AQQA Fluidized Moving Bed Filter with Sponge, Submersible Aquarium Filter

Folks, if you’re going to buy these, understand what they really are. They ARE NOT SUITABLE AS THE SOLE SOURCE OF FILTRATION! These are fluidized bed media reactors that happen to have a piece of foam in the bottom. Yes, the foam will filter water UNTIL IT CLOGS UP! What these are good for is tumbling media that do one of two things. Provide a home for bacteria, or provide a home/food source for bacteria. First thing to do is yank that foam out. Throw it away. If you want to provide a home for bacteria, use the media that comes with it. What I use them for is to tumble DrTim's Aquatics NP-Active Pearls. This product provides food and a home for beneficial bacteria. Here’s the scoop: “ NP-Active Pearls are an easy alternative to carbon dosing, suitable for all water types, fish, and corals. 100% natural polymer pearls grow beneficial bacteria & remove nitrate and phosphate from water. Naturally the carbon pearls clean messy fish tank algae. Keeps your aquarium balanced. Pearls should be placed in a fluidized reactor or similar device where pearls are kept in constant motion with sufficient water flow.” I have 6 aquariums. A 90 gallon reef tank, a 33 long saltwater for my moray eel, and a 55 gallon salt water fish only. On the freshwater side, a 55 gallon with Tiger Oscars, a 20 gallon tetra tank, and a 10 gallon planted shrimp tank. Every one of them but the 90 gallon have two things, one of these reactors with Dr. Tim’s pearls, and an algae scrubber. All the saltwater tanks have custom sumps with a custom algae scrubber built in. The freshwater tanks have HOB algae scrubbers I custom build using Marina filters. I’ve been an advanced aquarist for over 55 years, have a BS in Marine Biology and a MS in Mechanical Engineering. I can’t tell you how many cars I could have bought for the money I’ve spent over the years on stuff that just doesn’t perform, so I either design/build from scratch or design/modify OTS hardware. I never have water quality problems, and if I lose a fish, it’s due to old age.

I have a 75-gallon Amazon tank and have wanted to boost its bio filter for some time. I am tired of rinsing bio-sponge material out and replacing it. After researching fluidized beds, I realized they are the most hassle-free way to increase biological filtration, and really, are structurally perfect. The one problem I was facing was that for a 75-gallon tank, I was going to either spend a lot of money to buy a larger set up, or the tank was going to need multiple units in the tank. I bought two of these for under $40 total and decided to play around with them to see what could be done about combining them. Since they are slightly larger at the top than at the bottom, stacking them would not work; instead, I used my Dremmel to cut the bottom portion of one of the tops free. Then using the sanding features, I was able to remove a portion of the ridges inside the band, so that I could fit the adjusted end over the top of the other unit. It ended up being a sleeve to combine the tops. With a little underwater tape, the middle was set. I also took sponge out of the "top bottom," and in its place I put some underwater tape fashioned into a little cap with a portion of it cut out (to lead the bubbles into one spot). I cut the bottom sponge in half, too, to increase the inflow. Then with the media inside, I connected the bottom air hose attachment to a fairly strong air pump, and with some air hose, I attached the top air hose attachment to the aerator insertion point of the outflow of a surface skimmer. This way, the skimmer's powerhead pulled a current out of the top of the "top bottom." The result has been nice! The water is only a bit cloudy now because of all the aeration from another power head. The water is very clear and mature, the corydoras' barbels are long (meaning, no nitrates), and the tank just seems healthier. It's not the prettiest set up, but for the price, it is really functional (the plants hide it from the front, anyway). These fluidized filters really do the job and at half the price that I would have had to pay for one as big. I do recommend this unit, as its simplicity and appearance both are more than adequate for the price.

The product came just as listed. It was very easy to install in my tank. So far it seems that it is operating as intended. The sellers was very prompt in shipping the item and it was packaged very well. The noise the filter makes is much lower than my old hang on the outside of the tank filter.

This moving bed filter works great, I removed the sponge so that it self-cleans and does not get clogged since I have a hang on back filter for mechanical filtration. I would say that if you have a secondary source of that mechanical filtration then this would be a better option over a sponge filter as it has that self-cleaning factor and always remains at top shape in terms of bacteria health since it throws the dying or unhealthy bacteria off as the pieces collide only leaving the healthy. Storage capacity? This filter comes packed with plastic media although I would recommend taking out most of it so it can actually work. I left it about a quarter filled after taking little out at a time which seemed to be the limit. Keep in mind that you need to let it run under water for a couple of hours or let it sit idle before the pieces behave as they should, I made that mistake and thought the bio media was defective as it was clumping, this fixed itself after several hours of waiting. I highly recommend this over a sponge filter as a pairing to a hang on back filter or a canister filter.

Comes completely assembled except for the suction cups. Bought it for supplemental biological filtration for my 365 gallon. Running it off of a Hygger dual output air pump. If AQQA made a larger one I would certainly purchase it, but this one seems to be working just fine. The fluidized media is interesting to watch.

