I am currently only running a big DE filter on our 35g heavily planted dirt substrate tank. A couple years back our heavily stocked 110g tank which I was running the Hayward EC40 filter on sprang a leak at which time we downsized to our 35g planted tank. I was not allowed (by my teenage daughter) to use the EC40 on our 35g display tank because "it is an eye soar"... LOL! I am currently using a 20" tall 4.5" diameter 80 micron (If I remember correctly) Big Blue cartridge filter coated with DE media:
https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/...ceous-earth-filter-memoirs-filter-junkie.html
To those using these.
What is your system size?
Flow through the filter? Pressure? What pump are you using?
How often do you have to clean it?
Do you have any prefiltering before water gets to this.
Thanks.
I ran the EC40 on our 110g tank for about 8 years. I am currently running the above described 20" big blue cartridge filter described above as a DE filter.
I have always use poret sponge or filter pads as the first level of filtration in a sump which act as a prefilter for the DE filters.
In over 2 years that I have been running the Big Blue filter I have only changed the DE once. I ran the EC40 on our 110g tank before the tank sprang a leak. I never had to change the DE in the EC40 in the years it ran on the 110g.
The Hayward EC40 Diatomaceous Earth pool filter is designed for ~40,000 gallon pools with constant supply of dirt and debris being blown into the pool not to mention all of the bodies oiled up with sunscreen jumping into the pool. The EC40 is a BIG filter designed to keep huge (in aquarium terms) amounts of water crystal clear.
When I started experimenting with the EC40 I ran it off of a tiny little Quiet One 4000 filter and I was shocked at how well it worked. With a 2hp pool filter pump running thousands of gallons an hour I am sure there is a noticeable pack pressure on the pump. The EC40 with its huge filtering surface area appears to induce less back pressure that the back pressure caused be the 3 foot head height from my sump to the tank (off the cuff wag). The EC40 does not require a big pump like I expected it to before I started experimenting with it.
Oughtsix, you've had this running for an extended period now; have you had to replace any seals around the pump handle "plunger" or elsewhere? And do you have it plumbed with the pump forcing water into the filter (as shown in the manual) or drawing water out and pumping directly into the tank?
I initially had a problem with an extremely slow dribble coming from the seal between the top of the EC40 and the lower EC40 container. I used plumbers silicone grease (what they use in faucet valves etc.) on the seal between the two halves of the EC40 which eliminated the leak and no leaks developed in the many years I ran the EC40.
All of my big DE filter configurations have always been the return line of a conventional sump and the tank. So sump pump in the sump pushing water through the DE filter then a line from the DE filter back into the tank.
I have not replaced the seals around the plunger handle. I am currently working on a 180g tank build (
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...insula-dirt-bottom-planted-tank-build.714316/) in which I will be putting the EC40 back into use after a couple years of dry storage. I will lube the pump handle shaft with silicon grease but I don't plan to preemptively replace the pump handle shaft seals. The pump handle shaft seals are available for a minimal price as a kit on ebay.
What size systems are you running this with. I am interested in one for my 450 for polishing and moving the fx6 to another tank as it really works to polish my tank requiring frequent maintenance
From my experience I firmly believe that an ED40 DE filter will easily handle your 450g tank with minimal maintenance. With a course prefilter I would make a wild guess of having to do any maintenance on the EC40 would be in more than 6 month intervals. I would "guess" the 6 month interval maintenance would be turning off the pump, pumping the handle on the EC40 a few times to knock the DE off the EC40's DE screens then turning the pump back on. I would expect that you could EASILY go over a year (if not several years) before having to flush out the DE media and recharge the filter.
I would also like to remind anyone interested in an EC40 that they are designed not only to handle 40,000 gallon swimming pools they are designed to provide a service life of dozens of years when used outside being subjected to the elements. The EC40 is really a filter in a completely different class than any filter designed for home aquarium use.
Please also make note that the EC40 is 26.5" tall. You will need a few inches over the height of the EC40 in your stand if you want to run the EC40 inside of your stand. Ideally you will want 27 or more inches of open height (doorway height in the stand) to be able to remove the EC40 if you ever need to. In my 180g build thread I linked to above you will see that I specifically designed my stand to accommodate the height of the EC40.