Getting the WOW Affect with Allot Less Work- Design and Servicing the Purigen Reactor

[sayid]

hi Poul;thank you for getting back to me , this was my second reply to a thread in SD so when i received a massage saying that a moderator needs to look at it and accept it i just thought well that the way it is but did not hear back, any way i just have discovered SD and was particularly interested in your approach towards keeping your tank clean.
i have a 500 liter tank ( 133 gallon ) lightly planted with 8 adult discus, 8 different tetras ,8 cories ,and 2 b/n catfish .the plants are in pots and the substrate is about 1 inch river sand ,the tank is about 4 years old my filtration system consist of 2 canister filter 2200 lph each ,an internal filter 800 lph which theoretically should give over 10 times the the tank volume but with sponge in one canister and seachem matrix in the other its more like 5 times the tank.my parameter use to be
1.ph 6.8
2.gh 2
3.kh 1
4.amm 0
5.nitrite 0
6.nitrate 10-20
i use API test kit and it difficult to distinguish between 10 and 20 PPM . i am lucky that the water out of tap in Melbourne Australia is very soft so all i need is to add some prime and warm it up ,my temperature is 30 c , i use to get green algae on the drift wood ,black algae on the java fern and general dirt and needed to clean the tank a few times a week ,about 12 month ago i joint a 2.8 liter sun sun external vessel powered by one of canister with an adjustable tap and after a series of tests found that the lowest nitrate level is achievable with a very low flow ( 10 lph ) so with 2 liter of seachem matrix in the vessel and low flow my nitrate is about 2 PPM and that has reduced my algae and i practically don't have to clean the glass.






I also got a UV sterilizer 24 w to reduce algae and parasites .
my works been reduced but still i need to pick up poop every day , my next task will be to increase the flow inside the tank to try and dissolve the feces even more and pick up the heavy solid pieces let say every 2 days. before i forget i have prefilter sponges on both canister which are very easy to change ( 2 times a week ).
your set up is awesome and i am sure costly .things like purigen ,reactors ,pleated filters are at least twice the price in Australia so i am trying to copy what you have done but cheaper and not as elaborate and sophisticate as yours . the plants in the tank are so far happy with 2-3 PPM nitrate although they are not growing very much so getting 0 nitrate is probably pushing it too far for the plant but having said that this is primarily a discus tank and if i have to get rid of the plants and the sand so be it .
thank for the trouble of reading this ,please let me know what you think,
regards
sayid

[sayid]

hi Paul
thanks for replying to my PM and the kind words on my set up ,i have already put up one bubble lift tube and waiting to get a map of where the feces are accumulating . i have one question ,the use of air stone in the bubble tube ,is it necessary ? at the moment mine is just the air tube inside an acrylic tube i.e no air stone.
sayid

[afriend]

hi Paul
thanks for replying to my PM and the kind words on my set up ,i have already put up one bubble lift tube and waiting to get a map of where the feces are accumulating . i have one question ,the use of air stone in the bubble tube ,is it necessary ? at the moment mine is just the air tube inside an acrylic tube i.e no air stone.
sayid

Sayid,

Really like your tank, it's so clean and nice. Your fish are beautiful also.

As to using an acrylic tube without an air stone, I've never tried it that way. My guess is that it will pump more water with smaller bubbles when you use an air stone. My guess is based on this logic: for an equal total volume of air, small bubbles have a greater surface area and therefore will "push" a greater volume of water up the tube.

I recently upgraded my membership on SD to Homesteader and now have my own "web-page" so to speak. I would like to invite you to visit at the following link:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/forumd...d)-NW-Arkansas

I like your country very much and have been there twice diving at your beautiful Great Barrier Reef. The people there are so friendly.

Paul

[sayid]

hi Paul;
thanks for the logical explanation of reason for using air stone ,it makes sense .A few weeks ago you showed some interest in regards to use of pool sand on the bottom of your tank ,i have used pool sand ,river sand and play sand ,they are based on silica and therefore similar in hardness to the glass, despite being very careful i have got scratches on my front glass especially if you use the magnetic glass cleaner like i do ,all you need one small particle of sand on your glass cleaner .
regards
sayid

[sayid]

hi Paul;
i was looking through seachem website and there was question / ans ware regarding purigen and some one wrote that they have used a reactor made by : simplicity chemical reactor : and he was very happy with it and there is another version of it using UV and a catalyst where they convert the organic waste into harmless compound and CO2 .i was going to ask you what do you think and whether it would be practical for people without sump.
regards
sayid

[afriend]

sayid,

Here's another possible alternative for your reactor. I have used this on my QT tank a number of times and it works pretty good. It's a HOB (hang on back) type. You can find these here in the US at many pet stores online. It's called a PhosBan Reactor 150. There's a picture of it contained here:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...tration-System

You said that you are presently cleaning your filters once per year. When you get your new system working properly, you will have to clean it much more often. I do mine once a month. That's because the feces and uneaten food contains inorganic compounds and allot of them are going to end up in the mechanical filter.

