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@@lfergusson148 The Biomaster 250 has a 900lph pump so you’ll be turning your 70l of water around 12x an hour (900Iph / 70l = 12.85), I try for around 10x max as too much flow can damage and hinder delicate plant growth. Too much flow doesn’t suit certain livestock so you can find fish that require weaker flow to hide behind plants and rocks etc. Flow output can be dispersed by the use of lily pipe types of accessories as they slightly spread the outflow. You could look at the Oase filtosmart thermo 100 with a flow rate of 600lph or the filtosmart thermo 200 with a flow rate of 800lph, both comes with heaters built in of 100w and 200w respectively so heating your 70l won’t be a problem. The only downside of the filtosmart is they don’t come with the easy to clean prefilter and there’s not a great deal of room for lots of bio media, then again how much you need depends on livestock you’ll be keeping. @pondguru has a video on here with a breakdown of the filtosmart and biomster filters.

@@urbansk8r231 thanks mate 👊🏻 No I leave the seal in place as it’s very tightly fitted so stretching it to remove it risks damaging it so just use food grade lube from Amazon or the like and lube up the outer surface of the rubber seal as that’s the only part that could potentially leak water.

@@slinkyscapes8530 Oh I see.. Good thing I asked. I do have hydrOseal tap lube- says it food machine grade so I'll just use that. Thanks.

@@pondguru looking forward to it Richard 👍🏻 Huge fan of your videos mate 👊🏻

@@slinkyscapes8530 Thanks for that - I hardly get any time for making videos now and with the way the algorithms are on TH-cam sometimes I wonder why I bother, lol

@@kbkck I remember Oase had an issue with the seals when filters with higher temperatures of water the seals would dry out very quick so recommend all seals were regularly coated in food grade lubricant especially the seal on the internal thermostat if it was being used.

@@ChantellePyne the adjustable air admittance valve that slips in the top of the air tube has a tiny sponge inside, that will be holding water, take it away and either twist it apart to reveal the sponge or place the valve in the sun and allow it to dry out naturally 👍🏻 If you remove the valve from the clear air pipe does the pipe pull in air when the pump is running ?

@@slinkyscapes8530 yes I’ve taken off the adjustable valve and it’s still not sucking anything

Yes it does, I’ve spoken to Oase about this but still nothing re-designed.

Mine did, only very slightly but once cleaned and back in the water it isn’t enough to tell. I’m still using one set on a small shrimp scape and they work ok.

I initiate the power head and leave it for a couple of minutes as the Biomaster is a bugger for holding air bubbles sometimes. Once most bubbles are out I tilt the unit ever so slightly forward and backwards, lifting it about half an inch each tilt and you’ll find you’ll get rid of all remaining air then I finally turn the heater on.

@@slinkyscapes8530 Thanks

Hi mate, sorry to bother you again. Can I please ask you about pre-filter?● Can you give me a step by step precedure on what you do before and after removing prefilter? Because I'm not sure if you just lock hoses and then unlock prefilter, clean it and just insert prefilter back, lock it and then unlock hoses and that it. I asume there would still be water in canister. Or do you have turn every thing off then take out prefilter, after you put it back do you have to prime it?

@@urbansk8r231 it’s never a problem, I’d rather help than have your floor flooded 👍🏻. 1. Heater off 2. 5 mins or so later pump unplugged. 3. Unlock and lift off the hose head slightly as pressure (gravity) will still be in the canister. 4. Unlock pre-filter, lift it up a few millimetres to allow pressure to balance and minimise water leaking then slowly remove. 5. Transfer pre-filter canister into a jug next to man canister housing. 6. Clean pre-filter sponges in sink etc. 7. Slide pre-filter back in main canister housing and lock up. 8. Replace hose head and lock up. 9. Prime filter and top up aquarium.

@@slinkyscapes8530 Means a lot mate, Thanks

I’m sorry you feel this way about my view on this filter but thanks for the like and feedback 👍🏻 If you think it works in a different way that’s great for you and if you like this filter and it suits your aquarium’s needs that even better.

