Also just removed all baskets and emptied the sump and gave an good cleaning out. Replace all baskets and refilled with fresh tap with same Seachem Safe. Up and running again.
On my second go around with the BCB's, I rinsed the hell out the special cat litter, lined my baskets with weed blocker to help to kept the cat litter dust inside of the baskets, and made an core in the middle of the baskets for the flourite red. Since the restart on 5/18/18 the system has been running okay. Weekly 50% water changes on my 125 gallon tank and when test for NO3 is constantly 2-5ppm. Water has never looked this good....
Also just removed all baskets and emptied the sump and gave an good cleaning out. Replace all baskets and refilled with fresh tap with same Seachem Safe. Up and running again.
Still hanging with the Anoxic Filtration System only running on my 125 gallon discus tank: https://youtu.be/wK_da6-1gw4
Hi Roland ,The tank and the fish look healthy and you obviously happy with the anoxic system ,how much is your water change and how often ?
I'm starting to do an 30% water change weekly for now just to keep seems pristine.
After having started mine last Thanksgiving and having absolutely no luck in ph 5 water, I left them in until May when my tank broke it's center brace and had to be replaced. I took the BCB's out, put the marinepure blocks back in, and scooped out the flourite red and reused it under the PFS in the new tank. Planted Wisteria, water sprite, and banana plants. Nitrates are down under 5 at the end of each week when I do a 50% water change and tank looks so much better with real plants, especially the lily pads of the banana plants. And I used the left over kitty litter to fill a hole in my backyard. So at least something good came out of this experiment.
Give it an go and hope success for you. Check out Salty Sphynx and Shaun's Fish Tank on youtube.com on their Anoxic Filtration System. Their's tanks are just amazing with 100% usage.
Yeah, Valp, its worth a shot. After doing some further research on anoxic filtration, I found out that as the ph goes below 6, it takes a long time for the bacteria to colonize into sufficient numbers to do any good, if they do at all. But others seem to have had better results than I.
It's almost a year that I'm planning my new aquarium. In my mind I changed the filtering system many times until I stumbled into the anoxic filter which, at least in theory, seems much better. I think I have greatly explored the topic and I want to start with an experimentation without fishes, and with progressive loads of ammonia up to a truly functioning system. I know that I will have to give up too low pH and the OTRAC system (oligo tropic acid). At worst, I will fall back to moving bed filter + mattenfilter.
Hi
D: 06-06-2018
Last week I got 4 bags of special kitty litter from USA by ship, it cost me a smaller fortune about 550 US $. I tested it in water and it was dissolving to mush. I made 6 BCB's and placed it in 2 sumps after 3 days it began disintegrating so I took them out again. OK it was useless.
Then I started investigating about burning of clay, I think the production method is changed.
I found out that if clay is burned in about 700- 900 degree Celsius it gets like small stone, and not dissolving. I took a sample and burned it in high temperature and now it is not dissolving, I have made BCB baskets and am testing it in 2 sumps and 1 aquarium.
I am waiting to see what is happening, but I saw this morning that the water overnight has much clearer. I think it is working now !!
D:19-11-2018
Here an update about the development with my BCB’s in my Discus tanks.
The cat litter Special Kitty is still not dissolving anymore, and I can conclude that it is possible to burn the cat litter at home in at small steel container, it is not dissolving after 200 days.
I am planning to burn a bag of ice see clay. It looks as if it is very clean clay with iron in it.
Il see how it works.
After about 145 days waiting I had to conclude that the BCB’s did not work. I found out that Salty Spinks - I like your u-tubes are using 14 baskets volume 1,5 l = 21 l. in her tank volume 360 l. It is ca. 17 l water pr. L. aquarium. I have increased the amount of BCB’s to that 1 l BCB to 17 l water.
I have a 720l tank and a Seamless sump with 2 reservoirs approximately 840 l. volume, Circulation ca. 7500 l./H. I have a bottom filter and a gravel volume 90 l. with 42 l. BCB in the sump. There is on more difference, I have new size BCB’s 20x20x20xcm 8 l. in volume. previously I used 10x10x15 cm I had 12 of these 18 l. BCB’s.
15-11-2018 I have supplemented 4 X BCB’s 8ltr = 32 l. in after today total volume BCB 10+32+32= 74 l.
In this aquarium I have 6 high body Red Turquoise Discus 1 Blue Turquoise Discus 5-7 inch. 4 Snakeskin Discus 5 inch. and 4 Leopard Discus 5 inch.
I have a smaller tank 300 l. with a Seamless sump without reservoirs I think volume 360 l. Circulation ca. 350 l./H. Here is no bottom layer. This tank having now 26 l. BCB. Previously I had 9 l. BCB in this tank.
Here I have 6 Diamond blue Discus and 9 Red Turquoise Discus. 4 inch.
I think that with the enlarged BCB’s, the anoxic system is going to work now.
Mogens Bang Olesen
Denmark
Hi Mogens,
hope you have mistyped the cost of the kitty litter, since 550 US$ are big money. Anyway I've found that alternatives to the walmart kitty litter are widespread available, at least in Italy. Look at here for example...
http://www.mankysanke.co.uk/html/bui...ic_system.html
You will find, there is a litter named "sophisticat" as alternative to the walmart kitty litter. I made some investigations and I've found that this product is made of a kind of clay named "sepiolite".
After that I found that lots of producer use this kind of clay. Maybe also in your country you shoud find similar products.
Your kitty litter was dissolving in a mush ? very strange, maybe a defective stock ?
Bcb's sizes in my opinion are crucial. In little ones the anoxic zone is very narrow or neglected at all, in bigger bcb's, anoxic zone should be predominant. Dr. Novak state that the bigger is the basket the stronger is the attraction of ions inside it. For this reason is surprising for me to see that Dr. Novak in some of his video uses bcb so little as 4".
I'm planning to test my 500 lt new aquarium + sump, with 4 bcb of about 11x11x7 " (28x28x18cm)
Last edited by valp; 11-19-2018 at 10:48 AM.