anyone ever used a diatom filter?
 

Just reading PaulB's 35 year old reef thread on RC (from Kevins post, thanks man!!!) and I'm intrigued. Anyone have any experience with one of these things??

I have a system1 diatom filter its better then the vortech type.
It gets rid of almost any type of algae bloom i come across, with one setback is the filter feeders do not get any food from the water column while i use it.

cool, yeah I would imagine it would suck every little particulate out of the water, so no love for the filter feeders. my rocks are sloughing majorly after my tank "crash" right now and the piles 'o crap are unbelievable. I can only get so much out via siphoning and thought I might have a go with a couple powerheads and a diatom filter.

where did you get the system 1 from? I'm having a hell of a time finding them online (or any diatom filter for that matter)

thanks!

Petsmart.ca
but i see now they do not have them.
bigalsonline.ca has the votex models though.

I have a vortex one. I bought it on ebay.:mrgreen: It does one hella job of polishing the water. They can be a bear to get started, but after a few times you get the hang of it. LOL first time it pumped my tank full of diatom powder.
The powder starts off sparkling white, and after running it for an hour its totally gungy brown-yellow.

And ya if you get one use the pool filter diatom powder. I happen to have a 50lb bag of it stored in my boiler room.. bring some jars next time and I will give you some.. but be careful with it.. microscopic little jagged sharpies that get in your lungs.

When I worked at an LFS we had a diatom filter and that thing was AWESOME! It would clear a cloudy tank it minutes. It takes a little practice to not shoot diatomaceous earth all over your tank, probably REALLY bad for coral, but once you get the hang of it it rocks for a quick polish.

The Trick to NOT spewing earth all over your tank is start the pump in a full bucket first then after 30 secs hump the hoses quickly into the tank, opposite ends of course.

Years ago my dad had one and he swears by them. And keeps asking why I don't get one
it really did a hell of a good job. At least on fresh, I vaguely remember it but we had tons
of tanks and cleaning them all was super amazing with the crap it pulled. That I do remember. Good luck with the search!

I used one a couple times in the old freshwater days... amazing machines, diatom filters. Sparkling water in minutes. I do remember reading somewhere that it can increase silicates though, which can produce a diatom bloom.

I use mine all the time. Got it from mops.ca

Looking at that site I see description that is wrong. You don't want to run these filters full time or it probably will collapse on itself and end the universe in a blink. Seriously these are for polishing only and not meant to be run "full time".

http://www.mops.ca/cgi-bin/SoftCart....8e5+1248803155

Christy. what about using a filter sock in your sump. I used to do that whenever i was going to do some mucking about in the tank or when i was blowing all the crap off my rocks.

I still have mine. It is an old model but still works.But never used in salt(BTW it is for sale cheap :)) The startup is kinda messy but after a few passes the filter starts gaining efficency and you get very clear water. I would do it in the sump first or a pail to get it to prime so it does not exhuast diatom powder all over the tank

Yep I do have a filter sock in there. I was just thinking for the other tiny particulates that are always in the water. I dunno, I'm thinking maybe I'll just crank up the ozone again, it did a pretty good job too.

I guess I could always save the $200 for desperately needed corals and just crank up my dollar store turkey baster :wink:

When I say I use it all the time I didn't literally mean continuously :lol: When I do a water change and siphon off the detritus I stir up the gravel and use the Diatom to clean the water column. Run it for a couple hours after every water change.

Christy, check any local stores to see if they have one you can rent. We used to have a store here that would rent it or loan it out as needed, although I thought I heard diatomaceous earth could no longer be bought. Health reasons. I've used one though, and I'd love to have one for emergencies.

Try Pisces in Calgary. I think they are on sale right now. Maybe they could ship one to you?

Diatomaceous earth is pretty nasty stuff if you breath it in, for sure (wear a dust mask when working with it, and eye protection would be good)... but I hope this isn't true, it is one of the more useful products out there for killing garden insects without chemicals.

Oh, and for filtering aquariums on occasion... yes, I believe that's what we were talking about :lol: So is it not available from the company that makes the filters than?