HiQ-USA discussion thread

[sirdarksol]

Thread for discussing the HiQ-USA experiment.
HiQ-USA Zero Water Change System log

[Lucy]

Nothing is discuss yet, I just wanted to wish you luck and I'm looking foward to your findings.

[angelfish220]

What kind of fish are you going to put in the setup if it works, because I was thinking and if it dosent create much of a current or anything that could make for a killer fry tank, as there wouldnt ever be any nitrates in it!

[sirdarksol]

That's precisely what it's going for. Most of the current comes up through the gravel in a very diffuse spread, so the current shouldn't be too bad. I have a filter sponge over the HOB intake, and I plan on putting a fine mesh over the tower intakes, just so no little fishies get sucked into the pumps.

[angelfish220]

I guess great minds think alike!

[Lucy]

SDS, I'm following your log and finding it very interesting.

Is it possible to add a link to this discussion thread in your log for people with questions or comments?

[sirdarksol]

Done and done.

[Lucy]

Thanks! How about a link to the log page in your first post in this thread? Demanding, aren't i? lol

What are your thoughts on it so far?
That seems to be a pretty big jump in pH.
There aren't any fish in it yet? If not what source of ammonia are you using, if any?

If I understand this correctly, it's used to control nitrates?

[sirdarksol]

The BioMagic apparently has an ammonia source to start the culture off. I'm thinking it's something that degrades, which would explain the delay between starting the system and when the ammonia showed up. Perhaps, however, I should be adding a little bit of ammonia, since there should be fish in it by now.

It's iffy to me. It sure seems to be working (the nitrates plummeted between Day 3 and Day 4,) but I don't think I'm willing to pay the continual expenditure for the BioMagic and VitaMagic.

[Lucy]

Wow, I'm so sorry for the leak in your tank (and the damage to your ceiling). Any chance it had to do with the sytem you had to install?

Many things have been discovered through accidents, so good luck.

[sirdarksol]

I looked at the system as I was pulling it apart, and the "leak" was caused by the system. One of the towers was dumping water onto the floor.
Therefore, first lesson learned: The Zero water change system (40g size) needs to be in a tank that is deeper than a typical 10g or 20g long.

[HiQ-USA]

Hello everyone.
Here is an installation video so everyone can see how the system is put together.
http://hiq-usa.com/installation.asp

[sirdarksol]

Thanks, HiQ.

[sirdarksol]

I am, so far, impressed with the lack of nitrates in the aquarium.
However, the ammonia spike is troubling, and I am concerned that the BioMagic is not really cycling the tank. It seems more that the ammonia-removing resin is removing the ammonia, which is a stop-gap response. We'll see in two weeks (when I will have no more of those cartridges to replace).

[HiQ-USA]

SirDarkSol, We will ship out more replacements tomorrow. Could you e-mail me what you need more of?

Thanks,
Luke

[Lucy]

Interesting results SDS. Thank you for taking the time and effort to test and report this product to us.

All in all, wouldn't we get the same results by cycling a tank and doing routine maintanence?
You would still have to obviously vacuum the gravel to get rid of waste and left over food, which essentially is a water change and also keeps nitrates down.

[sirdarksol]

Originally Posted by Lucy

Interesting results SDS. Thank you for taking the time and effort to test and report this product to us.

All in all, wouldn't we get the same results by cycling a tank and doing routine maintanence?

Definitely. I've said this from day one, and I don't think HiQ has produced any illusions otherwise. This isn't revolutionary in that it allows your tank to be something it's not. However, it is a product that allows you to minimize the time spent each week cleaning the tank. It's a tradeoff of money for time. Once you have the system, the other products are pretty reasonably priced. A container of BioMagic that will keep a 29g running for six months+ costs something like $11.

You would still have to obviously vacuum the gravel to get rid of waste and left over food, which essentially is a water change and also keeps nitrates down.

The idea of the reverse UGF is that the fish waste won't settle in it. Rather, it gets kicked back up into the water column until the HOB filter can pick it up.
I've got an easy way to do a test of this, though. All I've got to do is vacuum the tank. It's been several weeks since it's been vacuumed. With a koi in there, the gravel should be a mess.

HiQ- Thank you for your effort and expense in getting this to me. It was an enlightening and exciting product to test. I don't need any more equipment (or rather, any equipment I need, I will buy from the website), as the experiment is over.

[soldieroffortune1974]

So,would I be accurate in summarizing that the system DOESN'T cycle the aquarium,but in effect,the equipment,and 'pillows' added IS the cycle.....a mechanical/chemical cycle, so to speak?

[sirdarksol]

Originally Posted by soldieroffortune1974

So,would I be accurate in summarizing that the system DOESN'T cycle the aquarium,but in effect,the equipment,and 'pillows' added IS the cycle.....a mechanical/chemical cycle, so to speak?

I'm not positive. That's the next thing we're testing.

I think that what happens is that the mechanical/chemical stuff mitigates the damage of the cycle long enough for the bacteria to colonize the filter. It's something like using Amquel to "remove" ammonia throughout your cycle. It neutralizes the ammonia, but the ammonia is still there to feed the bacteria.
In the long run, I would much prefer to use cycled media to jump-start the cycle, leave the "pillows" out altogether, and use the other parts to keep nitrates down (and I am now testing this. I should start an "Unofficial Zero-Water-Change Experiment" thread).

[sirdarksol]

It's been at least a month since I stopped using the filter "pillows" (the ones with lime, carbon, and zeolite in them), and the nitrates are still low. Not quite as low as they had been, but lower than they should be, considering the fact that there is a koi in the tank.

On the other hand, I've been trying the BioMagic in a tank that didn't have the towers in it, and it doesn't appear to be doing anything. Granted, I have only been using it for two weeks, so I'm not positive that it won't work.

My final test of the system is going to be to see if the BioMagic bacteria is capable of setting up a colony, or if it's like Cycle, and will stop working if not repeatedly added to the aquarium.

However, my long(er)-term analysis of the system is more positive than I thought it was going to be. It does appear that it's not just the smoke and mirrors I thought it was, and there is more to it than the zeolite. I hope to eventually test a system without the BioMagic (though this will be an expense that I can't afford right now). I'm wondering if the towers will colonize with denitrifying bacteria (bacteria that consume nitrates and expel nitrogen gas) on their own.