Evil Cackle!!!!

[Phillydubs]

I just let out such an evil cackle during my water change. The past few weeks I have literally been blown away by this new method the fact that I haven't use buckets haven't been hauling water making messes spilling all over the place has me literally giddy

Have you ever had one of these moments in the hobby? Maybe it's an aha type a moment or something that you invented or did to help yourself out and then you start kicking yourself in the butt like why didn't I do this months or years ago ???

If so please share them here I would love to hear them and maybe somebody else could use them to help themselves and have one of these moments as well

[rickztahone]

I've automated my wc for a whole now, even before the 75g build. However for this build, I wanted my water to be direct and the drain to be at the turn of a valve. After I routed the drain to my front yard and water source literally right next to my aging barrel, I had a moment of satisfaction like never before

[Disgirl]

I have one. Almost 2 years ago we moved. At the new house, there was only one place, I thought, to connect a hose to fill my tanks. It was a mess, lots of spilled water, wasted time, etc. I did it for 1 1/2 yrs, every other day. But with the purchase of one little brass connector from Lowe's I can now drain tank water right into a shower drain and refill from the shower head with this connector. If only I had done this 18 mo. ago.
Barb

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Can't say I've had that kind of breakthrough yet, but I did feel pretty good when I finally fit a 2-liter bag of Purigen in my sump in the section where all water has to flow through it. Yeah pretty weak but I'll have my own evil cackle soon I think:)

[Filip]

I have these kind of cackles Phill every once in a while with my fishkeeping hobby :) . That's what it makes It so special at the first place for me . The joy when you successfully perform a task that was going through your mind for some time .

My latest cackle dates about 2 days ago and it was about making a silly pressurized closed bottle out of the protein shake type of bottles which traps my winter microbubbles very efectively during my straight tap water change .
I have used some DIY bottle stuffed with sponge previously but I wasn't happy about its effectives .
The discus behaviour after a 80% WC with this new protein bottle device that ive made was more than rewarding for me and it made me a very happy discus keeper :) .

My next project in my mind that's been bugging me for quite some time is how to DIY external purigen reactor without having to spend 100 dollars on those overpriced fluidized bed filter tubes which reefers ussualy use .

[Kyla]

i am not savvy enough to figure out how to make water changes automatic, but i have the next best thing. i can hook my drain hose right to the fx5 output and turn on the filter to drain the tank fast. and ive got a little remote switch for my aging barrel plug-in, so while ive got the end of the hose in the tank i can press a button and the pump fills the tank. its a big pump so it fills fast. im having a coffee and thinking about how easy today's wc is going to be. its pretty sweet.

when i think back to my bucketing days... i feel sorry for my younger self! good thing she had a strong back.

[Jack L]

I have these kind of cackles Phill every once in a while with my fishkeeping hobby :) . That's what it makes It so special at the first place for me . The joy when you successfully perform a task that was going through your mind for some time .

My latest cackle dates about 2 days ago and it was about making a silly pressurized closed bottle out of the protein shake type of bottles which traps my winter microbubbles very efectively during my straight tap water change .
I have used some DIY bottle stuffed with sponge previously but I wasn't happy about its effectives .
The discus behaviour after a 80% WC with this new protein bottle device that ive made was more than rewarding for me and it made me a very happy discus keeper :) .

My next project in my mind that's been bugging me for quite some time is how to DIY external purigen reactor without having to spend 100 dollars on those overpriced fluidized bed filter tubes which reefers ussualy use .

huh? photo please...

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Phil,

Ok had a slightly malevolent cackle yesterday, finally got my new purigen reactor going. What a trial. First time working with one of these; had to silicone in a piece of prefilter inside the return area, reduce amount of purigen inside reactor, and hose clamp all connections. Reactor now has ~ 1.5 liters of Purigen. I feel pretty good.

[Phillydubs]

Awesome stories guys, keep them coming!

It is a nice feeling!

[Dhavalsp]

My latest cackle dates about 2 days ago and it was about making a silly pressurized closed bottle out of the protein shake type of bottles which traps my winter microbubbles very efectively during my straight tap water change .
.

details Filip! don't be a tease..:P

[Dhavalsp]

something really silly and small, I added a white paper between my tank and stand...the difference in my fish is unbelievable....I will be posting pics soon...

