Getting the WOW Affect with Allot Less Work-Part 3 Water Filtration System

The complete Water Filtration System consists of the following elements:

Bubble Lift Tubes (6)
Filter Circulation Pump
Pleated Canister Filter
Purigen Reactor
Bio-Filter Canister

The following link contains pictures of these elements as they exist in my setup, along with a water flow diagram depicting how water flows thru them:

http://s1219.photobucket.com/user/ps...ation%20System

The most important thing I want to say is this: each and every element listed above plays an important role in achieving the results described in Part 1. Futhermore it is apparent that each element has to be sized properly to accomplish the task. This is what will be discussed in Part 3. If the approach is to place a reactor in an existing setup without consideration for all of the elements above, the results achieved may not be the same as mine. That's not to say that your approach has to be identical to mine, just understand the purpose of each and use your own judgement on how to provide for the intended function of each.

History: Before adding the Purigen Reactor to the filtration system above, all of the other elements (Bubble Lift Tubes, Filter Circulation Pump, Pleated Canister Filter, and Bio-Filter Canister) were in place for several years. With this setup I had to clean algae, slime, and fish poop on a regular basis. I siphoned the tank bottom frequently, and went thru a major cleaning of algae and slime monthly. Even with the cleaning, the tank began to look dingy about half way thru the month.

First Use of Purigen: I decided to try the 100ml bag of Purigen, and placed it in the Pleated Canister Filter near where the water exits the canister. The only thing that resulted was an improvement in water clarity (it did a really good job of polishing the water). But that's the only significant visual result. Still had fish poop, algae, and slime, and the tank nitrate level was about 10 ppm, even though I was making large daily water changes.

Addition of the Purigen Reactor: It's recommended to place the Purigen Reactor on-line for the first time just after the tank has been cleaned. When I did this, it was apparent that the fish poop was being processed by the next day. Since algae and slime grows slowly, it took two or more weeks to observe the visual results for the reduction of them. After the Purigen Reactor was on-line for several weeks, it was removed for two days in order to make modifications. Sure enough, fish poop begins collecting again; then, when placed on-line again, the two day buildup slowly disappeared. It is clearly the addition of Purigen in a reactor that makes the difference.

How Purigen Works: Purigen absorbs organic compounds. It does NOT absorb ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate. What happens is this: organic compounds are necessary for the nitrification process to take place; this process first produces ammonia, then nitrite, then nitrate. By absorbing organic compounds, Purigen stops the production of any new ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. This is an important consideration in the design of a water filtration system that uses a Purigen Reactor. The reduction of algae and slime results from a lack of nitrate. If the water source does not contain nitrates (like my well water), then existing nitrates are flushed out with water changes, and in my tank the nitrates are reduced to zero. Some water sources have nitrates in it; if this is the case, use a separate filter to remove them before they are introduced into the aquarium. The objective is to get the nitrates as near to zero as possible to prevent algae and slime.

What Is Happening to All That Fish Poop?: Somehow it breaks up, and some dissolves, some becomes a suspended solid, and some remains and collects on the bottom, and some floats to the surface. (The amount remaining on the bottom is perhaps about 1%. At close examination, it looks as if it has broken up quite a bit and tends to accumulate in areas with less circulation.)

The following discussion is based on the assumption that the filtration system is sized to accommodate a single 100 gallon tank with 10 adult discus.

Bubble Lift Tubes: The primary purpose of the lift tubes is to circulate the water in the tank and keep it moving. They do not transport the fish poop into the filtration system until after it brakes up. In those areas of the tank that receive less circulation, I noticed that the fish poop takes more time to break up. My 100 g tank has 6 lift tubes and they do a good job. My tank is a quarter circle, perhaps a rectangular tank could get by with 2 or 4 lift tubes. Bubble lift tubes are easy to add to an existing tank in the event that it becomes apparent that there are areas in the tank where the fish poop is not being processed. As a side benefit, the outlet of the lift tube is pointed at the overflow pipe. When a water exchange is in process, the lift tube then pushes the floating debris into the overflow pipe where it is removed from the tank.

Water Circulation Pump: The primary purpose of the circulation pump is to transport all the bad stuff into the filters where it can be processed. But it also assists the lift tubes in providing circulation in the tank. The pump in my filtration system has sufficient flow to circulate 100 gallons thru the filter 10 times per hour.

Pleated Canister Filter: There are two filter cartridges in my canister filter, each contains 30 sq-ft of pleated material and provides 25 micron filtration. Now this might seem an overdesign for a single 100 gallon aquarium, but it is not. As discussed earlier, all that fish poop (and also uneaten fish food) has to go somewhere, and allot of it is going into the pleated filter. This becomes obvious when the filters are removed for cleaning. The canister has a pressure gauge on it. The purpose of the gauge is to provide an indication when the filter is becoming plugged up. Before using the Purigen Reactor, the filter never showed any indication of becoming backed up. But now, the pressure begins to increase about the end of the third week after cleaning, so 60 sq-ft of filtration media is just about right for a 100 gallon tank. The nice thing about a pleated filter is that it can be removed, cleaned, and reused. Another thing that I have noticed is that the filter, after cleaning and drying, is slowly gaining weight. After being used three times, the filter now weighs 17% more than a new one. The good news is that it still easily permits water flow after cleaning. If you plan to use a sump filter instead of a canister filter, just be sure that your setup can handle a large increase in material caused by the breakup of the fish poop. Also, be prepared for the possibility that the sump filter may begin to plug-up if it cannot handle the increase in load. I've never used a sump filter, so my precautions here may not be necessary, just use your own judgement.

