Diatom filter?

[Jdills1347]

I would pretty much like to know if a Diatom filter would be the right way to go for my 55 gallon tank. I'm having a problem with the crushed coral that I added to my tank causing a nice fine white cloud. I can reduce it with water changes but if I stir up the coral on the bottom I'm pretty sure it will cloud right up again. I'm figuring even if I can clear it up for now, when I get my cichlids they will do a good job of stirring it up again. I have 2 Emperor 280's running so I don't need any serious filtration, just something to clear up the water aesthetically. So what would be your suggestion? I don't have a huge budget, looking to spend under $90. Should I go with a diatom or a cannister and do something like this guy did: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=20291&highlight=diatom
He basically took a cannister filter and put DE powder in it. (Which I have no idea what it is)

Ideally this is something that I probably wouldn't need to run all the time, I could have it on a switch. But I suppose if I got a cannister possibly might run it all the time and just substitute in the DE powder only when I need it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[krap101]

imo if you dont keep it on all the time and just keep it in that lil tube thing wouldnt the powder thats on the wheel settle on the bottom and harden.. powders like that usually dont come out witout a fight after they compact

so maybe it might work ur way but if it doesnt you might just clean the whole thing out when ur gonna turn it off.. because then u wont have to worry about the filter thingy... and if it settles wont the berings get like gunked up?

if im not mistaken the hot thingy is the rube with the giant bio wheel type thingy

 

[Allivymar]

I love my diatom filter; I originally bought it after a nasty bout of green water, but I use it regularly in my tanks to polish the water and pull out any lil nasties the regular HOB missed. I spent less the $70 for mine; tis a Vortex D-1 and I got it at Big Als online. Apparently the true diatom filters work better then the regular filter/diatom ones.

Erm, and I have no idea what krap is saying.

 

[Jdills1347]

^I'm glad I'm not the only one that doesn't understand what he/she is saying. So by regularly do you mean all the time or do you turn it off and on? Oh and what size tank do you use it on?

 

[Allivymar]

I use it once every week or 2 on all my larger tanks (15g, 25g and 55g). I run it for a couple hours; the D-1 turns over 150 gph so I figure a thats plenty to polish the water. When I used it for removing the algae bloom, I was able to see to the other side of the tank in 15 mins!

I try to run some bleach/water mixture thru the tubes before using it on a diff tank although I'm aware the bag in the filter is the same. So far nothing has shown up or traveled from tank to tank (obviously not an issue with your one tank).

 

[krap101]

what i meant was ya kno if you leave like lets say hot chocolate in a cup for a long time it gets cold and then it settles on the bottom. then it gets like a goopy stuff and then it hardens..

thats what happens with most powders i think. and before it gets hard when it turns goopy wont it get into the berings of the wheel thingy?

i guess its not the thing with those filters

 

[Jdills1347]

O ok ha that was in english that time. Thanks. Well I would only be using it with one tank so do you think its possible to be able to hook this up to a switch so I can turn it only when need be? If so will I have to purge the line somehow so the water doesn't sit in the tube and the filter chamber stagnant? And what is the maintenance like on these, meaning everytime I use it I will need to replace the media? Thanks for all the help by the way.

 

[krap101]

i think you should like hook it up to a bucket and then just keep it running there

 

[Jdills1347]

I'm very tempted to get one, but upon reading some reviews it seems like it requires maintainence everytime you use it. And it's not always that easy.

 

[madasafish]

Hey, that's true. You do have to wash it out every time you use it--it's a *specialty* filter. Once you get the hang of cleaning and starting it up, it's not that tough.

 

[Jdills1347]

Yeh you are right. If I only use it like once a month it shouldn't be that bad. I guess my big question was should I go for a cannister filter and used the powder whenever need be and use it regularly the rest of the time.