The reviews were great but I'm not sure why. It's certainly cool looking to watch the filtered media move around but it's not very useful, except if you want to put other media in there, such a purigen, charcoal, etc. instead of the floating plastic. In fact, over time, some of them got little spots of brown algae on them, which rendered the experiment basically worthless. A couple of things to know. The top will be very noisy when air goes through. others suggested drilling more holes in the top - which definitely worked. A must do to keep it quiet. Removing the filter on the bottom to wash is a major PITA. You have to try to unscrew the bottom cap, which can be very difficult. The top half can also be a challenge. I'm not sure what this does other than move some media around that might contain beneficial bacteria, but doesn't seem near as porus as the standard blocks. Perhaps there is some science to this of which I'm unaware but it didn't do very much. This would be easier to remove with a magnet than the four suction cups, but it is what it is. At least it's not as difficult as others. I do have to remove it to clean it off every month from algae and buildup. The best reason to buy it is to put in other media and push air through the bottom. For that it is reasonably good. I'm not sure of other purposes. But it is cost effective for a solid piece of plastic. Just be aware that it's not easy to clean.

I bought two of these and soaked them in water for an hour. Then hooked up to my dual channel 6w air pump. (Listing says use 4w or higher) All the media just clumps up in a ball at the top and nothing moves around. Listing has a product video that mentions if this happens to try and remove some of the media and try again. Or to use a stronger air pump. I did both, removed 50% of the media and tried again, nothing still stays clumped. Then I Hooked up to my commercial 18w air pump and blew a TON of air through that sucker and it still did nothing. I think the problem is the media used is just too buoyant and it wont sink like its supposed to. I bought an almost identical product for another tank from another brand (Qanvee) only difference is it's green otherwise looks identical and it's running on a 4w pump flawlessly... Going to try and return these and get two more of the Green Qanvees instead. It's too bad, the grey color works much better with my tank colors :(

Ordered two of these for an over stocked 70g to replace a pair of sponge filters and accompanying two Fluval 407s, both set up as straight biological. Due to the fact I’m over stocked, heavy filtration, namely biological is necessary. I use no chemicals and haven’t for the 15 years these guys have been with me. One thing I need to say, I’ve seen the review videos on here where people aren’t using a big enough air pump. That K1 media needs to be tumbling, I mean, it is by design after all. Also, I replaced the fine foam that it came with plastic pot scrubbers which excels at growing bacteria. If you don’t have them, just take the foam at the bottom that it comes with out. That foam is too tight and acts as a mechanical filter which will require cleaning. DO NOT CLEAN THIS FILTER. Use it as a Biofilter. It will take about 4 weeks to establish, but make sure you have plenty of flow through it so it’ll be effective. The purpose of the this filter media is not to filter out particles from the water as is often assumed. The media serves as the habitat for a vast array of microorganisms that include bacteria, archaea, worms, ciliates, flagellates, and many others. These microorganisms live in a community that is based on biofilms. The biofilms are created by bacteria that secrete extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), which is often called “slime”. The community forms a bioreactor that processes the waste and turns it into food and energy for its members, and ultimately into organic or inorganic products that are then used by plants, evaporate, or removed by water changes. It takes a considerable amount of time to establish this “filter community”; consequently, it is very important not to disturb it unless absolutely necessary.

I had 2 filters in my 30g tank, a fluval U3 fluval and tetra whisper 40i, i like the tetra whisper but i had enough with the U3, was complicated to clean and the flow was too powerful for my kind of community tank, so i bought this one (the AQQA large) to replace it and i am very please: in less than 48hres, it removed the biofilm flotting on the water and my water is cristal clear, and my fishes love it. Remarks: 1- the bubble sound is noticeable, but too me, not unpleasant but if you cannot tolerate noise or if the tank is in your bedroom, it's something to consider. For me, the air pump sound is more bottering than the bubble sound. 2- you will need tubing and an air pump. The packaging of the filter suggests a 5 watts pump to allow all the beads to move in the filter. If you take a 2w or 2.5w, it will not be enough for the large filter size. I tried at first with a 2.5w but it was not enough, half of the beads were not moving. I went with a 4w and it's perfect. 3- i did keep my tetra whisper filter along the new AQQA one. I don't know if the AQQA alone would be enough to keep the water clean. Overall i would recommend.

High quality product for the cheap price.well recommended specially the seller🤙🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻

Didn’t expect it to be super big. I didn’t expect it but it works nice

I just purchased this filter to add something more compact to my grow out tank. The quality is great and the pre-filter is much easier to clean than my other filter. I like how the bio media continuously tumbles letting the live bacteria thrive. The suction cups work great to hold the filter and there is a hole on the back for you to attach your air line. This is a nice feature which keeps the tank looking great. I would recommend this filter to someone looking for a moving bed filter.

The product itself is good, but the lid, top part of the filter comes off very easy, I have found that white media all over my aquarium many times. Lid just comes off and all media scatter all over the aquarium. I have ordered new one couple of days ago, small one.. but I have received large one. 🙄