I recently purchased both a 100 micron and 50 micron bulk (36" x 36") mat and two, 250ml bottles of Purigen to put it into my sump. The tank was not as clear as I would have liked and it had a very slight brown tint to it that I believed to be from the mopani wood.
After the latest additions, my sump is set-up as follows:
Drain comes in and dumps into a cup that I perforated and filled with filter floss
Cup "sprays" water across two layers of mechanical pad through it's perforations
Under these two layers I placed the Purigen in bags and got them to lay as flat as I could
Then I underlaid all of that with an oversized cut of the 100 micron pad. By oversized, I simply mean that I cut the pad 1" longer in each direction than the chamber's dimensions. This way the pad curls up the sides slightly and prevents water from running over the edge and not through the micron pad.
Then the drip plate and onto the bio-media.
Well, I woke up this morning to a nice surprise. Since I set the tank up, two months ago approximately, the water has had a very slight brown tint to it. I always chalked it up to the mopani wood that was in the tank. Perhaps that was the reason still, but whatever it was is now gone and gone in less than 12 hours.
Additionally, the water is as clear as it's been and by a large enough margin that I won't ever not be using these two products again. I just kind of wish I would have added them separately to know which one worked....but then again, it could be a combination of both of them I reckon. Either way, I'm very pleased with the addition of these two products.
I can't wait to get home tonight to look at it again and see if it's even better yet.
Some clarifications, just cause:
The sump has been up and running for about a month now and the tank was cycled prior to that with two HOB's....one from my other tank and one that came with the used tank. I don't particularly think those two things really matter though as the change in the brown tint and removal of fine particulates in the water column happened so quickly that it has to be the addition of these two products.
Now I need to order some more Purigen to add to the canister for the smaller tank.
After the latest additions, my sump is set-up as follows:
Drain comes in and dumps into a cup that I perforated and filled with filter floss
Cup "sprays" water across two layers of mechanical pad through it's perforations
Under these two layers I placed the Purigen in bags and got them to lay as flat as I could
Then I underlaid all of that with an oversized cut of the 100 micron pad. By oversized, I simply mean that I cut the pad 1" longer in each direction than the chamber's dimensions. This way the pad curls up the sides slightly and prevents water from running over the edge and not through the micron pad.
Then the drip plate and onto the bio-media.
Well, I woke up this morning to a nice surprise. Since I set the tank up, two months ago approximately, the water has had a very slight brown tint to it. I always chalked it up to the mopani wood that was in the tank. Perhaps that was the reason still, but whatever it was is now gone and gone in less than 12 hours.
Additionally, the water is as clear as it's been and by a large enough margin that I won't ever not be using these two products again. I just kind of wish I would have added them separately to know which one worked....but then again, it could be a combination of both of them I reckon. Either way, I'm very pleased with the addition of these two products.
I can't wait to get home tonight to look at it again and see if it's even better yet.
Some clarifications, just cause:
The sump has been up and running for about a month now and the tank was cycled prior to that with two HOB's....one from my other tank and one that came with the used tank. I don't particularly think those two things really matter though as the change in the brown tint and removal of fine particulates in the water column happened so quickly that it has to be the addition of these two products.
Now I need to order some more Purigen to add to the canister for the smaller tank.
