Yes, mine also has an air chamber at the top.
Have to look for it around here or just go with the higher micron value filter as you suggested any benefit with the powder?Diatom powder is sold for swimming pool filters. Unfortunately, you have to buy 5 gallons of the stuff. But it is very cheap.
Amazon has it but don't buy Human grade powder. Just swimming pool.
Why do you use a pump with air induction?I have 4 or 5 old Vortex Diatom filters in various stages of disintegration and I use one all the time to stir up the gravel in my 125 gallon tank. I also use it to blow out detritus in the pores my real rock. The tank uses dolomite gravel and the gravel has been in there for the 52 year life of the tank.
I also use the diatom filter many times when I collect NSW which is full of sea weed parts, sand and all sorts of debris because I take it from shore.
My last Diatom filter croaked after many fixes and modifications so I built one. I have been wanting to do this for many years because the manufactured model has not been built in many years and it was a horrible design for salt water and it rusted bad causing the bearings and seal to fail.
This working prototype I built in about an hour and so far it runs very well but I didn't put the diatom powder in yet.
The main two parts are a typical under sink water filter housing available from Amazon for about $20.00. The pleated filter cartridge inside is a 30 micron. They sell a one micron and if you use that you don't need diatom powder but I want to try this one first with the powder.
The pump is a 500GPH Supreme Hydro-Mag pump. $68.00 on Amazon
The membrane inside is $13.00
Pentair Pentek R30 Sediment Water Filter, 10-Inch, Under Sink Pleated Polyester Filter Cartridge, 10" x 2.5", 30 Micron
This is the finished prototype ready for testing.
The galvanized cap on the bottom of the filter is a 4" end cap for a dryer vent duct. It will corrode so I will replace it on the finished model with a rubber one available in a plumbing supply of Home Depot.
I also would not use that piece of "melamine" shelving material at the bottom as it doesn't do well with water. I will use either Plexiglass or varnished wood.
I also will replace that clear tube between the pump and filter with a 1/2" PVC pipe using a union in the middle for ease in taking the thing apart.
The powder allows you to clean the thing thoroughly and easily. I use the powder with the pleated filters, not the solid ones as they clog very quickly. I use the solid cartridges when I only want to polish the water when there is not to much gunk to remove because it clogs to fast.
I don't use a pump with air injection.
Mr. B would you use goop for corals?Freenow, it sems so as thats what I posted at the beginning of this thread. I assume 5 microns would also work.
I used mine yesterday and now because of a bad or cracked hip, an ill wife and the fact that we stupidly went to Florida for a week, I use it almost every day to clear up an algae infestation that is due to a variety of reasons. These things mostly crop up as we get old and can't do a lot of simple things any longer because of other commitments, time restraints and the ability to get your old bones to do what you want them to do.
Thank you for your service Paul.Debra, I have always loved building things and that may be because my Dad died suddenly when I was ten. (he was 47) My Mom had to get a job in a sweat shop on the west side of Manhattan making baby hats as she had a mortgage and two small sons.
That is what made me start building my own things. I built my first bicycle from parts I found in lots.
Luckily when I was 12, my neighbor gave me a job in his auto wrecking yard taking cars apart sometimes with an acetylene torch. (today he would get arrested for that for a number of reasons). But it taught me how to become independent and build anything I wanted
Just last week my Captain (now retired General) from Viet Nam sent me this text after he accidentally googled my name.
Quote:
"Paul, Checked you out on Google-Not surprised by your achievements!! With all the ingenuity you used in Nam to keep our COMMO running with scrounged parts/equipment-even off wrecked helicopters that you could grow coral" .
End Quote
I spent that year in the jungle and all I had was a pliers, screwdriver and probably a hack saw. I was the COMMO chief in charge of a field artillery battery and set up the communications. No cell phones or computers then.
Helicopters would crash all the time and I would fly there with a friend of mine who had a small helicopter and remove parts like switches, guages and batteries to build things we needed like a way to wash our clothes, communicate with the rear or "Gun Ship Cobra Helicopters and light our bunkers. He still calls me all the time and tells me things I built that I have no recollection of.
I was on 14 Firebases that we built and this was one of my "houses" (after a large battle)
No, they would not. Diatom powder is old dead diatom organisms and each "grain" of powder is full of microscope pores that filter the water down to a millionth of an inch. Crushed shells would just clog almost instantly.