@@slinkyscapes8530 Well, maybe I should apologize... when I read my comment now I feel I just overreacted :( Sorry for that. But yes, I think even Green Aqua run their small cubes with just corner filter + extension attachment and it works fine (no it's not advertising, just saying what they say). Also, I must admit that you are right : the concept of this filter is based on making money. Why not just simply make a chambers where you can put 1st stage filtration (mechanical - sponges and self cutting floss) and 2nd stage filtration (biological - media), so you can run it as long as head pump works well. Sorry again, maybe it was just a bad day for me :)

It’s what works for you and your aquarium that’s the best way 👍🏻. A good friend of mine keeps Africans ….he can’t use filter floss as it’s clogged in a week to 2 weeks. I keep very small fish and not many at that compared to the size of my aquariums and like you I add floss and change it 2-3 months, depends how frivolous I’ve been with the food 🤣.

It can be detritus in the pipes, that initial rush of water can stir up what’s inside those pies and in the main canister. Detritus in the pipes looks more like flakes of dirt as opposed to dirty water but think about it, if your tank water is clean the only place dirty water can come from is the filter so check there first. Another thing to try is once you think the pre filter sponges are clean, put some clean water in a container and squeeze the pre filter sponges one last time.

Spot on, Don’t go off what Oase state,it’s false advertising in my book. The Biomaster Thermo 350 is good for aquariums up to 200l and Oase know this, it’s why they fit 200w heaters. The pump capacity of the Biomaster 350 is 1100lph, which means you’re only getting a turnover of x 2.23ph (1100/340l) which is way to low, you should be looking at closer to 5 x turnover so 340l x 5 = 1700lph pump capacity, so in the Oase line up you should be looking at the Biomaster 850 which pumps at 1550plh and the Thermo version comes with a 400w heater which low and behold also suits your aquarium.

@@slinkyscapes8530 I have complained to Oase, but they insist that it's working at capacity because I'm at the limit of what it can support. I'm insisting that maxing out at 22.5 degrees means that it just doesn't support 350 liters. Annoyingly, I may have to upgrade to the biggest version, but I'm a bit upset that they don't want to accept this as a fault.

@@stefanochiodino5533 Companies will use the wording ‘upto’ and ‘max’ as a get out clause. The problem only really arises with thermo versions and Oase are not alone in this as Eheim also use the same marketing strategy. With non thermo versions this problem doesn’t matter so much as we only use the LPH as a limiting factor when deciding size and model to suit our aquariums needs. Oase even list ‘max flow rate’s a their flow rating and that flow rate is only achieved with an each tray being totally empty. Add a sponge and that adds resistance, albeit very little but once you add sponges and media you can half the marketed flow rate.

If memory serves me it’s Alternanthera Rosaefolia on the right hand side and Cryptocoryne Spiralis Red on the left. Very early in its planting so the reds hadn’t popped at that time

I run my Biomasters differently to the norm, I always run the finest sponge in the pre-filter I can get away with, (usually 45ppi once the aquarium is mature) to catch as much as I can then two trays of standard 20ppi blue tray sponges then the rest in bio media. I add a red 30ppi tray sponge to the shallow top tray. Your 65 gallons is roughly 250 litres and the Biomaster 600 pumps 1250lph empty,roughly 750- 1100 lph fully loaded up with sponges and media so your getting a 3-4 times turn around per hour. Are you getting enough flow around your set up ?

@@slinkyscapes8530 I believe the flow is sufficient. Im using the spray bar,and I change the pre filter every Sunday. I have 12 of the 60 ppi so I always have six ready to go. I set up the filter mid November and haven’t cleaned the main filter yet. I’ll wait a few more weeks.

Correct in the higher the PPI number/rating the more pores per inch but as the more pores per inch there is the smaller the pores get the quicker they clog up as it will catch more debris so a 60ppi sponge will always clog faster than say a 30ppi sponge as it’s catching more debris, so I’m not sure why your 30ppi pre-filter sponge is clogging faster than when you try the 60ppi. It’s why some people, more so in the Aquascaping hobby, place filter floss in one of the filter trays (usually after the pre-filter and any main canister filter sponges), as it’s so fine it catches any micro particles not caught before hand. Now the speed on which a pre-filter ‘clogs’ depends on the livestock and any planting, the larger (in size or numbers) the livestock inevitably the more they eat and the more they excrete, same with plant mass, the more there is the more leaves/blades will die off and hopefully caught by the pre-filter. When the Biomaster was first launched they produced a 90ppi carbon impregnated pre filter sponge which was a great for my Scaping set ups as it soaked up the tannins from any wood I’d added and caught nearly all debris but I’m not sure if Oase still produce them or if 60ppi is the finest they market now.

