The cleanliness of my filter floss changes the water height of my AIO chambers. How do I fix that?

[rdriggett]

Hi all!
I'm using dual density filter floss pads from amazon in my overflow chamber. How clean or dirty the filter floss is swings the water level in my skimmer and return chamber over 4 inches. This activated my ATO but luckily it ran out of water before my salinity could crash. I was out and about today and this happened again. It's a Fiji Cube 40B 4th gen drop in AIO.

Questions:
Is there any way to stop this from happening? I have a vacation in a few months and my family isn't equipped to monitor and prevent this.

 

[Qwiv]

No Floss while on vacation.

 

[DaddyHook]

Buy it in bulk. Cut to fit. Throw it away daily or every other day

 

[Coral reefer]

No Floss anymore

Fixed that for ya!

 

[Qwiv]

Baby steps

 

[phatduckk]

No Floss while on vacation.

Buy it in bulk. Cut to fit. Throw it away daily or every other day

+1 to both - tho I was on a 2-3 day schedule.

But 100% go floss-less it If you're gone for a stretch longer than your rotation schedule.

 

[JVU]

Agree with going floss-less. Not just because having something that intermittently clogs your AIO sump chamber is super high risk, but also because your tank is probably better off without it anyway.

 

[popper]

Buy it in bulk. Cut to fit. Throw it away daily or every other day

that's a lot of work and could easily forget a day and then it flood.

 

[Srt4eric]

When I would run floss I would buy a big bag of poly-fil from Walmart or Michael's for $3.

 

[Chromis]

I had this problem in my IM AIO and solved it by not having the floss totally blocking, so water runs over the filter floss not through it. Still works pretty well.

 

[Meshmez]

Are you putting filter pad in the tray meant for the sock? Either put something in to space the pad up, so when it clogs water flows over the sides of the tray.

Or cut a slot in the tray slightly above the pad

 

[richiev]

I +1 @Chromis idea for when you're using it. I did the same with me AIOs. I have it there to catch larger debris that floats by, and some of the small stuff, but it's not forcing everything through it.

I also +1 what @phatduckk @DaddyHook @Srt4eric said, again if you're going to use it. The other complicated layered stuff likely is the bestest, but it you just buy a big bag of polyfill at Michaels it's really easy to just toss chunks in.

Finally, I +1 @Qwiv . I'd make it dead simple when going out of town. Even if that means the water clarity drops or you come back to a bunch of algae. Better that than $1k and a year of time of livestock being at risk.

 

[newfly]

I use the exact same filter floss. I added a second water level sensor in the main tank. The primary ato sensor is in the back chamber. If water level get to the main tank sensor, it will shut the ato to prevent flooding. Final backup is my ato container is only 5g , so it will not cause a flood even if ato dump everything to the tank. It might cause some salinity swing. My main tank is 65g

Also my return pump ( reef octopus) have a low water level sensor. I set it up such that if the rear chamber water drop significantly due to ato being off, it will turn off the pump. It will actually cause the pump to cycle on and off.

When I am not in town, I move the heater from the back chamber to the main tank. This way, if my rerun pump is shut off, the tank will not be impacted.

I routinely change my filter floss twice a week. It’s a 1min job.

 

[BAYMAC]

run it naked... no floss