Diatom filters, anyone?

[Paul B]

Which wouldn't work for our use.

Hmmm. That gives me an idea.

 

[reefwiser]

This is a great idea. Do you leave the other pumps running? Can it be inserted into the sump too?

Corey

Corey you could put it in the sump especially when cleaning your sump area and stirring up the water there.
I generally keep the filter in the tank a couple of hours going back around the tank with a turkey baster getting anything that settles in the rocks. It is amazing sometimes how much junk is just sitting in cracks of your rock work.
I said 24 hours on the video because the tank was really cloudy and it was a tank reset do to aptasia in the sand.(Hey that could be a song. ) and vermetid snail's all over the rock work that I wanted to get out of the tank.
I have used DE to treat Ick it helps clean out the free swimming state.

 

[JasPR]

one tip--- rinse the INSIDE of the filter when you clean it-- that will amaze you. also soak the pleated filter over night in hot water and a splash of chlorine bleach. rinse it after 24-48 hours, over night, run it under the tap and let it dry out. Its a good idea to have at least two pleated filters that you can rotate between cleanings

 

[biecacka]

Ed, did it help with the vermatid snails? Or does it more polish the water in an attempt to starve them out, sort of like it would for algae.

I'm thinking of ordering one for my tank.

Corey

 

[reefwiser]

Oh, I just removed all the rock work and soaked it in Bleach for two weeks. God I love killing things.
A Diatom filter is something every hobbyist should have because there are many times I have seen people with serious water quality issues and the don't have one.
You can fix a lot of issues in a tank by keeping your tank clean and using a DE filter regularly in a step in the right direction. I picked it up because my old one had broken and this one is some much nicer that a bunch of hoses coming out of the tank.

 

[biecacka]

Which one do you use?

Corey

 

[Breadman03]

Finally had a few minutes to finish the video up.

Thanks for the video. Those filters caught my attention a couple months ago and I've been considering getting one when finances allow.

 

[reefwiser]

Corey, I use the Marineland Polishing Filter

 

[biecacka]

Anyone found smaller bags? 1-5lb bags of it?

Corey

 

[Don Lidtke]

Please let us know how it worked on ur sump

I was extremely disappointed with the current manufactures system. It's nothing like the old system I ran in the past. This one leaked all over the floor, because the top would not seal to the jar. No matter how hard I pushed on the top I could not get the o-ring to compress enough. I tried silicone lube on the o-ring hoping that would help but it did not. Also, the charging valve leaked. What ever company is manufacturing this system has stripped everything to the lowest quality point that they could. This was a huge waste of money!

 

[reefwiser]

D0n are you talking about the vortex unit?

 

[Hpolascik]

It worked great in my sump. I stirred up all the nasty stuff up and in about an hr everything had either went thru filter or resettled. I stirred it up second time and now the bottom of my sump is spotless This was several months ago.

Just wanted to give everyone an idea of the free floating junk these filters remove I enclosed a pic.

4 days ago I hooked the diatom filter up to my 150 gallon reef tank. After 2 days the filter was so dark and nasty I decided to empty and recharge the filter for a second round. I took this pic of the filter hooked up on day 2 of second round! It’s not quite as nasty as the first 2 days (wish I had taken a pic) but it’s still nasty.

FYI. The diatom filter media is bright white in color at setup.

 

[Hpolascik]

D0n are you talking about the vortex unit?

I’m sorry I did not specify filter i used was the vortex diatom filter

 

[lariat8099]

I have one and LOVE it.

 

[Fin]

IME, even the old ones leaked and the motors didn't last long. I went through a couple of them many years ago. I had to run mine sitting inside a 5 gallon bucket to catch the drips. Really wish someone else would take the idea and refine it so it would be more reliable.

 

[Breadman03]

IME, even the old ones leaked and the motors didn't last long. I went through a couple of them many years ago. I had to run mine sitting inside a 5 gallon bucket to catch the drips. Really wish someone else would take the idea and refine it so it would be more reliable.

Well, diatoms are very abrasive, so how would one go about designing something effective? Motor seals would likely get eaten up quickly. I have a Blue-Line 70 pump that I think has a design that would work. Assuming their smaller motors are identical, perhaps it wouldn't be too difficult to make something. I think that setting it up similar to a calcium reactor where there is a low flow feed coupled with an internal recirculation loop should work well.

Thoughts?

 

[Don Lidtke]

D0n are you talking about the vortex unit?

I am, the Vortex XL. I purchased this system several months ago from the current manufacture. As I took the system out of the box I was immediately aware this was not the system I had used 25 years ago. Things look and felt cheap. In particular the recharge valve, which 25 years ago had o-ring seals and rotated a full 360 degrees and the current design is now a 90 degree flapper style valve with no seals anywhere!

Still, I was hopeful that the system would work because a DE filter does an amazing job at cleaning water. I suspected the recharge valve was going to be a problem but I was willing to deal with that in order to get the water clarity that a DE filter provides.

I assembled the system, loaded a bucket with water and DE and started the charging process. Immediately I was greeted with water leaking from the recharge valve , no surprise, but as I rotated the jar to bleed air out it too started leaking. I thought I hadn't sealed it properly so I disassembled the system, lubed the o-ring in the cover and put things back together. No joy! It still leaked. A couple of more tries at reseating the motor assembly to the glass jar but nothing worked.

In the end I trashed the entire system and have ordered the Marineland Magnum Polishing Internal Canister Filter.

 

[reefwiser]

Yes I was going to say the Mainland unit is much simpler unit and less messy to use.
The Vortex was never a great filter but it was workable. So many new hobbyist know so little about aquarium equipment that they have know understanding of how great a DE filter really is.

 

[Ridgeway]

Very interesting to read this thread but wanted to check I am understanding it correctly. When you guys talk about DE do you mean diatomaceous earth ? I ask as I'm surprised as this stuff is practically pure silicate i.e. 80 - 90% is Si.

I use it around the farm here for treating parasites on various animals and animal housing but I've always been very wary to introduce it inside the house but here it's inside the aquarium, i need to learn more !

It's certainly abrasive stuff and I can imagine it would kill any pumps quickly but is there no risk of it contaminating an aquarium with it ?

 

[Fudsey]

Yes that is what DE is short for. Diatomaceous Earth non food grade is what is used. Food grade is too fine