sirdarksol

A little bit ago, I did an experiment running this company's product, which claimed to eliminate the need for water changes. I ran the product, as stated, for a month, and I have since continued running parts of it for well over a month.

I have to say that I was very surprised to find that the system worked. In an overstocked tank, the system kept the nitrates at around 5ppm, once the tank cycled.

I do have a problem with the way the company claims that its product instantly cycles the tank. It actually uses what I call "smoke and mirrors" to give you an invisible cycle. Chemical filtration pulls most of the nitrogen out of the water before it can make your fish sick. It worked, but I would have preferred to cycle the tank a different way and add fish after it was cycled.

The product is also pricey. $60 for the main equipment for up to 20g, $100 for the main equipment for up to 120g. The main equipment comes in the form of two towers that run reverse under gravel filters. The towers supposedly have controlled anaerobic zones in them that support denitrifying bacteria (which turn nitrates into gaseous nitrogen.) The UGF plates are customizable, and can be made to fit nearly any flat-bottomed aquarium, even an oddly-shaped one.

Hi-Q also makes a good HOB filter. I would rate it as a bit better than a Whisper filter. It uses chemical media (I have since jury-rigged chemical-free media) and bio-balls.

Lastly, there is the BioMagic and VitaMagic. VitaMagic is basically a combination of StressCoat and Vita-Chem. The BioMagic is a bacteria that is supposedly engineered to turn nitrates into gaseous nitrogen. BioMagic doesn't seem to work without the towers, though I am continuing to test this, just to be sure.

My suggestion, if you want to plunk down the money for any part of this system:
Get the towers/UGF, install them. Get whatever HOB or other filtration you want to use.
Cycle your tank normally, adding BioMagic as instructed (I'm not positive that the stuff is needed, but I'm also not positive that it's not. I can tell you that it has not been harmful to my tank, and it's a minor expenditure compared to the towers themselves).
Once the tank is cycled, add fish.
Keep an eye on water quality as normal, and do water changes if any parameters are out of whack.

Steve113

surely you'd still want to hoover up the poop.

If you hoover up then you may as well put clean water in anyway...

also replace old discoloured water with new crystal clear water?
your tnak would end up tinted brown...

sirdarksol

The reverse UGF actually deals with solid waste very well (HiQ also suggests adding plants for further waste cleanup). The gravel in my test tank looks better than it did when I was vacuuming every week, and I haven't vacuumed in a couple of months.

Tank water is crystal clear. Had a friend comment on how clear the water was just the other day, in fact.

Jess

Well that's impressive! Do you have any pictures of the setup?

sirdarksol

No, but I can probably fix that.

Jess

Steve113

Sounds impressive...
So all you do is top up the Evap?

capekate

Hi SDS
I remember back when this product was first introduced here. Im glad to hear that it working so well for you and sure appreciate the time and effort on your part to do a product rating on it.
It really sounds great to me, and if the money and options were available to me, meaning, starting up a new tank, I would love to be able to use this product. It sounds like its doing what it said it does.
Very nice to hear!

sirdarksol

Yep... Though this is one of the issues. The water where I live is extremely hard. I need to start replacing evaporated water with either distilled or RO water, or I'll eventually end up with a solid block of calcium in my tank.

For the most part, yeah. I really don't like the way they cycle the tank, and there's the above-mentioned mineral issue, but I just tested the water yesterday, and it still has less than 5ppm nitrates.
I'm half expecting something really strange to happen, like for the tank water to spontaneously turn into M&Ms, because I still kind of don't believe that the thing can be working.

capekate

LOL SDS, watch out for those M&Ms hehe...
Were you able to really 'take apart' the system and research just why it seems to be working? I mean, it has a UGF, it has the towers, which are another filter right? And the media. Which can be pretty much found in most tanks. So there has to be either something added to the media, such as the bottles of additives that came with it or its something magical lol..
I see the problem with the hard water in your area tho.. So that seems like another added expense for distilled water and or a RO system.
But WOW to be able to keep the nitrates at five.. with really no vacuuming I like that!

sirdarksol

What I've been doing to "take the system apart" is to stop using the components that HiQ says need to be added every week or every month. They claim that the little chemical filtration pillows are necessary for the system to work. I've been running for well over a month without them. They claim that the VitaMagic is necessary for it to work. I've been running for about a month without it.
My next test is going to be whether or not the BioMagic needs to be added every week. When I run out of the stuff, I'm not going to add anymore.

If I ever get the money, I plan on testing the system without adding the BioMagic at all.

capekate

Hi SDS
that will be interesting to see if the system works without the additives.
Keep us posted!

sirdarksol

Sorry about the two sideways pics. I'm too lazy to change them right now
First and second pics are of the towers, the third is the entire layout.

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Steve113

Are there any fish in there?

(and in pic #2 you seem have inadvertantly taken a pic of yourself!)

:P

sirdarksol

Yes, there's a single butterfly koi, (and the ghost of a photographer) in the tank. You can see him in the upper lefthand side. He's almost lost in the glare, because he's all platinum.