[Neptune]

I got a couple.

Did a DIY ATO kit a couple months ago! I literally smile every time it goes off! I use to haul a 5 gallon bucket at least every other day. Now I fill and forget for about a week. And going away on weekends...no worries.

While standing in the living room next to the tank, I used my tplink wireless outlet this morning to turn on the WC pump in the basement with my phone. I amused myself with that for awhile.

[Filip]

huh? photo please...


details Filip! don't be a tease..:P


Its no big deal guys , just a bottle that I started using for trapping microbubbles during my straight tap WC.

Nice thing about it is that it has wide opening for easy putting in the filter materials and taking them out for a dry out , once the WC is done .

Other nice thing is that you can stuff it really tight with filter materials for more efficient microbubbles striping , and it won't leak once the pressure from the tap flow builds up in it .

Here are some pics :

105372

Here is the filter floss fine material that I use to stuff the protein bottle with :

105373


And here is a video that shows how tremendous the ammount of dissolved gases from the tap water in winter really is :

https://youtu.be/1CEQbcj9E2s

[Jenene]

Phil,

Ok had a slightly malevolent cackle yesterday, finally got my new purigen reactor going. What a trial. First time working with one of these; had to silicone in a piece of prefilter inside the return area, reduce amount of purigen inside reactor, and hose clamp all connections. Reactor now has ~ 1.5 liters of Purigen. I feel pretty good.

So did you use the Purigen that was in your sump or have an additional 1.5 liters for the reactor? That is a lot of Purigen! Do you have more to replace what is in use for when you have to recharge it?

[Filip]

Phil,

Ok had a slightly malevolent cackle yesterday, finally got my new purigen reactor going. What a trial. First time working with one of these; had to silicone in a piece of prefilter inside the return area, reduce amount of purigen inside reactor, and hose clamp all connections. Reactor now has ~ 1.5 liters of Purigen. I feel pretty good.

Please share some pictures and info about your DIY purigen reactor Kenny .
I've been thinking about making one for a quite some time so any ideas and pointers would be helpful .

[Jack L]

Its no big deal guys , just a bottle that I started using for trapping microbubbles during my straight tap WC.

Nice thing about it is that it has wide opening for easy putting in the filter materials and taking them out for a dry out , once the WC is done .

Other nice thing is that you can stuff it really tight with filter materials for more efficient microbubbles striping , and it won't leak once the pressure from the tap flow builds up in it .

Here are some pics :

105372

Here is the filter floss fine material that I use to stuff the protein bottle with :

105373


And here is a video that shows how tremendous the ammount of dissolved gases from the tap water in winter really is :

https://youtu.be/1CEQbcj9E2s

understand now, thanks.
p.s. my ears are ringing from your video LOL

[Filip]

understand now, thanks.
p.s. my ears are ringing from your video LOL

Sorry for your ears Jack :) .
I managed to attach YouTube default music theme with it but god knows why , it still makes that ET ultra annoying sound :) .

[adrian31@outlook.com]

So did you use the Purigen that was in your sump or have an additional 1.5 liters for the reactor? That is a lot of Purigen! Do you have more to replace what is in use for when you have to recharge it?

Hi Jenene,

Yes this is in addition to the bag of Purigen in my sump. Also have four smaller ('the bag') bags in my FX6, I know I have a lot of Purigen. I like to think it's all doing good. When I had my 55gal setup, just 24hrs after I removed the Purigen I noticed a marked negative difference in my Discus, so I really think this stuff works well. They should sponsor me:)

I have four liters more for when I need to recharge.

[Jenene]

Hi Jenene,

Yes this is in addition to the bag of Purigen in my sump. Also have four smaller ('the bag') bags in my FX6, I know I have a lot of Purigen. I like to think it's all doing good. When I had my 55gal setup, just 24hrs after I removed the Purigen I noticed a marked negative difference in my Discus, so I really think this stuff works well. They should sponsor me:)

I have four liters more for when I need to recharge.

Wow! I haven't seen anyone use that much at once. It will be interesting to see how often you need to recharge it. What kind of media bag are you using in the sump? That stuff is so small. Have you found a good source for it? 4 liters on Amazon is $200! Yes, they should definitely sponsor you. :D

I throw 2 of the small bags in my sump, never thought of using more than that. Interesting...

