Diatom filters

"Shagster" wrote in message
...
I rented a Diatom a week ago that cleared the problem in just a few hours..
Of course, I returned the filter and now the problem is back.. A friend is
lending me a UV that's 6 years old, but the bulb is within a year old..
It's 25 Watts.. and yes, I've had it on 24x7.

Hmmm... UV is a sure-fire wire to get rid of green water, period. If it isn't
doing
that for you, there are a few possible causes:

- Something is wrong with your sterilizer, for example, the bulb is worn, or
the quartz sleeve or surface of the tube are dirty, so the UV light can't
actually irradiate the water. (Bulb life is typically 8000 hours with a
conventional ballast, or 12000 hours with an electronic ballast.)

- The wattage is too low (unlikely at 25W, unless your tank is larger
than around 200gal).

- The flow rate is too high, so the dwell time in the sterilizer too short
to effectively kill the algae.

- The flow rate is too low, so you kill everything that passes through
the sterilizer, but the sterilizer doesn't turn over your tank volume
frequently enough, so the rate at which the algae reproduce exceeds
the rate at which they are being killed in the sterilizer.

First I would check that the sterilizer is clean inside. If it isn't,
it can't do its job.

At 25W, you can use the sterilizer for a tank up to around 200gal, depending
on what organisms you want to kill. But, for algae, you will still get more
than
enough zap dosage at that wattage. So, unless your tank is larger than 200gal,
this is unlikely to be the problem.

The flow rate of the sterilizer must not exceed a threshold beyond which the
zap
dosage drops too low to be effective. For a 25W sterilizer, you must keep the
flow rate below 200gal per hour to get a zap dosage of at least 20,000
microwatts per second per square centimeter.

The flow rate through the sterilizer must be high enough to turn over the tank
volume such that most of the tank water passes through the sterilizer at least
once a day. Because the sterilized water mixes with unsterilized water, it
turns out that to get that turnover rate, you need a higher flow rate than
you would intuitively expect. Recommended turnover rate is between once
and twice per day (meaning that 99% of the tank water has actually passed
through the sterilizer at least once or twice a day). For a 100gal tank, the
flow rate must be no less than 40gal per hour, for a 200gal tank, the flow
rate must be no less than 80gal per hour.

So, here are your parameters:

- Check that the sterilizer is actually doing its job (clean, and working
tube/bulb).

- Don't run the sterilizer at more than 200 gallons per hour.

- From your tank size, work out the required turnover rate. For 100gal, that's
at least 40gal per hour (but 80gal per hour would be better), for a 200gal
tank, that's at least 80gal per hour (but 160 gal per hour would be better).

If you stay within those parameters and keep the sterlizer running 24x7,
you will not have green water, period.

I eventually want to purchase my own diatom and UV, but wanted to hear if
others use the diatom 24x7..

No, you can't run diatoms 24x7. The filter media get clogged very quickly,
typically within a few hours. Diatom filters are used as occasional water
polishing filters, not as permanent filters.

Cheers,

Michi.

--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com

"Michi Henning" wrote in message
...
"Shagster" wrote in message
No, you can't run diatoms 24x7. The filter media get clogged very quickly,
typically within a few hours. Diatom filters are used as occasional water
polishing filters, not as permanent filters.

Cheers,

Michi.

--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com



Great post Michi up to this point. You can leave a diatom filter running
24-7 in fact my new Vortex XL recommends it. In answer to the original
posters question I left my running for 3 days, 24-7 however the water was
crystal clear after a few hours and I'm not sure I accomplished much more by
running it longer. The older Vortex models I don't think were recommended
for continuous operation.

Rick

"Rick" wrote in message
...

"Michi Henning" wrote in message
...
"Shagster" wrote in message
No, you can't run diatoms 24x7. The filter media get clogged very quickly,
typically within a few hours. Diatom filters are used as occasional water
polishing filters, not as permanent filters.

Great post Michi up to this point. You can leave a diatom filter running
24-7 in fact my new Vortex XL recommends it. In answer to the original
posters question I left my running for 3 days, 24-7 however the water was
crystal clear after a few hours and I'm not sure I accomplished much more by
running it longer. The older Vortex models I don't think were recommended
for continuous operation.

Ah, I learn something new every day. However, I really wonder how well this
would work. The diatom filter is so fine that it even traps the most minute
particles and, once you have reached the absorption limit, I think all the
filter would do is to release as many particles as it holds back. I know that
if you use a diatom filter on a bad case of green water, the media get
clogged with an hour or two. I guess for a tank without large amounts
of particulate matter, you could keep the filter running 24x7, but I would
still expect to have to replace media quite often, maybe once a week?