UV and a catalyst where they convert the organic waste into harmless compound and CO2 .i was going to ask you what do you think and whether it would be practical for people without sump.

Thanks for the info. I'll look into it.

By the way, I really like your beautiful fish. They are obviously healthy.

One other thing, I would recommend that you increase your water change.

Paul

[sayid]

hi Paul;
Thanks for getting back to me ,i have located a phosban reactor 550 which i can get new for a good price ,i also have 2 canister filters which i can use one to push through 1 gpm of pre filtered water through .
you have two screen mesh that you have sandwiched between 2 sponges ,could you please tell me how many micron is it and where can i buy it from,i think you mentioned some where that it is polyester .
Thanks for the kind words regarding my fish ,actually i am going through a 10 days course of sterazin ( deworming medication ),one of my fish has a chronic fluke problem and i have to do the whole tank , in fact i am thinking of drastically reduce the sand in the tank to improve the health of the fish ,regarding the water change you are spot on and from last week i have started to do 2 lot of 50% per week.
regards
sayid

[afriend]

hi Paul;
Thanks for getting back to me ,i have located a phosban reactor 550 which i can get new for a good price ,i also have 2 canister filters which i can use one to push through 1 gpm of pre filtered water through .
you have two screen mesh that you have sandwiched between 2 sponges ,could you please tell me how many micron is it and where can i buy it from,i think you mentioned some where that it is polyester .
Thanks for the kind words regarding my fish ,actually i am going through a 10 days course of sterazin ( deworming medication ),one of my fish has a chronic fluke problem and i have to do the whole tank , in fact i am thinking of drastically reduce the sand in the tank to improve the health of the fish ,regarding the water change you are spot on and from last week i have started to do 2 lot of 50% per week.
regards
sayid

Sayid,

A PhosBan 150 is large enough for your application and is a few dollars less. However the 550 model will certainly do the job just fine.

The screen mesh that I used is 250 micron (0.000250 inch). It can be somewhat larger and still function properly. The purigen beads are approximately 0.030 inch diameter. My source for it is:

http://compsuco.com

Part Number U-CMYK-250

The reason I recommend Polyester is that it is fairly stiff which makes it much easier to cut accurately. They can be cleaned and reused. I suggest something like a toothbrush for cleaning.

As far as your plants are concerned, it might be possible to regulate the flow rate thru the reactor such that just enough nitrate is available and yet allow the absorpition of enough organic material to permit the feces to dissolve. This is just a theory. I have no idea if it would work or not. I would suggest that you get the feces to dissolve and then try and get the plants to grow.

I just want to reiterate that circulation at the tank bottom is important to get the feces to dissolve. It doesn't take much circulation however. If you can detect any slight motion of the feces, then the circulation is sufficient.

Do you know what your tank water TDS is at?

Buy the way, if you can't locate the mesh material, I have some extra that you can have.

Paul

[sayid]

Hi Paul;
I have looked at the screen mesh supplier's web site and there is not the exact product ,i have dropped a line if they have some thing close ,in the mean time i am looking for a screen mesh locally in Melbourne and if i could not get any where i will take you on your offer.
Regarding the plants ,if i have to get rid of them so be it ,the discus comes first . I have 2 groups of plant first group are root feeders ,that means if they have fertilizer tablets under the sand in the plant pot they are happy with zero nitrate in the water ,the second group get fed through their leaves and ,they need nitrate ,i think i have enough circulation since i see little feces movement but i don;t know my TDS value.
Thanks for the screen mesh offer .
regards
sayid

[afriend]

Hi Paul;
I have looked at the screen mesh supplier's web site and there is not the exact product ,i have dropped a line if they have some thing close
sayid

Sayid,

I just checked and as far as I can determine it is available.

http://compsuco.com

select "polyester mesh"
select "polyester mesh"
locate U-CMYBK-250" and select "9.54" to specify 1/4 yard
small window then indicates part number "U-CMYBK-250-A"
the "A" specifies the amount (1/4 yard)

Hope this helps you.

Paul

[sayid]

hi Paul;
i am just going to do it now,thanks.
regards
sayid

[farebox]

I've done the same thing with my reactor suggestion about the screen mesh from Afriend, works perfect. Also as an precaution, taken one of those permanent plastic mesh coffee filter and atttached to side of sump to catch any loose purigen.

[sayid]

plastic mesh coffee filter ,that is a very good idea.

[afriend]

I've done the same thing with my reactor suggestion about the screen mesh from Afriend, works perfect. Also as an precaution, taken one of those permanent plastic mesh coffee filter and atttached to side of sump to catch any loose purigen.

farebox,

Sounds like a good idea. It's not easy to cut the filter screen so that it stops all of the purigen from going into the tank. It can be done however.

The purigen beads are not harmful to the fish according to the SeaChem techs.

Hope this helps,

Paul

[farebox]

Check out this video to get what I was talking about using the coffee filter with my Purigen reactor: https://youtu.be/X7CEcFJ3Qfg