like a lot of trouble!

[rickztahone]

for those of you that have xp3's, how do you take the water out of the hose once you release the handle and stop the filter? i'm not sure if that is the correct wording but i'm hoping people that have an xp1/2/3 understand what i'm talking about. i have a hydor 300 as well so that is one of the reasons that i'm very hesitant about doing this hose cleaning. Connie, did you ever clean your hoses or do they always clear up? your thread goes through seasons huh? LOL

[poconogal]

Yeah, through seasons, Rick, LOL! Its an oldie but goody I guess. I have never cleaned my hoses and the XP 3 is on this tank since Oct. 2006. They cleared up perfectly by themselves and recently got a bit gunked up, but still nothing too bad, just spots. They'll prolly clear up again but who cares? As you know, I'll be installing that Eheim I got the deal on soon anyway, with new hose. Eheim's green hose, can't see what's in it at all.

[shawnhu]

Shawhu, you just provided the answer to my mystery. I began using regular, good old cheap filter floss in my XP3. The canister hoses cleared out, no more "tank snow." Just this late winter/early spring, I decided to again try using the floss pads made for the XP3 and I started getting some tank snow again. At the last cleaning, I put 2 filter pads in and the snow has been clearing up some. But now, I've already decided to go back to regular floss because I think it does a better fine filtering job, so I'll definitely do it when I clean the canister this time and not wait until I use up the pads. I only went back to the pads because it was easier and quicker to just pop a pad in there.

It was just a theory Connie, but seems like you proved my theory, more than I solved your mystery. Either way, congrats on figuring it out! No more snow, in the Pocono's!?

Tootles,
Shawn