Filter Floss - Advice for my Setup?

I have a 55gal with some serious filtration. I used to use a UGF. added a cannister. finally, I got away from the UGF. my concern is tiny particulate in the water. the UGF/cannister combo left me with CRYSTAL clear water all the time. now I can't seem to get it quite as clear.

here is my setup:

marineland magnum 350 #1
this pump is mainly used to feed a fluidized sand bio filter & UV sanitizer. the cannister itslef contains two bags of purigen. there is a sponge pre-filter in the tank. there is a thin filter sleeve inside the cannister. this particular setup uses a LOT of head pressure to supply the sand bed & uv sanitizer. volume is roughly 100GPH.


marineland magnum 350 #2
cannister contains charcoal covered by a thin filter sleeve. does NOT use a sponge pre-filter. volume is high; roughly 280GPH.


so overall, I am turning 380GPH, or roughly 7X turnover per hour. I am considering adding a bunch of filter floss somewhere in an attempt to get the tiny particulate levels down a bit. I think the right place is in cannister #2 since it has less static pressure loss to contend with. do I just stuff it with filter floss? do half floss / half charcoal? other suggestions? thanks for your help.

 

Hi,
I think that the tiny particulates that you see are of a carbon based nature ( food, rotting plant matter Etc )
This may be caused by the head pressure being high on filter *1 which is breaking up the normal crud in the tank to produce the micro particles
As you probably already know, Carbon is only required to remove meds Etc after treatment, so you could do away with this medium in filter *2, and instead use a fine "polishing " pad to remove the particles
You may have to source a "polishing" pad from another filter manufacturer and cut it to suit your filter ( sorry - don't know the filter )
Also add a wool pad to *1 filter to act as a mechanical filter
Another long term idea for you to consider, would be to reduce your amount of flow in the tank and use "Ceramic Rings" ( Is that Purigen ?) in the filters thus enabling the BB more "contact time" during filtration to clarify the water
Many people believe that its filtration that clarifies the water - it is not - its a good BB factory that keeps the water clear
I hope that I have been of some help to you, and maybe other good people in the forum will add their 2 cents to this

 

thanks; I do have some polishing filters. I'll try one for a few days & see how it goes. FYI, the purigen is a specialty media that has some properties similar to carbon. it cleans the impurities in the water. the main benefit, though, is nitrate reduction. it keeps nitrates REALLY low. probably triples the amount of time it takes my tank to go from 10ppm to 20ppm.

as to the ceramic rings? not sure if you have seen a fluidized bed filter. that is strictly a bio filter; it uses sand as a media & has HUGE bio load capacity. I think I am ok on bb.

thanks for your help!

 

Thanks for feedback on "Purigen"
Never heard of it b4 - never seen it in UK
Is it a "one time only " media or do you have to replace frequently as you would with act carbon ? FMI - interested to know (knowledge gained and all that )
FYI ceramic rings also have a huge bio-load capability due to the large surface area of the media
I use them in all my trickle filters and don't have probs with "cloudy water" or any other issues, and would recommend them as filter media
In your case you have the sand bed which is an excellent filter, so really you don't need any advice on that issue which is good
Good luck with the filter wool and "polishing pads" in the filters, I am sure that it will work for you

 

I never see purigen in stores. I order it from amazon. it comes in little filter bags & looks like large white sand. you technically don't have to replace it; when it turns brown, you soak it in bleach for a day or so, dechlorinate it & reuse. it's not that expensive, so I just replace it every couple of months.

the first time I tried it, I was interested to see how much of an affect it would really have on nitrate. I put two bags in my 55gal when nitrates were at ~ 30ppm. the next morning, nitrates were down to 10ppm. it works.

 

Thanks for the insight ( PUN ) into the purigen
Interesting - I will have to resd up on this stuff, and maybe get my grubby mits on some if its suitable
good luck with your filters and thanks again

 

Oh purigen works wonders. Seachem always good for top notch products.

 

Ahh - its a Seachem product EHH ?
Should do what it says on the box if its from them

 

Link for Purigen:



Ken

 

I have a WAY, WAY overstocked 55 gallon right now (some fishy visiting us while their home gets fixed). nitrates haven't poked above 10ppm all week. there are probably fifty fish in there.

 

Wow - Its that good is it
If I was in UK no prob to get this stuff, but here in Thailand - don't know - probably not, as I have all kind of probs getting anything that I require
Thanks for link Aquarist 48 - will lookinto it

 

mesh bags vs scour pads in filter

Hi, I read somewhere on this site that I can use a scour pad in my filter instead of the typical mesh bag with charcoal, as long as it doesn't contain chemicals. What brand is ok? I used the scotch brite brand scour pads and it barely got up and gunk. Then one of my goldfish died, so I moved fish and when I went to clean tank, underneath plants was a hugh amount of gunk. Does anyone remember seeing this info.?
Fish newbie.