New with cloudy water problems

Greg,

You could run the cannister 24/7 as well if you wanted to, no probs.

My way of thinking is that the Protein Skimmer should be the main source or filtering the organic particles suspended in the water, because of the way the PS works it removes the particles from the water column and holds them in the skimmer cup. If you run a cannister, then you will also filter out some of these particles as well, the difference being the particles are now still in the water column and will add to the nutrient levels as they decomose.

The way I normally set up is to have a good protein skimmer that runs all the time and then a cannister with carbon that I run occassionally, or use a low water volume cannister and run it 24/7

As for the fuge, it depends a bit on what you want the fuge to do, if it's for Nitrate reduction then it shouldn't matter at all, but if you want the fuge to grow pods etc, then you need to be a bit careful about the plumbing as the pods you grow could get filtered out, which would be counter productive.

John

 

Hi John,

Thanks for the explanation and advice. I guess you and I are one of the few members on the forums at this hour -- I'm in Hong Kong which is 2 hours behind Melbourne.

One other question -- My LFS guy advised not to use any carbon in the canister because it would make the water cloudy. So I have floss, ceramic rings and biostars in the canister but no charcoal carbon. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks,
Greg

 

[quote author=Om_Seeker link=board=Newbie;num=1097546382;start=15#21 date=10/13/04 at 00:37:33]Hi John,

Thanks for the explanation and advice.  I guess you and I are one of the few members on the forums at this hour -- I'm in Hong Kong which is 2 hours behind Melbourne.

One other question -- My LFS guy advised not to use any carbon in the canister because it would make the water cloudy.  So I have floss, ceramic rings and biostars in the canister but no charcoal carbon.  Any thoughts on that?

Thanks,
Greg[/quote]

My pleasure Greg,

The time difference does have it's benefits sometimes  

I think the reference may be to cheap carbon as the cheaper product can sometimes 'crumble' and fine particles can pollute the tank.  Having said that though, if you rinse the carbon bags under tap water you shouldnt have a problem.  I have always used good quality activated carbon and have never had an issue with cloudiness.  

Maybe there are other reasons for their statement but it's not something I have come across before.  Maybe you should ask them, why?

Have fun

John