Hamburg Mattenfilter

[rubinsteinnyc]

BUMP

[:SEBastian:]

i use them as tank dividers in my breeding tanks with filter inlet on one side and outlet on the other side. they are easy to move/remove as needed. just be aware that they need a lot of oxygen to work(as any bio filter does)

[rubinsteinnyc]

hey Sebastian, could you provide pictures?

[Moon]

what pump do you use to run your entire set up. also, can you give some specifics about your set up plz? how many tanks, sizes etc etc, and finally what foam do you use, what thickness, where did you get etc etc

Mine is a central linear piston air pump. I have 20 tanks running on this system. The foam is 2" thick and 10 pores.

[Moon]

when the current is too strong, how about installing an elbow and pointing it up a bit so it kinda shoots up? extra aeration?

My air outlet is in line with the water surface line. It creates a turbulence on the surface.

[:SEBastian:]

hope this works first time adding pic



i marked the filter in and outlet. you should get the idea

[rubinsteinnyc]

so on the top rack you have two ins and two outs?
what are the dimension of that long tank on the top? what pump do you use for that set up? is that a sump all the way on the bottom?

[:SEBastian:]

yeah on the top i have 2 in and 2 outlets. the top tank is 6ftx18x18inch. then i have 4 tanks 3ftx18x18 under that. the sump is on the left side of the stand. the sump is 4ftx2ftx15inch and i use a 10000l/h pump as i loose a lot of pressure going up to the top level. a 6000l/h pump should do for the amount of tanks in a 2 tier system.

[rubinsteinnyc]

10.000 L pump?! how much water flow do you have in there? 5x tank volume an hr or something?

[:SEBastian:]

As i said i loose a lot of pressure going to the top level. a 10000l/h pump will only pump 10000l/h when you measure at the outlet of the pump. every inch of pipe and every ellbow and valve will reduce your actual l/h. and pumping the water about 7ft up is as bad as it gets for a pump.

[rubinsteinnyc]

would you be able to approximate around what's the output up top?

[roundfishross]

would you be able to approximate around what's the output up top?

theres a formula for this purpose

[:SEBastian:]

would you mind posting that formula? i know the part about water going up against gravity in a pipe but not arount ellbows and thru valves. i would estimate to have 4000-5000l/h output in my 1000l system so 4 to 5 times tank volume an hour. i leave that current for my plecos but i use a piece of sponge to lower the current for my discus.

[rubinsteinnyc]

would it be the bernoulli's equation? just guessing, remember solving physics problems with water flow in college

[jaylew]

My air outlet is in line with the water surface line. It creates a turbulence on the surface.

I know I am nearly a year behind this thread but my Alita 40 drives all my tanks.....and all my tanks are Hamburg Mattenfilter equipped with Poret Foam from SwissTropicals or an equivalent foam from Angels Plus. Both men are very experienced in foam techniques and both offer foam at the prices you have to cough up in order to get the correct foam. As everyone knows this is not normal foam...it is produced using a process that forces the air pockets (cells) inside to deliberately break open instead of what other industrial foams do by deliberately trying to keep those cells closed. The open cell make up of these foams means that you will never find them inside a life preserver or any flotation device.

In any case....and I do not raise Discus so you are all the resident experts on those most beautiful of fishes.....but I do feel comfortable talking about Mattenfilter use. It is as Moon has posted......you can control the water column recycle time by very simply angling the cut of your lift tube endpieces. What I mean by angling is easier shown than described in words but I will try. I make the cut a full four inches long. In other words the line drawn with a sharpie starts from the bottom of the end of the 3\4 or one inch PVC tube coming off the lift tube...and angles back all the way 4 inches to the top of the pipe. You are spreading out the cut for a 3\4 piece of pvc pipe over a 4 inch length.....and that long long cut makes for much movement of the water surface once you run some air through the lift tube portion of the 90 degree piece...and it moves a lot of water with a minimum of obvious tank turbulence. You can also cut yourself while sawing that awkward angle too so be careful if you are using hand tools. All my heaters are behind the foam. Even on long tanks like 40 breeders and 55's. In this way the surface of the water is always in an active exchange with the ambient air above the tank. As you all know that is where most typical O2 and gas exchange occurs. All my tanks are covered with two simple pieces of proper glass and the front pane simply leans flat overlapping the top of the front edge of the respective tank. I use T5 banks from Aquatraders...who at one time struggled with quality but in the last 3 years I have had nothing but outstanding serviceability from every single fixture I have purchased. The Mattenfilter is a design of incredible functionality and you can turn a single 55 into a literal mini farm by using pieces of the foam as dividers inside the tank. The filtration occurs through multiple inserts placed in a single tank. This allows for keeping adults...juveniles and fry of varying sizes to remain in the same biotope. You simply put the fish you want inside any of the foam dividers....which are held in place by your careful cutting of the foam to be a tight fit as you manually squeeze the piece into place...No glue...No mess...just simple placement of well cut foam. It will stay in place with no problem.

So by tapering the end of the pvc tube...and by then controlling the air flow in the lift tube....you can..and I will freely admit doing so....literally do nothing but add rain or RO water to such a biotope and simply remove the water change ritual from a portion of your hobby...at least with the least killifish and other native fishes I raise. I have Hamburg Mattenheim filters in a few of my tanks that have not been removed, cleaned or disturbed in any way for over 4 years...... those tanks have live plants in them as all mine do...and the fauna and flora that grows on the filter pads is worth watching all by itself. Riccia Fluitans will literally "root" into the top inch or so of the foam filter pads....you can watch the bubbles almost foam from it's photosynthetic gas production.

I encourage everyone to give this method a try.....no more canister media issues....no moving parts except the diaphragm on the Alita.....and my fish room is quiet...there is no incessant fish store bubbling sound or pump noise...only the sound of quiet percolating water. Shrimp and Crayfish flourish using these filters...although larger crayfish like Marmorkrebs will gnaw on it if you don't keep them happy with something more palatable available...like any plant they can grab. CPO's. RCS and other shrimps will crawl all over the foam face and act like they are eating at a buffet...all day and all night long. Anyway...thats my late 2 cents.....