Good Evening all. Looking for some feedback/opinions on filtration. As some of you may know I’m in the process of building a 900 gallon plywood aquarium. Plan to filter with a sump and an Ultima II. Aquarium will also have a continuos drip. That said who has experience with the backwashing feature on the ultima filters? Is there anyway to backwash them without using the aquarium water? Maybe a hose? How long does the backwash feature take? Gallons used in the process? The reason I ask is while my aquarium is certainly overbuilt, I want to limit fluctuations in water level as this could cause flex in the aquarium. Trying to think of other options than simply draining the aquarium to backwash the filter.
Ultima Filter Backwashing
- Thread starter Dovii kid
- Start date
It usually uses a substantial amount of water to back wash, perhaps 100 gallons or more (nice size water change), depending on how gummed up the filter gets.
Pre-filtration is the key to saving water, and time between back washes.
When I have backwashed them, old water was sent to the yard, at rapid rate.
I found this video to give you some insight.
2:07How to Backwash the Ultima II Filter
Pre-filtration is the key to saving water, and time between back washes.
When I have backwashed them, old water was sent to the yard, at rapid rate.
I found this video to give you some insight.
2:07How to Backwash the Ultima II Filter
Thanks for the video.
Like many things I’m probably over thinking this and the water change fluctuation would have little impact on my aquarium. Worst case I could attempt to add water at the same time as I backflush to limit changes in water level in the DT.
I don't have any experience with the ultima, but I did some research on them when I was considering one. 200 gallons was what was needed to properly back wash one of them. I'm not sure how much real estate you have around the aquarium. A large container could be used to store water for water changes. I believe
pacu mom
has a similar design on her tank.
pacu mom
has a similar design on her tank.Thanks for that. I to had thought of the idea of having a backup supply of water to flush. That said I think I'm planning on just using it closed loop and using the back flush to change water as it was intended. The interior of my build is coated entirely in glass and fiberglass resin, with another coat of epoxy paint on top. I was worried about flexing and fractures in the epoxy.I don't have any experience with the ultima, but I did some research on them when I was considering one. 200 gallons was what was needed to properly back wash one of them. I'm not sure how much real estate you have around the aquarium. A large container could be used to store water for water changes. I believe
This is one of the reasons why I recommended pre-filtration, less gunk getting into the filter will eliminate frequent and long backwashes, and by allowing some to remain, it will keep the majority of the beneficial colony from being flushed out.
I run an ultima and probably use about 100g to backwash it. Amount of backflush will be dependent on stock, how often you backflush and the size of the ultima. I’ve heard of cases it taking about 200g but that was the 2000 and I have the 1000 model.
I run a ultima 2000 and a sump as well on my plywood tank i had this same concern, i am currently backwashing once a month i would say and water level only drops about 8” by the time the filter is fully flushed, with such a small difference i dont think your tank would be flexing much.