Purigen Reactor: A lot of detail on the design and construction of the Purigen Reactor is provided in Part 4. While there is more than one way to build a Purigen Reactor, I can say that the one presented works very well. One thing worth mentioning concerns the flow rate thru it. Most people think that the flow rate has to be maximized to get full benefit. (As will be shown in Part 4, increasing the flow rate presents another problem.) My results clearly indicate that a flow rate between 0.5 and 1.0 gallon per minute provides full benefit. (This assumes that 250 ml of Purigen is used and that the Purigen is nearly all fluidized.

Bio-Filter: The bio-filter in my system is contained in a canister, but there is no reason why some other method could work as well. It should be sized for the tank and the number of fish in it and it should be well established before placing the Purigen Reactor on-line. I've read some discussion about the use of Purigen and the effects that it might have on an existing bio-filter. Since Purigen absorbs organic compounds which are necessary for the nitrification process, it is feared that the benefical bacteria will not survive. Then, in the event that the reactor is taken off line, the fish will be subject to ammonia and the bio-filter will have to be cycled again. So I performed an experiment (twice just to make sure). The Purigen Reactor was taken off line for 48 hours. The ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate was then measured and recorded twice daily. Ammonia and nitrite levels remained at zero, and there was an increase in nitrates indicating that the nitrification process was still active. Probably the ammonia from the fish that keeps the nitrification process going.

Part 4 presents the design requirements for a Purigen Reactor, and the details on how my custom reactor meets the requirements. There are lots of pictures depicting the details.

Paul

This is a great read Paul, thanks for sharing.

Amazing what you're doing with all this! I wouldn't think of me doing this until I'm able to get a fish room or something like that.:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DiscusLoverJeff

This is a great read Paul, thanks for sharing.

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Thanks for your encouragement. It's nice to be recognized by someone in the position of Super Moderator. Please be sure to check out Part 4 where I present all the details of my custom Purigin Reactor.

Paul

Quote:

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Originally Posted by camuth8

Amazing what you're doing with all this! I wouldn't think of me doing this until I'm able to get a fish room or something like that.:)

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Thank you. Photobucket has an option available where I permit people to make copies of my pictures. Perhaps you might want to make copies of the pictures and the write up for future reference.

Paul

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Originally Posted by afriend

Thank you. Photobucket has an option available where I permit people to make copies of my pictures. Perhaps you might want to make copies of the pictures and the write up for future reference.

Paul

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Thank you. I will.:)

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Great system, I had worked in coal fired Electrical Generating Stations most of my Life, and water treatment. I love filtration, which I truly understand. Water changes as large as Discus lovers do, you really do not need such elaborate system, I have read.... However I believe that yours is an asset for Folks that work, or need less water changes perhaps due to other Life Stress, etc.? You have a beautiful setup. Congrats :-) I have some new ideas now :-) Thank you, Boyd.

bump

Awesome

Paul,

Are your reactor and bio canister inline with the pleated filter? Does the water flow in a straight line from the pleated filter to the reactor then to the bio can then to the tank? In other words, are the filters all connected in sequence?

http://s1219.photobucket.com/user/ps...tml?sort=4&o=3

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OC Discus

Paul,

Are your reactor and bio canister inline with the pleated filter? Does the water flow in a straight line from the pleated filter to the reactor then to the bio can then to the tank? In other words, are the filters all connected in sequence?

http://s1219.photobucket.com/user/ps...tml?sort=4&o=3

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OC Discus,

Perhaps the diagram is not clear. I'll explain the pump circulation system this way. Please refer to the diagram contained in the link as you read this. The direction of water flow is indicated by the arrows.

The water (17g/min) is drawn from the aquarium by the pump. All of it then goes thru the 30 micron pleated filter. Upon exiting the pleated filter, it splits into three paths, the amount of water in each of the three paths is controlled by valves (V2, V3, V4). In the first path, most of the water (13g/min) flows thru V2 and then is returned to the tank (note that this water is returned to the bottom of the tank). In the second path, V3 controls the amount of water (1g/min) that flows thru the reactor and then is returned to the tank by a dedicated path. In the third path, V4 controls the amount of water (3g/min) that flows thru the biofilter and then is returned to the tank by a dedicated path.

This arrangement is important to the proper operation of my system, because the 30 micron pleated filter catches the carp before it can plug up the reactor or the biofilter. The purpose of the separated return paths for the reactor and the biofilter is that it allows for the measurement of the volume of water flow thru each. The majority of the water flow is returned to the bottom of the tank because that's where the feces is, and it helps to set up the proper currents that assist the breakup the feces.

Hope this helps.

Paul

Hi Paul-

Bumping a very old post here wondering if you still have the images of your system? I’m big on filter optimization including using purigen and would like to see your diagram.

Greg