Diatom Filters

[loupgarou]

anyone using any?

seems like the 4 main brands are Whisper, Vortex ,Magnum and system 1.

seems like vortex has a great rep (eg: running for 17 years). while magnum 350 seems ok enough.

SH88 is carrying magnum HOT 250 and magnum pro 350.

however sources of Diatomaceous Earth haven't been found yet, I'll check with the yellow pages soon enough.

[BFG]

There have been a few topics posted about this particular filter. Benny is interested I believe n is currently on the lookout if I'm not wrong.

[Allen_1971]

Chris,

any reason why you need a diatom filter?

[Boesman]

Will it work as well if we insert some diatomaceous earth powder into our filter ? Just curious.

[benny]

Yup. I'm still interested and Loupgarou and I was looking around for one.

The main reason is for water polishing and if you have ick and other ecto-parasites in the tank, they are also history when you run the filter. The filter may not be so expensive, but the earth cost around S$50 per 1 kg packet if I recall correctly. One time use only.

One point of caution. For planted tanks, the filter will raise the pH of the tank as it extracts gas from water. So when your CO2 is extracted, the pH will increase accordingly. Must be monitored carefully.

Cheers,

[Boesman]

So how do we place the diatomaceous earth into the filter as they are in fine powder form. Will the powder gets dissolved, making the water milky ??

Regards

[benny]

----------------
On 6/2/2003 12:23:09 PM

Will it work as well if we insert some diatomaceous earth powder into our filter ? Just curious.
----------------

No. It won't work. The gas extracted from the water will jam up your external filter. Besides, as the diatomaceous earth gets clogged (meaning that it's working), the flow rate drops drastically.

Do you have a source for the earth?

[Boesman]

I can get d.e but it is in very fine powder form. Do you have way to D-I-Y a diatom filter out of it ?

[benny]

----------------
On 6/2/2003 2:08:39 PM

I can get d.e but it is in very fine powder form. Do you have way to D-I-Y a diatom filter out of it ?


----------------

It must be in fine powder form. It only cakes when used. I have an idea for the filter that may work.

Nature Aquarium uses a water purifier casing for their external CO2 reactor. That may be modified to work in a series with an external pump. The input of your pump flows through this "polisher".

When the water flows into the "polisher", it will pass through a micron bag containing the D.E. Then the water is pumped out of the cannister through the pump back into the tank. This will almost create a vaccum in the micron bag as the water works it way out, which causes dissolved gases to be released.

There is a valve for air in the water purifier cap, which can be fitted with an air tube and a check valve. This way, the excess gas can leave the "water polisher" but the water will remain in the system. For safety reasons, the air tube and check valve can be arranged such that it's ends back in the tank in case of failure. Should the pump stop working, then the system just "hangs", no worry about leakage at all. And with a set of double taps, you can isolate the "polisher" for servicing.

Now...are you game enough to try it?

Cheers,

[loupgarou]

the first time you power it up, it will cloud your tank water until it starts to cake. people recommend using it in a bucket of water until its clear, then move it to the actual tank using a cup or something to maintain the prime. (or we can use shutoff valves instead).

----------------

i think its very unlikely you can use a standard filter like eheim with it, since you need strong water pressure.
going by descriptions of the thing in operature, I suspect the 350 GPH applies while the filter media is in. ie: without filter media, the flow rate could be like 4000 gph..


where do you get your Diatomaceous earth from? I tried calling a few pool shops this morning but 2 x no one answered, one didn't know what I was talking and one was out of business...

all I need to do is find a source for it, or order a 10pd bag. then order the vortex D1 from usa

anyway, main reason for it is: photo taking

[Boesman]

The diatomaceous earth is used in one of the process in my working place. It is expensive and is from Japan. It is cultivated from a special type of seaweed. For the benefit of sharing in this forum, I do not mind to pass you a few kg of the powder for experimentation if you are really keen to try it out.

Regards.[:0] [:0]

[loupgarou]

how expensive is expensive?

a 5 lb box of DE earth ordered from US fish shop eg:
USD 16.95 not including DHL.

www.foryourfish.com

--
ps: are you working for NeWater or Hyflux or PUB? heh

[loupgarou]

in anycase, I think the magnum 350 should be fine, after all, there is warranty (I hope) in singapore if there is a distributor here... vortex might be neater looking but no distributor.

[benny]

Hi guys,

Was looking around for more information on Diatom Filters and here's a user's review on it. Seem like documentation is terrible and not too easy to set it up. However, it performs it function well.

User review on Vortex Diatom Filter XL on www. littlefishtank.com

Any interested here for a bulk order? Seem that Vortex has a 220V model for export priced at US$195.88 excluding postage.

Cheers,

[benny]

Here's another two reviews on the Vortex Diatom XL

Review on www.cichlid-forum.com

Also read somewhere that Diatom filters will need a longer running in planted tanks due to the amount of goop inside. Also, the pump may be too strong for small fishes.

Here's another review on fishzine.

Review on www.fishzine.com

Seem like the maintenance required before and after each use is a hassle...hmm...

Cheers,

[benny]

Another interesting piece of information...

If you attached the gravel cleaner to the diatom filter, you can actually clean out your base fert from the gravel when you are tearing down your tank without making back breaking trips with the buckets of smelly gravel to the toilets. Naturally, for a large tank, you will need to run this a couple of time, but definitely much less effort compared to the traditional method.

[loupgarou]

somewhat related to the topic at hand:

>Does anyone know why seachem purigen claims to "polishes better than a
>diatom filter" ? does it refer to some specific aspect of that (removal of
>certain ions) or does it refer to water clarity?
>how does it work anyway?

It refers to the water clarity. Purigen quite simply is capable of
removing all nitrogenous organic waste (which typically impart a
yellowish or tannish color) leaving the water perfectly clear and
colorless. Purigen is a macroporous synthetic polymer and is not a
simply ion exchange media. It's one of those "you have to see it to
believe it" type products. I can make promotional statements about it
all day but it doesn't really mean anything until you try it and see
for yourself that those statements are in fact true.

-Greg Morin
--

Gregory Morin, Ph.D. ~~~~~~~President/CEO~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seachem Laboratories, Inc. www.seachem.com 888-SEACHEM

[loupgarou]

ok; I just bought the magnum 350 deluxe from soon heng 88 (henderson rd).

playing with it. suspect its a really old set since all the paper is yellow.. oh well, anyway it works, however, I'm still unable to get out all the particulates yet (ie: due to the chaotic nature of water) and I'm constantly stirring up more mulm/goop.. but the sheer amount of crap I have to wash out of the filter is great.

I'm just using the micron filter at the moment, not using diatom earth yet (besides, I only got 1 packet), I'll check with the pool supply shops with the new yellow pages. the old one had way too many companies which have since gone bust.

[loupgarou]

acro-asia.com carries Diatomite/Diatomaceus Earth. (sera distributor in singapore)

comes in 25 lb at around $28++

well worth it. you use only about 15 grams each time

[benny]

Great!!

Keep us posted of the results of this filter. I think there's a few of us here that's interested.

Cheers,