JBL CristalProfi i80 GreenLine is an internal filter for aquariums of 60 to 110 litres, shaped to sit in a corner. It handles both jobs a filter has to do, straining the solids out and carrying the bacteria, and it arrives with the media already fitted.
Key Features
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For 60 to 110 litre tanks: JBL's figure for this model.
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Corner shape: takes up a corner rather than a whole back wall, which matters in a tank this size.
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Mechanical and biological in one: foam that strains the water and houses the filter bacteria.
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Comes with its media: ready to run out of the box.
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Rotatable outlet: point the flow along the tank to get proper circulation.
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Modular cartridges: swap one stage at a time, which is how a filter keeps its bacteria.
Fitting An Internal Filter
- Mount it fully submerged, with the outlet at or just below the surface so it breaks the water a little. Surface movement is how oxygen actually gets in.
- Aim the outlet along the length of the tank rather than across it, so you get circulation instead of a dead end.
- Leave room to lift it out. A filter wedged behind rockwork is a filter that never gets serviced.
- Never run it out of water, even for a moment. These pumps are water-cooled.
- Rinse the foam in tank water at each service and squeeze it gently rather than wringing it out.
Good To Know
- A new filter has no bacteria in it. Stock slowly over the first weeks, feed lightly, and test ammonia and nitrite until both read zero. A filter becomes a filter over about a month.
- Rinse filter media in tank water, never under the tap. Chlorine kills the bacteria that do the biological work, and that is most of what a mature filter is worth.
- Service before the flow drops noticeably. By the time you can see a filter struggling it has already stopped doing part of its job.
- Switch the filter off at the mains before opening it or putting a hand in the tank, and fit the cable so water cannot run down it to the socket.
- An internal filter takes up space inside the tank and is visible. That is the trade for not needing a cabinet or hose runs.
- Suction cups perish and lose their grip over time. Check them at each service, because a filter that drops onto the substrate stirs up everything it has collected.