Google a 10 ppi sponge and explain how a 60 ppi sponge is more porous

It is but since I made this video a few years back I’ve found out drilling holes in the pipe actually makes no difference, the power of the pump is all that affects flow (besides clogged filter media). As long as a pump can run to its maximum output, offering less resistance on the feed will not increase pump capacity.

But what if you fit in orange sponges instead of the blue ones? Should you drill bigger holes or there is no benetif in doing so, just leave it like it is? @@slinkyscapes8530

Could be incorrectly fitted media trays. Is the water coming out of the pump head to canister body?, if so, media trays not slotted together stops a good seal, other than that the seal ring may be damaged.

All good, still going strong, we have a 250 and 350 on different scapes and they’re solid filters. The 350 has been running 18 months non stop and the 250 close to 3 years.

thanks for the answer@@slinkyscapes8530

Absolutely agree 100%, replace that fine white floss pad for sponge that can be re used and you’ll be fine 🤙🏻🤙🏻

Hi Vito, use the same pre filters for Marine as you would in freshwater. The only difference is I wouldn’t use the carbon impregnated pre filters, there’s no need.

Hi Apple, Yes in this video the sponges was the black 30ppi and blue 45ppi All pond solutions sheets They are available on Amazon as a sheet of each size and a sheet of 60ppi (orange) for £11.

Thank you very much 🙂

Hi Erna, I personally have had no issues with noisy biomasters or filtosmarts either. There will be a low humming as the motor works but nothing unexpected. The main reasons for any inconvenient noises would be air trapped in the sponges or filter head, the rubber feet missing or the filter touching the side of a cabinet (causing a rattle). I will say I’ve run Eheim filters in the past and they are even quieter so if the filter is sited in a bedroom or chill room then if it’s inside a cabinet you shouldn’t notice it at all.

@@slinkyscapes8530 Super thanks!! It is so helpful to hear this from someone with experience. I now have 2 Eheim filters running, 1 of which gives a lot of hum that I can't find the reason for. The oasis pre-filter is of course super handy. But low noise is very important to me. Thanks again for your quick and clear answer. I can and will certainly take it into account in my decision.

Thanks Andy ✊🏻 The beauty with sponges are they last a long time and can be rinsed numerous times without degradation. I would look at replacing sponges when they shrink and lose their shape, if they don’t fit the trays snuggly then dirty water can bypass and just head back into the aquarium.

@@slinkyscapes8530 cheers mate

The rattle is normally the impeller wobbling as it’s not sufficiently surrounded by water and air is still being sucked out of the prefilter chamber. Prime the filter as much as you can then start the motor, slightly tilt the whole canister backwards, so the front is off the floor about 1”, it doesn’t need much, settle the canister back down then tilt it forward the same. Complete the above slowly a few times and you’ll find the air finds its way out through the outflow.

Thanks Trevor, great points for people to look out for during maintenance. We did try putting the diffuser on the intake pipe just before it fed into the filter and diffusion was great. The problem we found was Co2 then got trapped in the head so you had to gently tilt the filter to get it to release the built up Co2 which was a shame.

The clear part is plastic and the black part is metal so a good twist should do the trick, you shouldn’t break it even with some force. Just don’t use a tool like a clamp or the clear part can crack. Some of the older models came with a semi clear ring that offers as a seal, I’ve heard of them being really hard to untwist, Co2 art has replaced this o ring to a red rubber version. When I get home tonight I’ll do a short video on how to remove it Miah 🤙🏻

Hi Chris, Start at the head, pipes etc. Have you cleaned the impeller? I find cleaning the pre filter head also works as it contains simple flap valves (I’ve done a video). After the head all you have are simple trays which very rarely get clogged. Once the head and pre filter is clean/clear as well as pipes /inflow/outflow then the only reason it would slow is a faulty motor/magnet.