Diatom earth filters

I know Inwall75 has just got one

I have been considering one for part time use on my reef tank
the activity of just 2 wrasse is throwing up daily "marine snow"
and my desire to add 2 more wrasse has been subdued , due to this lack of clarity every so often

I have read up on these
understand they are not for full time use
but used perdiodically, they can help remove the fine particulate matter
that these wrasse are putting back into suspension

what I am not sure about, hence asking for advice is

how often would running one be ideal
and for what amount of time , each time?

Steve

 

Steve, if you ran this thing full time, your SPS would starve. People remember that SPS corals get a lot of their nutrition via photosyntheis. However, people forget that a portion of their Daily Carbon Budget is from from particulates and also bacterioplankton. (Which is one reason why flow is so important for them).

For your needs, here is what I would recommend. Once a week or two weeks (depending on bioload), powerhead off your rocks and turn on the diatom filter. Wait a half hour, and powerhead your rocks again. (i.e. lather, rinse, repeat). It's really a win-win situation. The waste that is sitting on your rocks that will encourage algae growth instead is becoming food for your SPS. Then the diatom filter removes the rest. Run it until your water is clear and then turn it off. It's that simple.

For your wrasse situation, you could leave the u-tubes in the tank. When the wrasse makes a mess, turn it on for 20 minutes and then turn it back off.

 

there are multiple models out there now with different sizes.....however from what I read vortex recently had a fire in the warehouse and supply has been really down. A lot of places I looked did not have any available but got ours from Big Als Online.

 

Thats brilliant that you Inwall75
I will try the power head technique and 2 hours weekly to start with

I was looking at the Vortex model
Googled Diatomaceos earth filters - got the Theil aquarium basics link and also the name Vortex came up alot

Steve

 

steve, I think I have a large one of these on my swimming pool lol
no wonder my pool is always so clean

oh and did I mention that its a saltwater pool also!

 

Intersting. that said, I would be cautious about letting it sit for days with no circulation thru it. it will end up growing aneorbic bacteria and then could introduce nitrogen rich water into your tnak. the water will smell like rotten eggs.

i get this occasionally when I dont monitor the the flow in my coil denitrator.

 

That's a GREAT POINT!. You can't just turn it off and let it sit there for a couple of weeks. Hydrogen Sulphide could easily build up (rotten eggs) if it's not being used. You need to clean it if you aren't turning it on daily to get rid of your wrasses sand.

 

excellent information
would running it for a couple of hours on a 5 gallon bucket of RODI after the couple of hours on the tank
be adequate enough to prevent the potential Hydrogen Sulphide issue

Thanks Pickupman66

Dingo - any fish in that salt water pool?

Steve

 

I don't know to be honest. I think I might try that and see.

 

I don't understand.

Using this thing on a sps tank seems counterproductive, when you compare it to the maintenance & how ill-often it will be used.