Opinion: Vortex Diatom XL Filter

Only when you slipped on the ice that one time and fell off the roof.

Now stop being silly....and stop making me be silly

 

Hi all. I'm running my diatom XL filter now, been kinda a hard little machine to get going. But it is running.

I wanted to ask if the other users of this filter has had a problem with air bubbles out of the machine. Does the filter material trap bubbles that get pumped out into the tank? Is there a way to correct this? Its run about 2 hours now, but it once spit a bunch of diatom powder into the tank, so it kinda had to start over.

and do I leave the water in it or drain it down the sink? I dont know how often to change or recharge the powder......

any help would be awful nice!!!

thanks again

Scoffer

 

I usually start the Vortex with the in and out tubes in another container with aquarium water in it. This will allow the diatom powder to be spit out into the container and then sucked back into the filter. After about 2 minutes the water in the container will start clearing up. Then I shut off the unit and carefully put my thumb over the end of the input side tube under the water in the container to retain the siphon and then place the input tube in the tank. Standing right next to the tank I turn the unit back on and when it starts pumping water into the container quickly move the output tube into the tank.

When the diatom powder either becomes really dirty or the amount of water being pumped through slows considerably it is time to chage the filter powder. You can either open the container and rinse everything out or you can hold the output tube on the end of a faucet and it will backflush the old powder out. You can actually charge the Vortex using a plastic bag with aquarium water and the fresh powder in it. Make sure the powder is pretty will mixed up in the bag, put the input tube in the bag above the unit and get the siphon going As long is there is less water in the bag than the unit can hold it will not discharge out the out side. Then it is ready to start up again.

Most of the above is more easily accomplished if you want to change a couple gallons of water. That way with the fresh charge in the unit you can just put the input tube in the tank, place the unit below the tank level, and run the output into a waste container. Start the siphon and then turn on the pump. It will pump the water into the waste container and allow the powder to cling to the filter insert. Then, when the water is running clear, just quickly take the out tube out of the waste container and put it in the tank. I have run a single charge on a tank I was cleaning up for 6-8 hours before changing, mind you that was with me stirring up the gravel and creating a horrible mess in the water column. If you are just going to use the Vortex for small cleanup, get it running and blow off the rocks etc. and it can be left running all day and night if you want.  ;D

I know all of this seems a lot but the results are the most clean water you can get IMHO, remember though that you do not want to polish the water constantly in a reef tank because that will eliminate all the nice little amphipods and phyto plankton. :'(

They say that the filter powder won't hurt anything but I assume that it is rather irritating to fish!!  [smiley=worried2.gif]

They say that it will actually remove ICH. It will but you have to catch the ICH in the stage where it is dropping off the host to re-hatch, in other words when the ICH is in the water column. The powder will filter down to 1 micron!!!

Sometimes there is an air pocket right where the tubes go into the unit...it will cause air bubbles. I usually just tilt the unit a little bit and the bubbles will go away. ;D

Drew

[glow=blue,2,300]Go Chargers!!![/glow]​

 

thanks!!! great ideas ......


just one more question please. Do I leave the tank water in the jar? That doesn't sound good to me. But as soon as I turn the pump off all the diatom powder feel to the bottom of the jar. If I emtpy it I loose all my powder for now. Is that just the way it is?

I really appt. the help. I didn't even think about stirring up the sand. I did blow off my rock before I began pumping.

And the unit did clarify my water wonderfully. Its sparkly clean after only 3 hours of runtime. I just had to get th hang of it, and it took over from there!!

thanks agian.
Scoffer

btw, do you turn off your tank pump/filter when you use diatom filter?

(I know, 2 questions.)

 

If you are done with the unit you should flush it out or it will get really stinky really fast!!! The reason to turn off your other filtration is only if you are doing a major clean up, in that instance you will also clog your other filters up. Be very careful about stirring up the gravel it might have some real nasty stuff in it...I usually just use some chopsticks to break up any clumps and don't go down very deep. Pick a section of the tank to do each time and then the next time another section, say every 2-3 months. There are pockets of sulphur in there that you do not want to disturb (rotten egg smell) hopefully the good bacteria in the sand bed will take care of those problems.

Drew