What media will "polish" my water

[Sharkbait]

Here's a link to the 100ml pouches I buy. I have one in each of my canisters.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/StoreCat...its=12&offset=

So would this be beneficial for a planted tank? It says that it removes nitrates in addition to nitrites and ammonia....for me, I need nitrates in my water for the plants. How much of the trace elements does it remove?

This is the trouble with planted tanks...we need those minerals that can cause the water to not be clear for the plants' sake!

It also says that it becomes toxic when combined with slime coat additives? What products do this? I know salt adds slime coat....

[Singin4Cnu]

I started using chemi-pure, on recommendation of the LFS I used to deal with for my Discus, in my tanks a few months ago and have never had water so clear.

Just a suggestion

~Singin4cnu

[jeff@zina.com]

Purigen is fine in a planted tank. And it doesn't just remove the things the plants might use anyway, so it's beneficial even if the plants take in some of the nitrates.

However, planted tanks will always be slightly "clouded" by particulate matter that you can polish out of a non-planted tank.

Jeff

[David Rose]

Do you want to be dependant on buying products more or less frequently? At least with a fine mesh media sheets mentioned earlier, they are plastic and easily rinsed for repeated use.

[fishorama]

I use polyfil (pillow stuffing from Walmart) in AC hobs & Rena canisters to remove some of the particulates. It clogs fairly fast especially if too thick a layer is used. You can rinse it out but it's only $3 for a lot of it. I bought some cut to fit micron pads but haven't used it yet.

We used ChemiPure years ago when we had UGFs, it gave a nice polished look to the water. I have it now, like carbon, for only occasional use. I don't think I'd use it in a plant & fertilizer tank, it takes out too much good stuff for plants.

[Sharkbait]

Hey David,

Yeah, I'd like to avoid being a slave to certain products...it's why I gave up carbon in the first place. I've got enough chemicals (mainly ferts) to upkeep with.

I dose with nitrates and phosphates in addition to traces (micro, macro, iron, etc). Would the media sheets remove those elements? My thinking is...I spend X amount of dollars on these ferts and then just have something in there that removes them? Kinda silly

How long do you keep the sheets in before rinsing?

They don't remove beneficial bacteria do they?

[David Rose]

Hey David,

Yeah, I'd like to avoid being a slave to certain products...it's why I gave up carbon in the first place. I've got enough chemicals (mainly ferts) to upkeep with.

I dose with nitrates and phosphates in addition to traces (micro, macro, iron, etc). Would the media sheets remove those elements? My thinking is...I spend X amount of dollars on these ferts and then just have something in there that removes them? Kinda silly

How long do you keep the sheets in before rinsing?

They don't remove beneficial bacteria do they?

Hi Sharkbait,

I know other folks on SD that using these or similar media sheets that have the same concerns. They won't filter out your ferts, but will become home to beneficial bacteria as long as you don't rinse in city water having chlorine/chloramines.

I use them in my wet/dry sump above the drip plate.

Take care,

[rich815]

So would this be beneficial for a planted tank? It says that it removes nitrates in addition to nitrites and ammonia....for me, I need nitrates in my water for the plants. How much of the trace elements does it remove?

This is the trouble with planted tanks...we need those minerals that can cause the water to not be clear for the plants' sake!

It also says that it becomes toxic when combined with slime coat additives? What products do this? I know salt adds slime coat....

I dose dry ferts using a more minimal EI dosing method. I've had Purigen packets in the canisters of these tanks for a while now, and I re-charge them every few months:

[zamboniMan]

Activated carbon will not really polish water and I think most discus keepers only use AC intermittently to remove medications.

I have both the Emperor 400 and a AC70. Pre-filters are a must and for the Emperor, I purchased extra empty media cartridges and have Eheim substrat for biological filtration and a fine floss in the second for mechanical to work with the pre-filter.

In my expirence it's only effective at "polising" the water for the first 72 hours.

[lemondiscus]

I second that.

Or get a Magnum 350 and use the micron filter with a prefilter, and one of those fuzzy blue sleeves over it. This helps prevent it from clogging to an extent.

That micron filter will clean some water! If your water is too full of sediment expect to be replacing that filter though quite a bit! I used this a few times (I have a Magnum 350) and it only takes a few days you will have crystal clear water... lol

Never thought about the blue thing.... good idea!

[jeff@zina.com]

The Magnum Micron filters never need replacing, they can be washed out and reused. Don't use them with the blue foam, that defeats part of the purpose of the Micron filter.

Jeff

[DHavens]

I am surprised no one mentioned one of these.....for some of us this is how our drinking water comes to us....diatomaceous earth
http://www.aquariumguys.com/aquarium...m-filters.html

[David Rose]

I am surprised no one mentioned one of these.....for some of us this is how our drinking water comes to us....diatomaceous earth
http://www.aquariumguys.com/aquarium...m-filters.html

Actually, it was mentioned on page 1 of this thread and if you continue to click most models are out of stock regardless of what website you go to...

[zamboniMan]

The Magnum Micron filters never need replacing, they can be washed out and reused. Don't use them with the blue foam, that defeats part of the purpose of the Micron filter.

Jeff

I use the blue thing because inevitably some good size particles get through the prefilter. By using the blue thing they get stuck in it not the micron filter. In my expirence the micron filter will have to be washed less often (good for me because of my lack of time) if the blue sleeve is over it. Plus it takes a good amount of bleach to clean the micron filter.

I can say though that after a year and a half I do need to replace the micron cartridge as parts of it have deteriorated from cleaning so many times (the folded pieces are cracked and have very little material left). I do admit though that I use it religiously and have no complaints about it except that sealing the canister gets trickier the older it gets (as with most if not all canister filters).

Merry Christmas!
Josh

[jeff@zina.com]

...sealing the canister gets trickier the older it gets.

The nice thing about the Magnums is all the parts are easily available, and relatively cheap.

As for the diatomaceous earth, it's still heavily used for swimming pool filters, and you can get the media from most pool supply places. The problem is the proper containers, I haven't seen one for the Magnums for decades.

Jeff