Water Polishing

[shovelnose]

What does everyone use to keep their water crystal clear? I've been using Aquaclear Quickfilters attatched to an aquaclear 402 powerhead it seems to do the trick but changing them every 4 or 5 days is kind of a pain. I have an old Vortex Diatom Filter but set up and teardown is a project with that thing. I see they now have a full time model(http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=22061;category_id=1713;pcid 1=2885;pcid2=). Does anyone have any experience with this thing?

[Vitaliy]

I do not have any experience with it but I see it in every LFS in the city. I never really had a problem with water being cloud, proper filtration always worked for me.

One of my clients had a major problem with his tank and water going very cloudy and green after about two days, to the point where you could not see the back glass. The tank was in direct sunlight basically the whole day the algae was growing on everything, Pleco would take care of that. The only problem was the water was turning into this cloudy green color and you would have to do 50%+ water changes every two days... Tetra Tec UV5 UV Clarifier took care of that no problem, water was clear in a matter of two hours.
http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20011106212512/www.drsfostersmith.com/images/products/large/pw_819000.jpg

[piranha45]

I do not have any experience with it but I see it in every LFS in the city. I never really had a problem with water being cloud, proper filtration always worked for me.

One of my clients had a major problem with his tank and water going very cloudy and green after about two days, to the point where you could not see the back glass. The tank was in direct sunlight basically the whole day the algae was growing on everything, Pleco would take care of that. The only problem was the water was turning into this cloudy green color and you would have to do 50%+ water changes every two days... Tetra Tec UV5 UV Clarifier took care of that no problem, water was clear in a matter of two hours.
http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20011106212512/www.drsfostersmith.com/images/products/large/pw_819000.jpg
what's the maintenance cost (ie filter media or whatever it uses) on that thing? whats its upfront cost from a fair seller?

[Vitaliy]

what's the maintenance cost (ie filter media or whatever it uses) on that thing? whats its upfront cost from a fair seller?
Basically the whole thing opens up and there is an Ultra Violet bulb inside, and as the water passes through the device the radiation from Ultra Violet light kills all the algae and whatever other living organisms in the water. The whole thing seems safe for the fish as nothing but the water passing through is exposed to the radiation.

Dr Foster & Smith sells them for $89.99, and the replacement bulb costs $29.99 (both cheaper then all LFS around me, they want to charge $125 and more for this thing). You can connect it to your canister filter, if you dont have a canister you will need a powerhead to hook it up. As far as bulbs go, it has been on for the past 3 months and is still working.

[guppy]

Lotsa plants and undergravel filters to supplement overside filter, I'm old fashion.

[rollerboy244]

after looking into carbon--i'm trying seachems purigen.too much negative about carbon---alot required to be effective and expires quickly just to become a good surface for biological filtration-not that this is a bad thing-but that's what my wet dry and fluidized filter is for.i have had purigen in my new 66 gallon for a couple of weeks it's crystal clear after three weeks with fish no detectable ammonia nitrite or nitrate--i don't know if it because of my low bio mass [a couple of blue gouramis each 2"]
my 180 is also crystal clear-my main mechanical filter is a ocean clear hooked up with a 790 blue-line pressure pump.i have a fluval surface skimmer attached to a fluval 304,a 2028 eheim,2229 eheim wet dry,a merlin fluidized filter,and a plain maxi-jet with sponge prefilter for lower water circulation.my nitrate hasn't gone past 8 ppm-with 20% waterchanges every two weeks-no maintenance of filters in 5 monthes[EECK] bio mass about 30 fish ranging from 2 to 3 1/4

[guppy]

Neverdid use carbon in my oversides, sponge and floss, and the floss was never completely changed. Had a nice micro worm colony going.

[tigerfish]

what tank and fish? :confused:

[guppy]

Varied, 20's -150's, guppies through growouts for angels and balas, to piranhas, bass, oscars, eels, communities, etc.

[tigerfish]

dont over feed

[tigerfish]

try once a day,try to stop any food from being wasted. try some bacter plus in your filter.its in the yellow plastic flip top thing

[redtailfool]

couple of canisters, a wet dry and a uv.. i put a lot of filter floss on my canister to trap floating particles.. i then clean it up alternatively once a week. Replace it once a month. But i think my secret is water changes every 3rd day.

[slapper]

Ive been using omnipure wholehouse cartrige filters on my 240. The cartriges are the pleated type (30 micron). Once a week I change out the dirty one with one thats been soaking in bleach. 6 months and I'm still using the recycled cartriges.

[DeLgAdO]

i hear good thing about the ocean clear canister filter, thinking about getting one.

[rayman45]

i use fluval poerheads stuffed with charchold.
i havent been lately because i just setup like 5 turtle tubs (rubbermaid tubs )
and i need them for that

[orlok]

I use a H.O.T. Magnum with the micron cartridge. That seems to do the trick and is a lot of less work than the Vortex. Another method is the use of filter sponges. (Aquarium Technologies, Hagen, Azoo, etc.) Now I know that they're not a welcome addition to a otherwise beautiful aquascaping scheme, but they work. Especially when they're used with a powerhead (Aquarium Technolgies models)and the sponges are cultured. You'd be suprised in how well they clean up. I hope this helped.

[h2orealm]

Kent marine Proclear is very, very good at making water gin clear. This is not the best long term solution. But it does work very well. The best solution is good filtration. Go big or bigger when it comes to filtration.

[buddah101]

Diatomagic Diatom filter or D~1 Vortex. You shouldn't really need to use the diatom filters that much though. I add the normal "charge" of diatom powder and after it gets settled on the bag I will add a tsp of powdered activated carbon. This works wonders on aquarium water! you probably should find the cause of the water problem though.

[buddah101]

Double post....sorry! :newbie: