treesprite March 11, 2008 March 11, 2008 Can anyone explain these pressure filters to me? All I know is that they can remove particles at 1 micron and should not be used continuously (or so I've heard). Is such a thing worth an occasional run?
jnguyen4007 March 11, 2008 March 11, 2008 Can anyone explain these pressure filters to me? All I know is that they can remove particles at 1 micron and should not be used continuously (or so I've heard). Is such a thing worth an occasional run? It saved my tank when my 2 year old dumped an entire container of fish food into the tank.
YBeNormal March 11, 2008 March 11, 2008 They can be run continuously. The filter bag becomes coated with diatom powder that traps anything down to 1 micron in size though so they will clog and efficiency is reduced. Most people use them only for hospital tanks and for cleaning substrate or polishing aquarium water. I use mine regularly on my FW tanks and only for rare special needs on my SW tanks. Here is a link to the Vortex site. I bought my first Vortex diatom filter in 1978 and they are still in business.
mogurnda March 11, 2008 March 11, 2008 They are tiny versions of pool filters, useful for rapid polishing of the water to remove suspended debris. In fact, we used a pool filter on wheels for the purpose at one LFS I worked at. When the big diatom filter was on the fritz, we burned out the motors on several of the hobbyist size models by using them continuously. These were probably the same vintage as Bob's. They also use a lot of watts.
treesprite March 11, 2008 Author March 11, 2008 I think it would be interesting for me to try one of these things out at some point. Thanks for the info.
dschflier March 12, 2008 March 12, 2008 I used to use one frequently with my 210 african cichlid tank and still will on occasion run it with my SW tank. Occasionally if I am re-aquascaping or want to blast the rocks with a power head remove any waste I will turn off my main pump and use the diatom filter for a couple of hours. It is amazing how quickly it pulls all the garbage out.
Tee March 12, 2008 March 12, 2008 I use Diatom for my fresh water too. I use it to take out the waste on the bottom of the tank. I don't bother put the powder in the filter anymore. This is great for freshwater clean up. I don't want to use the power for my saltwater, eventhough they say it save. Tee ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I used to use one frequently with my 210 african cichlid tank and still will on occasion run it with my SW tank. Occasionally if I am re-aquascaping or want to blast the rocks with a power head remove any waste I will turn off my main pump and use the diatom filter for a couple of hours. It is amazing how quickly it pulls all the garbage out.
YBeNormal March 12, 2008 March 12, 2008 Diatom filters are absolutely safe for SW but you must be careful to close the recirc valve until the diatom powder completely covers the filter bag and the water runs clear (same as you would for FW). Running the filter without the powder simplifies things somewhat but it won't filter near as well as it does with the powder. Cleaning the gravel in our FW tank is the main reason I use a diatom filter. I add the gravel vac attachment from my python to the intake of the diatom and then stick it directly into the gravel. All of the debris is sucked right out and never gets stirred into the water column at all. I've had fish tanks since at least 1970 and I've not found an easier or more efficient way to clean the substrate in a FW tank.
treesprite March 12, 2008 Author March 12, 2008 too bad I didn't know all this before investing in a fluval last year which I am not longer using
dschflier March 12, 2008 March 12, 2008 Has anyone ever used a different kind of diatom filter besides the vortex brand. Even though I feel they do a great job I have never considerd them to be all that user friendly.
YBeNormal March 12, 2008 March 12, 2008 You are right, they are not user friendly but you get used to them after 10 or 30 years... The only other aquarium filter I know of that is specifically designed to use with diatom powder is the Magnum 350 and that is not in the same league as the Vortex. Maybe there are others that I have not heard of?
treesprite March 12, 2008 Author March 12, 2008 This is what's on Big Al's Online: http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl36...tssystem1filter
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