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Wow! I haven't seen anyone use that much at once. It will be interesting to see how often you need to recharge it. What kind of media bag are you using in the sump? That stuff is so small. Have you found a good source for it? 4 liters on Amazon is $200! Yes, they should definitely sponsor you. :D

I throw 2 of the small bags in my sump, never thought of using more than that. Interesting...

In my sump I use a big bag I got from my LPS. It has sewn seams as opposed to the bag's welded seams, and a string to close the opening, so I also use a zip-tie like the one included with 'the bag' to tie it.

I ordered my Purigen from Amazon.com, not sure if there's a cheaper source since Amazon is usually the lowest price around. Usually.

[Jenene]

In my sump I use a big bag I got from my LPS. It has sewn seams as opposed to the bag's welded seams, and a string to close the opening, so I also use a zip-tie like the one included with 'the bag' to tie it.

I ordered my Purigen from Amazon.com, not sure if there's a cheaper source since Amazon is usually the lowest price around. Usually.

Just out of curiosity I looked around and found Ken's Fish has 4 liters for $164. Not bad and free shipping (not sure if he ships to Cayman or not though.)
http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/filter-media/seachem-purigen.html

[Filip]

Wow! I haven't seen anyone use that much at once. It will be interesting to see how often you need to recharge it. What kind of media bag are you using in the sump? That stuff is so small. Have you found a good source for it? 4 liters on Amazon is $200! Yes, they should definitely sponsor you. :D

I throw 2 of the small bags in my sump, never thought of using more than that. Interesting...

Jenene I Improvise the bag for purigen using bags from material called Organza .
Those fine mesh material organza bags used for packing presents are ussualy sold in gift shops and malls .
I double bag the purigen inside and sow the bag with a yarn .
DiY organza baging gives me chance to pack the purigen more loosely and make many thin layers/bags to maximize the exposal of purigen polymers with water thus making it more efficient .

[Jenene]

Jenene I Improvise the bag for purigen using bags from material called Organza .
Those fine mesh material organza bags used for packing presents are ussualy sold in gift shops and malls .
I double bag the purigen inside and sow the bag with a yarn .
DiY organza baging gives me chance to pack the purigen more loosely and make many thin layers/bags to maximize the exposal of purigen polymers with water thus making it more efficient .

Great idea Filip thanks. Can you recharge it in those? I would think you would need to remake them due to the bleach eating through them. Do you use the Purigen in large amounts as well?

[Jack L]

I used a boyd chemical bag, i think it's either 250 or 500 per bag, either way it's snug in air, but when put into sump, in flow zone it all churns and gets exposed evenly

By putting more in it will just take longer to expire is effectiveness, compared to a small bag.

Boyd bag survived the bleach, but without the flow it didn't come clean, so next time I'll remove from bag to clean.

[Neptune]

If you are looking for a Purigen reactor it is tough to beat the PhosBan 150. Very simple to setup and use. I have tried a couple DIY reactors and they don't work any better than a PhosBan.

The stuff if so light...barely denser than water...makes it hard to work with if not in a bag.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Just out of curiosity I looked around and found Ken's Fish has 4 liters for $164. Not bad and free shipping (not sure if he ships to Cayman or not though.)
http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/filter-media/seachem-purigen.html

Those are great prices, I ship everything through Miami anyway so I'll def get from them next time. I've been ordering most everything from Amazon because it just so easy; can get anything & everything and ordering process so streamlined.

[Jenene]

Those are great prices, I ship everything through Miami anyway so I'll def get from them next time. I've been ordering most everything from Amazon because it just so easy; can get anything & everything and ordering process so streamlined.

I am an Amazon addict as well to the point I keep my front walk free of snow for the delivery guy- although the price on that Purigen made me want to look around. Ken's was the best price I could find. I may just try a big bag of it in the sump and ditch the tiny one. Maybe order a 2 liter bottle and put one liter in a bag in the sump and save one to replace while recharging. Maybe at some point I will step up to the reactor.

[Filip]

Great idea Filip thanks. Can you recharge it in those? I would think you would need to remake them due to the bleach eating through them. Do you use the Purigen in large amounts as well?

