Particulates in the the tank

[capdippe]

Any ideas on clearing the junk that floats in the water? I've read about canister filters, but is it really needed?

 

[user 26995]

Are you using any filter floss in your filtration anywhere? Or a filter sock?

 

[jrgilles]

I have an overflow box that skims the surface before dumping the water into the sump

 

[capdippe]

Yeah I have an overflow box with filter floss, a wet/dry sump with more filter floss, then another compartment with a narrow strip of floss before the skimmer, it seems that I can never have particle free water.

 

[jill]

Yeah I have an overflow box with filter floss, a wet/dry sump with more filter floss, then another compartment with a narrow strip of floss before the skimmer, it seems that I can never have particle free water.

What is a "filter floss"?

I have also started to strain my frozen food much better after defrosting in RO water and that has helped alot. I also baste my rock regularly and do water changes right after while the particles are floating around.

 

[Xtremedave67]

riding this one along

 

[user 26995]

What is a "filter floss"?

Well, filter pads, filter media of a kind. This is what I was thinking of when I said filter floss.

 

[user 26995]

I have also started to strain my frozen food much better after defrosting in RO water and that has helped alot. I also baste my rock regularly and do water changes right after while the particles are floating around.

DITTO - this helps. Dont over feed and remove as much as possible when doing water changes

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Can't beat owning 2 or more filter socks for particulates. Run one while cleaning the other. Swap them out every few days to a week.

 

[Xtremedave67]

baste LR??? ok new term to me....what is that?

 

[slim_jim989]

Taking a turkey Baster to the rock and blowing the particles around into the water column

 

[NWDiver]

I too have this issue, I baste the rocks before every water change and this has made the water much better over the last two months. Now if I could get the sand sifting goby to gently spit out the sand...

 

[Xtremedave67]

OHHhhhhhh OK that makes sense...to get debris off rocks Ok new task to my weekly tank maintainence.
now filter socks.....I just have my overflow to a refugium (with deep sand bed) any reason I would want to add socks??? Im not skimming via my overflow to fuge.

 

[Scooterman]

Diatom filters work really well, along with Filter Socks from the overflow, any particulate removed it better that letting it rot in your tank.

http://www.diatomfilter.com/


socks, smaller micron the better

http://www.marinedepot.com/Filter_Sock_Mechanical_Filter_Media-FIFMMEFS-ct.html

Also check out e-bay

 

[user 26995]

OHHhhhhhh OK that makes sense...to get debris off rocks Ok new task to my weekly tank maintainence.
now filter socks.....I just have my overflow to a refugium (with deep sand bed) any reason I would want to add socks??? Im not skimming via my overflow to fuge.

It helps remove excess food and fish poop which will cause water quality issues if not removed or skimmed off. I run my overflow thru filter media, then to the sump w/skimmer then to refugium then to return.

 

[DonW]

You add filter socks to remove suspended detritus and excess food. Some people use them 24/7 and others just for cleaning. The socks will outperform floss becasuse the detritus and food break down in the floss and eventually make their way back into the water column. Filter socks have a much lower micron rating and will nearly polish the water when used with good amounts of carbon.

Don

 

[user 26995]

Filter socks have a much lower micron rating and will nearly polish the water when used with good amounts of carbon.

Don

Don, do you just put carbon straight in to the filter sock? Or do you bag it in a media bag and put it in the filter sock?

 

[DonW]

Don, do you just put carbon straight in to the filter sock? Or do you bag it in a media bag and put it in the filter sock?

You need to bag it or run a seperate media reactor. If you bag it you need to kneed it every other day so it doesnt stay compacted. Change it often so it doesnt go biological.

Don

 

[psb]

I would recommend filter socks. It really improves water clarity. And you can get them down to 100 microns, for general aquarium use. Size does matter. A human hair will be between 40 to 100 microns. Or an easier understanding is a thousandth of an inch is equal to about 25 microns. The human eye can see down to about 10 microns. If you see things floating in your water. They generally are pretty big...relatively. So 100 and 200 micron socks work just fine.

 

[psb]

Another good thing about very fine filter socks are for removing bubbles from returning to the main tank.