I like the look of the artificial reef myself. It may not look natural for wild discus, but neither are the strains that so many of us are keeping nowadays! Might I ask where you purchased the reef?
P.S.
I'm also very interested in learning more of your filtration system set-up & the Purigen reactor - would appreciate more details.
I like the look of the artificial reef myself. It may not look natural for wild discus, but neither are the strains that so many of us are keeping nowadays! Might I ask where you purchased the reef?
Try this link:
www.fishtanksdirect.com/
The one I got is model R060. It weighs 60# and divides into 4 pieces. The body of the reef is made from fiberglass and can easily be modified by cutting with a saw. Mine was a little too high for my tank, so I cut the top off and fixed it by gluing on other small pieces purchased from them. I used aquarium silicone to glue it together. If some of the coral features are not to your liking, you can remove them and replace them with something of your liking.
Paul
joanstone,
Thank you for your very kind reply. I agree with your remark about the photographs.
I first used Purigen in a bag, only in a canister filter. I found that it made the water crystal clear, but there were no other visible benefits that I could see. After cutting the bag open, it was obvious that very few of the beads were getting water thru them. Suggest that you visit my post for Parts 3 and 4.
Paul
JoeJoe,
Thank you for your very kind reply. I feed them 6 times a day, and they are always hungry. The artificial reef is removable in 4 separate pieces. It's not difficult to get it out of the tank. The good part is that the reef itself stays clean for several months. The main reason for removing it from the tank is that I can't reach the back of the tank with it in place.
Paul
I remembered that I had a couple of Simplicity Reactors kicking around in a box that I hadn't used in a long time. I used to use them for GFO in my saltwater tanks, but they should be perfect for Purigen. I just threw them in the return section of my sump with some Purigen. It can't hurt and it's better than the way I had it. I do look forward to the rest of your series of posts, especially in the method that you use for your Purigen. For example, things like your flow through rate.
Joan
joanstone,
My next post will be Part 3. In it I discuss my "Total Filtration System" consisting of bubble risers, circulation pump, mechanical filter, Purigen reactor, and bio-filter. I believe that each of these elements must be considered in ordered to obtain the results discussed in Part 1. That's not to say that implementing each must be identical to mine, just that the function of each needs to be provided for in some way.
My method that I use for Purigen reactor, including design requirements, a parts list and detail pictures describing how it is built, are provided in Part 4.
Thank you for your interest.
Paul
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Nice...where did you get the Ghost?
Paul,
I love your system. I agree it is the combination of elements that makes it virtually maintenance free- at least for a month. The system is really doing 30% daily water changes, creating an upward flow to keep debris off the bottom, filtered by a huge amount of pleated media, and the purigen reactor concept seems proven to produce amazing results. You didn't say much about your bio canister. What media is inside that and what maintenance does it require. Also, water coming out of your pleated canister splits with some going into the bio, some going into purigen, and some going directly into the tank? Do you find this helps feed the bio bed in the bio canister?
I use SeaChem Matrix as the biofilter medium. I clean it every couple of years, being careful to use clean water by draining water from the aquarium. This does not upset the beneficial bacteria in any way. There are several valves which control the desired flow rate thru the biofilter and the Purigen reactor, and the remainder back to the aquarium.
The large water circulation in the tank greatly assists the process of causing the feces to breakup and dissolve. Where water flow is greater, it only takes about an hour for fresh feces to disappear, whereas in areas such as in corners it is much slower. I have also experimented by turning off the air supply to the air stones, and observed that the feces accumulates on the tank bottom and it is much slower to dissolve. I have also experimented by stopping water flow thru the Purigen reactor and this stops the feces from dissolving completely.
The two pleated mechanical filters each have 30 square feet of filter area. This large area is necessary since the breakup of the feces greatly increases the load of the filter (I estimate that the load increases by a factor of two or three).
Paul
Paul,
Do you think Purigen could be added to a Magnum 350 Canister filter to reap more of the benefits than having the 100 ml bags in the hob filters?
I have a 55g bare bottom tank with 6 discus. I think the concept of the purigen circulating in the water allowing 100% contact would be more effective than having water pass through the little bags. I'm not sure if the screen in the media container is small enough to keep the purigen from passing through. It would need to be run at about 1/5 speed/flow rate to obtain the dwell time you describe- 1 gal per minute.