Crystal Clear Water

[arvin]

I have lots of micro organisms floating in my water. What is the best way to get rid of them?

I have stuffed some floss in a sock and tied it to the end of the tube where the water enters the sump from the display tank. This is not so effective and I am thinking of doing a diy setup to ensure that the water flows through. I also have a bag of carbon in the sump but since there is way too much flow in my sump currently, carbon is not doing its work I think.

I am wondering if I should go for a fluval kind of canister filter so it can be hooked to the system. How many of you use it? What are the downsides of it? I know it can become a nitrate nightmare, but if I hook it up like one week a month, then will it be effective enough?

what do you guys think? What is the secret recipe to achieve crystal clear water?

 

[bone]

* number of fish
* don't overfeed
* big skimmer
* some sort of refugium
* great water movement, don't forget about surface movement.
* small weekly water changes

Unless you have the room canister filters are big, I would get a Hot Magnum awesome filter for until $40.00

 

[arvin]

Number of fish: about 7 in a 75 gallon.
Feeding every alternate day.
I use ASM G3 skimmer, which I think doing a good job.
I have a fuge, but it is only one week old.
I do have a good -not great- water movement.
I change water once in two weeks.

Specifically I am looking for a way to remove all the particles that are not removed by skimming. Like I said, to ensure the water goes through the filter floss & carbon, I wanted to make some kind of setup within the sump. But then I thought instead of brainstorming something diy, I can as well get a cheap canister filter since it is essentially the same. There will be separate layers for different types of filters.

 

[Carlo]

I use a fluval 404 as part of my equipment. I pretty much ignored the media that came with it and filled it with a combination of other things like carbon, phosphate remover etc. You could also just run pure carbon if you wanted to in each compartment. I pulled the sponges and use poly filters instead.

On my new system I believe I'm going to run pure carbon in it (not sure yet) and change out one compartment each week. This way I have a rotating schedule so that only 1/4 of the carbon is completely new at a time.

The only downside I've seen to using it is that in it's standard setup it does gunk up pretty quickly which is good if you clean it regularly. You know you are taking stuff out of the water. On the other hand if you don't clean it regularly then you have a nitrate factor.

What I do like about this type of canister filter is that you pull water down below the surface. You can let your skimmer take care of the stuff that "binds" to the surface while the canister filter pulls stuff out of the water column itself. This would surely help with the micro organisms you presently have in the water column.

Now what I wonder is how long have you noticed this going on in your tank? Have you started feeding more or changed foods? Any changes to flow rates or powerheads that have stirred things up? Any new inverts?

Another couple of things you might want to consider is UV or ozone injection which does help with the organics. However for the money I think you'll get more from the fluval type filter then the other two and you can configure the fluval compartments to hold the media of choice your tank needs.

Carlo

 

[arvin]

I use a fluval 404 as part of my equipment. I pretty much ignored the media that came with it and filled it with a combination of other things like carbon, phosphate remover etc. You could also just run pure carbon if you wanted to in each compartment. I pulled the sponges and use poly filters instead.

That is exactly what I am talking about.

Now what I wonder is how long have you noticed this going on in your tank? Have you started feeding more or changed foods? Any changes to flow rates or powerheads that have stirred things up? Any new inverts?

Flow rates have changed quite a bit recently. Since I hooked up the new sump it kicked off lot of dirt from the dsb. Other than that nothing much changed.

Another couple of things you might want to consider is UV or ozone injection which does help with the organics. However for the money I think you'll get more from the fluval type filter then the other two and you can configure the fluval compartments to hold the media of choice your tank needs.

I saw the discussion in another thread on the UV. That will be my last choice.

 

[Carlo]

Ahh, ok, the stuff in the water column is due to new circulation. This is GOOD. Skip UV & Ozone as this is only a temp problem.

In time this should skim out too but the fluval canister filter will help clear this up fast and can be reconfigured easily to support different media so it will probably prove to be a good addition to your system.

It sounds like you are doing good things for your tank and your livestock will appreciate the cleaner environment.

For kicks, track your nitrates and I bet you will see them drop from getting rid of all the organics.

Carlo