They are bleach resistant .I recharge organza bags with bleach without any damage to the material.
I use 3 bags each containing 150 grams of purigen .
So 450 grams for my 65 G tank.
And I use the bigger size bags stuffed lightly for even exposal of purigen .
The original purigen bag is way to small and stuffed to be called efficient IME.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

I am an Amazon addict as well to the point I keep my front walk free of snow for the delivery guy- although the price on that Purigen made me want to look around. Ken's was the best price I could find. I may just try a big bag of it in the sump and ditch the tiny one. Maybe order a 2 liter bottle and put one liter in a bag in the sump and save one to replace while recharging. Maybe at some point I will step up to the reactor.

RE: reactor: for me it was a trial & error process, had to take it back out from sump three times to fix various issues so decided to just set it beside my sink to fix & re-test each issue it had before final installation in sump. I'm using the Reef Octopus MF-2000.

[atlantadiscus]

I would think if you are a daily water changer {I am not} that the Purigen is really not needed or doing much at all.

[Jenene]

They are bleach resistant .I recharge organza bags with bleach without any damage to the material.
I use 3 bags each containing 150 grams of purigen .
So 450 grams for my 65 G tank.
And I use the bigger size bags stuffed lightly for even exposal of purigen .
The original purigen bag is way to small and stuffed to be called efficient IME.

Thanks for sharing Filip! Good to know.

[rickztahone]

I would think if you are a daily water changer {I am not} that the Purigen is really not needed or doing much at all.

This has been an ongoing valid point for some time. I can see the benefits in taking this approach with a tank that may be heavy in organics due to less WC's.

This has its merits, but for those raising juvies with daily water changes, this process would be moot and a waste of money, imho.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

I would think if you are a daily water changer {I am not} that the Purigen is really not needed or doing much at all.

I agree, with 60% daily WC the Purigen is doing a lot less than if my WC schedule was say 60% twice weekly, so it's probably overkill.

[Jenene]

This has been an ongoing valid point for some time. I can see the benefits in taking this approach with a tank that may be heavy in organics due to less WC's.

This has its merits, but for those raising juvies with daily water changes, this process would be moot and a waste of money, imho.

I totally agree. I still do daily changes as well, I do have the small packet in now that tends to turn brown quicker than one would think with the amount of water I change, and vacuum. My sump is very hard to clean (Eshopps R-100) and there are times when I would feel better with a little safety net between the times I tear it apart and clean it out. I always wonder where the line is between too much and not enough in the sump. I am constantly tweaking it. Should have built my own.

[Jenene]

I agree, with 60% daily WC the Purigen is doing a lot less than if my WC schedule was say 60% twice weekly, so it's probably overkill.

In this case I would think overkill is fine. You can also kind of see what is going on in your system by monitoring how quickly it turns brown.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

In this case I would think overkill is fine. You can also kind of see what is going on in your system by monitoring how quickly it turns brown.

My thought exactly and being new in the hobby it feels good to have that safety net.

[Phillydubs]

Anyone care to give me a basic break down of what the purgeion does or is supposed to do?

[Jenene]

Anyone care to give me a basic break down of what the purgeion does or is supposed to do?

Here you go Phil,
I didn't want o miss anything or misquote so here is a link with an in depth explanation. Make sure and scroll down to the nitty gritty details. Kind of interesting...It gets 5 star reviews from most users.

http://www.seachem.com/purigen.php

Jenene

[Phillydubs]

Here you go Phil,
I didn't want o miss anything or misquote so here is a link with an in depth explanation. Make sure and scroll down to the nitty gritty details. Kind of interesting...It gets 5 star reviews from most users.

http://www.seachem.com/purigen.php

Jenene

Much thanks!

[Neptune]

I would still run a purigen if I was doing daily Wc's. There just isn't a down side to it.
Well except for cost.

[Phillydubs]

So is this similar to say a chemi-pure or something like that? Almost like an enchanced carbon?

[Neptune]

So is this similar to say a chemi-pure or something like that? Almost like an enchanced carbon?
Sort of, but you can regen it with a bleach soak.

[100fuegos]

Best world price for the stuff is found here (http://www.thetechden.com.au/Macropore_2_Liter_Aquarium_Water_Conditioner_p/mpw2.htm)

It is just the same stuff with a different commercial name. Problem is they do not ship out of Australia. You can always do what I did, come visit Australia and load your luggage with it lol.

Oh price is in AUD.