Fluval 404

[turtlechick]

Can someone tell me how to prime the dumb thing properly? Or I'm going to sell it. GRRRRRRRR -roll-

or send it to an early grave :-) (the filter not the turtle) LOLOL

[CalgaryFan]

There should be a little key lookin' thing on the top somewhere, just pump it up and down alot then start her up.

[FishBrain]

Fill it with water. Put the top on it. Put the hoses in the water. IN=INto the filter, OUT=into the tank.

Plug it in, lift it up and turn it onto its side. shake (nicely) hold it up and on its side till water starts to flow then SLOWLY VERY VERY SLOWLY put in back on its base and stand it up.

There you go.

THIS is why so many people hate them.

[Morhua]

Fill the canister with water, slowly pump the blue "key" until you see water flowing out of the intake. Once you see this flow, keep pumping (slowly), then plug it in. I've never had a problem with my Fluval 204 (knock on wood), maybe it's the 404's????? Good luck.

Cheers

[turtlechick]

Okay...got the filter flowing really well.....now I have a few more questions (newbie questions:-)

1) How often do I have to change the 4 sponges in it?

2) How often do I have to change the carbon packets?

3) How often do I change the other media inside?

4) Do I ever have to take it all apart and clean the whole thing and how often?

[BooUrns!]

Okay...got the filter flowing really well.....now I have a few more questions (newbie questions:-)

1) How often do I have to change the 4 sponges in it?

-Change them or clean them? Changing them should not be neccessary unless you don't have the manual dexterity to wring them out until all the accrued soil leaves the sponge. It takes a lot of work to get them completely clean ( I find rubbing them against each other between my palms vigorously while under the flow of the kitchen tap usually does the trick). This should not need to be done very often, perhaps once a year unless you notice the water flow slowing down.

2) How often do I have to change the carbon packets?

-I would limit the use of carbon in canisters as it has a limited window of effectiveness. Perhaps one tray at the bottom of the stack. I would just get loose (unpackaged ie. not hagen product) activated carbon and place it either a bit of nylon or fine mesh sack in the bottom tray.

3) How often do I change the other media inside?

-I use a mix of small bioballs, sponges, and biomax ceramic tubes in all of my media trays. No carbon at all anymore. All the other items they sell (resins, ammonia remover, etc.) seem to be either for newly started aquariums or for the specialized needs of finicky types of fish.

4) Do I ever have to take it all apart and clean the whole thing and how often?

-A complete tear down and cleaning once or twice a year would be good. The rate at which you service a canister of this size depends primarily upon the bioload you place upon it.

[Nyasa]

I have never replaced my filtre media either. I rinse it out in tank water every couple of months.

I never used my carbon.

[turtlechick]

Okay, so here is how it's set up......

1st compartment is empty

2nd compartment has like octagonal shaped tuby things (really don't know the proper name)

3rd compartment has round cylinder things

4th compartment has the carbon in nylon

Does that sound right?

Edited May 1, 2007 by turtlechick

[Nyasa]

The fourth compartment is on the bottom? That sounds fine.

You might as well put something in the top (first) compartment the next time you service your filtre. The ceramic noodles are great, but you could really use anything that is safe to put in your aquarium. Ideally something that has a high surface area for bacterial colonization. I put a bunch of hollow plastic oxygen tubing pieces. I've heard of all sorts of options. One guy even used little plastic army soldiers.

Be sure and take out the carbon as it's chemical filtration is of limited duration. You could either replace it with new carbon or put more media for bacterial colonisation in that compartment.

[Leon71]

1.) empty - definitely put something in there.

2.) octagon shaped pieces - those are called pre-filter - move to top tray.

3.) round cylinder thingys - probably bio-max - fill second tray as well with this or other biomedia.

4.) carbon - I only use this on a first time setup. Cleans the water to crystal clear and removes any possible contaminents from the new substrate, rock, etc. After that, you can fill it with biomedia.

One word of advice. Never wash out your media with tap water. If you do, then all bacteria that has grown on it is dead. Use only existing tank water or treated water (dechlorinated). And if you have to replace some media, only change out one tray at a time.

HTH, Leon

[Sam Chicklets]

The empty tray should have sponge or floss in it.

[Leon71]

Oops, forgot about the sponge. Yes, you will need sponge or floss. I have the FX5, so its not part of the tray capacity.