H.O.T. Magnum as Water Polisher

[EGMono]

I was at my local pet store and I was poking about when I noticed that the
H.O.T. Magnum by Hagen had written on the box that it was a "dual mode" filter,
either as a continuous use filter, or as a micron filter "water polisher". Does
anyone own this filter, how well does it polish and can someone elaborate on
what water polishing is and why I would want it?

tia,
--
E.G.Mono

[Eric Schreiber]

(EGMono) wrote:

>I was at my local pet store and I was poking about when I noticed that the
>H.O.T. Magnum by Hagen had written on the box that it was a "dual mode" filter,
>either as a continuous use filter, or as a micron filter "water polisher". Does
>anyone own this filter, how well does it polish and can someone elaborate on
>what water polishing is and why I would want it?

I have one, which I bought for water polishing, though now that my
plants have started growing well I no longer use it.

Water polishing means simply that even very small particles are
removed. You may not even be able to see them but they can still cloud
the water. The H.O.T. does this via a "micron filter" cartridge, which
traps these tiny particles.

It does do a good job of polishing the water, but it isn't an instant
process - the flow from this filter is strong, and it churns up a lot
of debris from the surface of the gravel, briefly making the water
even messier. But given some time (an hour or so) it does a fine job.

Another use for the H.O.T. is to connect it to a siphon tube (included
in the 'pro' kit) and really deep clean your gravel. The water passes
through the micron filter, is cleaned of all debris, and returned to
the tank - since you're not actually removing water, you can do a
really thorough job of cleaning the gravel.

Last time I brought this use up, there was a lot of debate as to if it
was a good idea or not. A quick search of Google Groups should turn up
the thread so you can review the arguments for yourself.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

[EGMono]

Thanks! Explains it better than the box did.

>Last time I brought this use up, there was a lot of debate as to if it
>was a good idea or not.

Oh yeah, nobody wants clean gravel. ;^D

--
E.G.Mono

[Eric Schreiber]

(EGMono) wrote:

>>Last time I brought this use up, there was a lot of debate as to if it
>>was a good idea or not.

>Oh yeah, nobody wants clean gravel. ;^D

Well, the debate was more along the line of is it a good idea to mix
that kind of material (which may have gone anaerobic) in with your
water, releasing god knows what, then put that water back in the tank.
I see that as a reasonable concern, and I certainly don't know enough
about the decay process to argue with it.

--
www.ericschreiber.com

[John]

I have one of these filters as well... I was not really impressed with
it's 'water polishing'. The so-called micron filter will only work
once or twice and the replacements are expensive.

It did NOT really polish the water all that much either... clogs up
fast as well. However, the FIRST use was fine. It's just replacing
that micron filter that costs soo much. I do NOT know if you can also
use diatomaceous earth with the filter. Filter powder is NOT mentioned
in the manual for this system at all. If you could, it might last a
lot longer, it just seemed that this filter was not really all it was
cracked up to be. Claims all you need to do is rinse the filter paper
out and use it again but that did not seem to work for me.

Claims to be a great mechanical filter, which iit is not, it only has
a single, <1/4 inch thick foam sleave to perform mechanical filtering
with, which means it clogs quickly. The carbon canister is small, and
not easily cleaned. Since I prefer to NOT use carbon it means that
the system really does not offer much in the way of mechanical
filtration unless you switch to the diatom filter. That only runs
about 2-3 hours before it clogs so bad that water flow basically
stops. And NO, this tank is NOT that dirty, just that the filter is
only a single layer diatom paper and clogs fairly easily.

According to instructions with the filter, it is supposed to be
re-usable, but every attempt to clear clogs and re-use the diatom did
not really work that well. I guess I will try to use diatom powder
with the filter next, it's just that I don't trust the filter to not
back-flush the diatom powder into the aquarium.

Also note: The box claims that the filter is sufficient for a 55-70
gallon aquarium... well, don't believe it. I think it can only really
handle about 30-35 gallons, maybe up to 40 but no more. Even with the
Biowheel attachment.

However, the biowheel section works fine, I have just moved the filter
onto a 29gal tall tank and it seems to handle that size tank well
without undo maintenance... I am planning on not using the carbon in
the filter anymore and just fill that chanber with some sort of floss,
probably one of those 25 or 50 micron floss padds that you can trim to
size.. at least that way it will help with the mechanical filtration.

As for a good diatom filter, I much MUCH prefer the 'System 1' from
Aquarium Pharm. That filter will clean a 55 gal tank in less than an
hour, turn it off, move it to another and clean again... can be used
on up to 4 75 gallon tanks before you have to change the powder out!
On 27 Dec 2003 04:25:22 GMT, (EGMono) wrote:

>I was at my local pet store and I was poking about when I noticed that the
>H.O.T. Magnum by Hagen had written on the box that it was a "dual mode" filter,
>either as a continuous use filter, or as a micron filter "water polisher". Does
>anyone own this filter, how well does it polish and can someone elaborate on
>what water polishing is and why I would want it?
>
>tia,

[Buzzard Face]

"John" > wrote in message
...
> I have one of these filters as well... I was not really impressed with
> it's 'water polishing'. The so-called micron filter will only work
> once or twice and the replacements are expensive.
>
> It did NOT really polish the water all that much either... clogs up
> fast as well. However, the FIRST use was fine. It's just replacing
> that micron filter that costs soo much.

DUDE!!!!!!!!!!
Clean the micron filter by soaking in bleach water for a day, rinse
well and reuse!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buzz

[EGMono]

Eric Schreiber writes:

>I see that as a reasonable concern, and I certainly don't know enough
>about the decay process to argue with it.

Hmm, anaerobic bacteria breaks down the nitrates ok, but I guess releasing
poisonous hydrogen sulfide waste product produced by it isn't cool. *shrug*

Back to the drawing board! :)
--
E.G.Mono

[John]

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 18:02:42 -0500, "Buzzard Face"
> wrote:
>"John" > wrote in message
...
>> I have one of these filters as well... I was not really impressed with
>> it's 'water polishing'. The so-called micron filter will only work
>> once or twice and the replacements are expensive.
>>
>> It did NOT really polish the water all that much either... clogs up
>> fast as well. However, the FIRST use was fine. It's just replacing
>> that micron filter that costs soo much.
>
>DUDE!!!!!!!!!!
> Clean the micron filter by soaking in bleach water for a day, rinse
>well and reuse!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> Buzz

Hmmm... I had tried that the 2nd and third time I used the filter...
before I just went back to my system 1. It never really did 'clean'
the filter when soaked in bleach water. Just removed all coloration
etc... it was still clogged within just a few minutes of turning it
back on.

This was really obvious since the bio-wheel would stop turning and the
outflow from the filter just about stopped. Swapped back to the
carbond and foam sleave insert and all pressure was back to normal.

So the bleach didn't help me any.

[MartinOsirus]

>>> It did NOT really polish the water all that much either... clogs up
>>> fast as well. However, the FIRST use was fine. It's just replacing
>>> that micron filter that costs soo much.

yup - if you want a real water polisher - use a diatom filter (system 1)