Anyone Remember These?

[SteveMM62Reef]

Old Diatom Filter, big problem with them was a poorly designed Shaft Seal, that would leak. I finally couldn’t buy the Shaft Seals. Sat at a Pump Parts, Repair Business for months, while they tried to figure out a better solution. This one is Listed on Craigslist in Maryland.

 

[SlugSnorter]

you could also get a different diatom filter

 

[Paul B]

Remember them! I have about 5 of them in various stages of disintegration. I use them all the time and used one this week. I wouldn't have a tank without one. :)

 

[Snoopy 67]

I use mine to clean the sump.

 

[Blue Ring Octopus]

Yeap, Have two and the yes the seals suck.

 

[n1ng]

Just threw mine out. The seal was okay, but the filter would tear where it meets the plastic pipe going to the pump assembly.

It polished the water like nobody's business. I don't know if that is a good thing in today's reefing. I was using it a good +20yrs ago.

 

[Paul B]

I replaced the pump motor with something that doesn't have seals and built my own bags because the Diatom bags don't last very long.

 

[SPS2020]

Had a few of them throughout the years. Talk about polishing the water! Of course, those were not Acropora tanks. LOL

 

[DiatomUser]

I replaced the pump motor with something that doesn't have seals and built my own bags because the Diatom bags don't last very long.

Hi Paul,

What did you replace the filter bags with?
Any details would be appreciated.

Tks!
Darren.

 

[Paul B]

I used some sort of mesh material, but now I build my own with pleated filters easily available.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

We need a parts list, and source for the parts.

 

[Paul B]

We need a parts list, and source for the parts.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-diatom-filter-for-under-100-00.1023989/

 

[DiatomUser]

Hi Paul, thanks for the info.

Did you ever determine if it worked well with a 5 micron filter, or is a 1 micron filter required to keep diatom powder out of the tank?

Tks!
Darren.

 

[Paul B]

I think I use a one micron filter in my smaller unit and I don't need powder in that one and a 5 micron on the larger one where I use powder.

The one with powder doesn't have to be cleaned as quick and removes much more "stuff".

 

[GARRIGA]

Haven't used this with the powder but built for it. Easier application than the old solution. Wish it came in a larger size.

However, I've considered going Paul's route for a while and think 10 micron small enough to remove pathogens based on Jay's comments about the size of pathogens.

 

[GARRIGA]

How to charge it.

 

[DiatomUser]

I think the Marineland Magnum Polishing filter would do the job, but it appears to have a very low capacity. I also don't like the idea "charging" the filter with powder, then turning it off and moving it to the tank, because I expect some of the diatom powder will get into the tank when it's powered on again. Is this an actual problem, or is the pleated filter sufficiently fine enough to prevent that? Paul's filter seems like a better idea (higher capacity, safer to prime), but the idea of buying an off-the-shelf product is attractive.

 

[GARRIGA]

I think the Marineland Magnum Polishing filter would do the job, but it appears to have a very low capacity. I also don't like the idea "charging" the filter with powder, then turning it off and moving it to the tank, because I expect some of the diatom powder will get into the tank when it's powered on again. Is this an actual problem, or is the pleated filter sufficiently fine enough to prevent that? Paul's filter seems like a better idea (higher capacity, safer to prime), but the idea of buying an off-the-shelf product is attractive.

Haven't heard of the DE getting released but seems to be a viable concern.

I also prefer Paul's approach and only hesitation was finding out what micron rating needed to avoid premature clogging. I'm going to try using 10 micron as I'm not necessarily trying to polish the water as much as removing pathogens while letting bacteria pass through. Been looking at this as an option for QT by using various size filters to capture detritus and avoid clogging the final stage.

Here's my thread from 2022. Still a work in progress. For your application, what Paul built seems more than adequate. Was just presenting options.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/qt-micron-and-uv-filtration-concept.889745/

 

[DiatomUser]

I'll have to give this further thought. I have two Diatom XL filters. One has a bad shaft seal, which I'll replace if I find my spare parts box. The other has a new pump that works great, but all my filter bags have holes in them. If I came up with a replacement filter bag I'd be back in business.

The question is; what kind of material can I use to make new filter bags?

 

[DiatomUser]

After talking with my wife about polyester non-woven cloth, she came up with the idea of using extra-heavy interfacing, which is a type of cloth used to stiffen or provide support to fabric. It's very similar to the original filter bag material. It comes in two forms, fusible and non-fusible. The fusible interfacing appears to be waterproof, so the idea is to use non-fusible interfacing to create a bag with the plastic mesh inside it from the original filter bag to give it shape and use hem tape, which is set with heat, to bond the edges of the bag together. Not sure how durable it will be or how I'll connect the new bag to the pump, but those are challenges for another day.

FYI: The new pump I referred to in my earlier post is this product: https://www.bearvalleyaquatics.com/vortex-diatom-filter-magnetic-drive-retrofit-pump.html

It's no longer available, but a newer version of the pump can be purchased elsewhere. If you had to buy the pump and make an adapter for it, it's probably easier to use Paul's solution.