Cheers,

Michi.

--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com

"Michi Henning" wrote in message
...
"Rick" wrote in message
Ah, I learn something new every day. However, I really wonder how well
this
would work. The diatom filter is so fine that it even traps the most
minute
particles and, once you have reached the absorption limit, I think all the
filter would do is to release as many particles as it holds back. I know
that
if you use a diatom filter on a bad case of green water, the media get
clogged with an hour or two. I guess for a tank without large amounts
of particulate matter, you could keep the filter running 24x7, but I would
still expect to have to replace media quite often, maybe once a week?

Cheers,

Michi.



depends I guess on the particular model you use. My XL is quite large and
uses 3 cups of diatom powder which of course does the filtering. If you have
green soup in the tank then I agree it will clog up and output flow will be
reduced. In my case in my 77 the water was cloudy and I was suspecting
possibly a bacterial bloom of sometype until I ran the vortex and could see
the green gathering on the powder. I could have shut the filter off and
connected it to all the rest of my 40 or so tanks and filtered them all
before disposing of that powder.

Rick

If your UV sterilizer is not curing the green water, you have major problems. UV sterilizer to do a better job cleaning up the green a lot more water than a non-stop, with the added benefit of killing bacteria and other free-floating dirt. If your water is cloudy, this is a sign of bacteria floating in the water, which is another sign something is wrong with ultraviolet light.

When it comes to filtering the water in the aquarium, there is nothing better than this diatom filter. Diatom filters are not just water, polished to an almost perfect clarity of the release of water even the smallest debris and biological This will ensure that you keep the fish healthy.

No, you can't run diatoms 24x7. The filter media get clogged very quickly,
typically within a few hours. Diatom filters are used as occasional water
polishing filters, not as permanent filters.

Maybe you can't, but I can.

If your tank is so dirty it clogs a diatom filter in under a week or two
you have bigger problems than trying to make it crystal clear. Try some elbow
grease and big water changes.

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"Richard" wrote in message ...
No, you can't run diatoms 24x7. The filter media get clogged very
quickly,
typically within a few hours. Diatom filters are used as occasional
water
polishing filters, not as permanent filters.

Maybe you can't, but I can.

If your tank is so dirty it clogs a diatom filter in under a week or two
you have bigger problems than trying to make it crystal clear. Try some
elbow
grease and big water changes.

Isn't a diatom filter the same thing as a diatomaceous earth filter? I have
one on my pool, and the only time it has lost effectiveness is after I
neglected the pool and let it go green. I did a massive chlorine shock to
the pool, and filter it like hell. The resulting algae gummed the filter up,
but a quick backwash fixed that.


--
BV
Webporgmaster of iheartmypond.com
Check out the IHMP forums, ihmp.net/phpbb
I'll be leaning on the bus stop post.

Actually many people do use diatom filters 24/7 now.
In the old days the pumps were not made for 24/7 uses but now you can

http://www.diatomfilters.com

for more info

On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 15:09:59 GMT, (Richard) wrote:

No, you can't run diatoms 24x7. The filter media get clogged very quickly,
typically within a few hours. Diatom filters are used as occasional water
polishing filters, not as permanent filters.

Maybe you can't, but I can.

If your tank is so dirty it clogs a diatom filter in under a week or two
you have bigger problems than trying to make it crystal clear. Try some elbow
grease and big water changes.

Marc
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[quote=Michi Henning;90552]"Shagster" wrote in message
...
I rented a Diatom a week ago that cleared the problem in just a few hours..
Of course, I returned the filter and now the problem is back.. A friend is
lending me a UV that's 6 years old, but the bulb is within a year old..
It's 25 Watts.. and yes, I've had it on 24x7.


Since I am getting a bit older I have a guy come in to help work on my tank which had a similar problem. It took a while but what we did might help, when you clean e.g. vacuuam the tank develop a strategy to hit every place as there might just be a pocket of nasty stuf feeding the algae, do regular but smaller water changes so you dont shock the fish and remove any plant material that does not appear healthy. As for the DE filter, the guy that does my tank believes that the diatoms strip beneficial bacteria from the water, I do not agree but only use mine twice a month to just polish the water. Best advice is just make sure the UV lamp is healthy, the filter media is in good shape and you systematicly get the mulm out of the gravel and substrate.