Diatom filter

[Darb21]

Originally Posted by newfound77951

No worries, it was filter-safe DE...I did line the holes up correctly (I think!), it's just a matter of getting the knack of the "art" of filter priming!

Heh.. and yes... it is an art. I end up with the PooF white cloud of DE in the tank... no worries, its inert and doesnt hurt fish. Just leave it run with the PooF in there and it clears itself up... So Newfound, whats the best way to prime that you've found?

[newfound77951]

After changing the DE 12 times in the last 2 days, I've got it down pretty well. When the filter is clogged, I put it on the counter next to the sink, pull off the diffuser on the OUT hose, and stick it in the threaded fitting for my Python that now permanently lives on my sink. You have to hold it but it fits in pretty well. Turn the water on and all the green gunk comes right out the IN tube into the sink. I usually shake the canister a few times, upside down helps a lot. Once it's clean I put in on the floor (or on a footstool if it doesn't reach) and put the in and out tubes (with the diffuser back on) into a saucepan full of water. I then turn on the filter and if it doesn't pull water right away I'll turn it upside down to let it fill. Once it's running I turn it off, and wiggle the out tube to let all the air escape. Do that 1-2 more times and it's all set. THen I turn it on and pour 1 cup of the DE into the saucepan and let the filter suck it up. Once that's done, I turn the filter off and submerge a 1 gal Ziploc bag in the saucepan and scoop up the in and out tubes (may have to add a little water to the bag) so that I don't lose the siphon. Over to the tank; the whole bag with tubes goes in with the top of the bag out of the water. Turn on the filter and wait while it spits out any DE that was dislodged in moving. Usually I turn it off once to let any additional air escape. 1 minute or so and the bag is clear, then I just pull the bag off the ends and let it run. Watch out to make sure the intake doesn't suck the bag onto it, you'll hear the motor whine when it does. From start to finish takes me about 15 minutes.

The reason I do this in the sink is that I don't have a suitable container that I can hang on the side of the fishtank, and I have to backwash it in the sink anyway.

FYI the tank is STILL not completely clear...I took some pictures last night and will post soon.

[Roach182]

newfound, I don't understand why your aquarium is not clear yet after so many times with the diatom filter. The frst time I used mine the water was so green that I only had a couple of inches of visibilty in my tank, could not see the back at all. About 20 minutes with the vortex on the first trip my water was that clear it looked like the fish were gliding through air instead of swimming. The filter however turned into an almost flourescent green blob of algea, it was kinda cool to look at. Anyway, good luck getting all the green out.

[QTOFFER]

Originally Posted by Roach182

newfound, I don't understand why your aquarium is not clear yet after so many times with the diatom filter.

The diatom filter is great at removing green algae, but it won't fix the underlying cause. Something is out of whack in Newfound's tank, and it may take some detctive work to figure out what it is and fix it.

I had two big outbreaks before I finally got my nutrient levels back into alignment.
A big round of applause for Greenmaji for pointing me in the right direction.
In my case, my phosphates were several times higher than my nitrates. A healthy ratio should be 1:10 phosphates:nitrates. I seem to have solved the problem by dosing the tank with potasium nitrate and cutting my PWC schedule to 50% every two weeks. Plants thrive in 10 - 20 ppm nitrate, and will soak up any algae-feeding phosphates.

Newfound, I would suggest checking your tap water for phosphate. and your tank water for nitrates. If the tank is heavily planted, you may have to start dosing to keep your nitrates above 10 ppm.

[newfound77951]

I am dosing....I try and keep nitrates between 10-15 ppm and phosphate around 1.5 ppm. I just ran the filter the last two days, so it's not a problem of the algae re-growing (yet) rather the filter is not getting the water perfectly clear to start with. I know I need to find out the cause, I also needed to get back to "square one" so to speak!! I think the cause lies in an imbalance of light (too much) and CO2 (not enough). There is very little algae in the tank besides the GW. I have heard of people setting their light timers to turn off for a few hours mid-day, I think I might try this and see if that helps.

[Lonewolfblue]

Now, after doing some thinking, could this be a good idea?

Run a diatom filter til the water is crystal clear. If the GW comes back, do it again and when the water is crystal clear, do a 3 day blackout. I think this could eliminate the having to do the extra PWC's before and after the blackout, as the water will be clear and you are just killing off the little bit of remaining GW in the tank?

Just ordered the Vortex Diatom Filter- XL. How often do you need to change out the filter bag? Can it be rinsed out and reused numerous times, or is it once it's plugged up, it needs to be replaced?

[Lonewolfblue]

bump

[kaz]

what made you pick that one over the freedom?

[newfound77951]

Thanks LWB...I might try that....sounds like a good idea. I am also going to set my lights for a mid-day light siesta and see if that helps.

[Lonewolfblue]

Originally Posted by kaz

what made you pick that one over the freedom?

400GPH, lol.

Figured I would need a little more flow, as it's a 75G tank. If I was smaller, then I might have gone with the Freedom or the other one, but I don't plan on running it all the time, like the freedom is capable of doing, so they say.

[Roach182]

Originally Posted by Lonewolfblue

Now, after doing some thinking, could this be a good idea?

Run a diatom filter til the water is crystal clear. If the GW comes back, do it again and when the water is crystal clear, do a 3 day blackout. I think this could eliminate the having to do the extra PWC's before and after the blackout, as the water will be clear and you are just killing off the little bit of remaining GW in the tank?

Just ordered the Vortex Diatom Filter- XL. How often do you need to change out the filter bag? Can it be rinsed out and reused numerous times, or is it once it's plugged up, it needs to be replaced?

Just rinse off the filter bag and it can be used many times. The actual filtering is done by the diatom powder which coats the filter bag and prevents the bag from gumming up with waste.

[newfound77951]

I finally got the tank clear, gave everything a good pruning and replanting...looked pretty good for this pic, but next day it's already visibly clouding up again...tomorrow will run the diatom and then it's LIGHTS OUT for 3 days for me. Will update after!

[Lonewolfblue]

Hmmmmm, wonder what I'm going to do with my diatom filter now, lol. Greenwater is gone, crystal clear water after 3 days into my heat treatment for ick. Temp is at 89 degrees.

Awsome looking tank. Can't wait to start up my 29G. Going to put the eco in here shortly, and give it a few days to completely settle before setting up my filter.

[greenmaji]

Originally Posted by QTOFFER

A big round of applause for Greenmaji for pointing me in the right direction.

WOW!!.. thanks for the applause and
Sorry I missed that 8O


newfound... Im reading though and it sounds like you might be carbon limited..

What's your tank specs?
Lighting type, intensity, wattage, K of bulbs (can get at effective wattage), age of bulbs.?
Size tank?
And are you using CO2? If so, DIY? preasurized? method of difusing? CO2 levels KH and PH?
Are you dosing miro's?
other then N and P what else are you doseing?

Am I posting all this and you have it figured out already