DIY Water polishing

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Treefer32

Treefer32

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I talked to support at Marineandreef.com and the support person was really helpful in deciding pool filter vs. the Nu-clear filter. The nuclear filter just seemed easier to maintain, less concern about potential parts that are damaging to reefs, and they are designed for aquariums. Price was not much different, so I felt pretty good about going the all reef compatible materials route.

I run a Reeflo Hammerhead external return pump rated at around 5000 gph. I had one on a tank where the sump was in the basement and the tank on the main floor with around 30 feet of 1.5" plumbing. The pump handled it like a champ. Now my sump is less than 10 feet from my tank, so I needed to divert the flows to reduce the flow rate on the tank. So, I run the cannister filter and algae turf scrubber off the return pump plus the return to the tank. I still almost have too much flow to the display. My overflows are rated at 2500 gph (H2O Overflows from customaquariums.com). But, I've had the pump running 2 years with no problems. I shut it down every couple months to do maintenance and glue coral frags down, etc. And it starts up and no degradation in flow. I haven't cleaned it since I installed it. Seems like a really good work hoarse so far.

As to resiphoning, etc, nope. No issues with that. The entire top comes off with a metal spring / screw strap (doesn't touch any of the water.) It comes with a simple easy to use non-pressure valve (open / close) on the input line, so I just close that, then open the drain valve and open the air release valve on the top that unscrews, to relieve the air pressure so it can drain. Wait a minute or two for it to drain. Then unstrap the metal strap and the whole lid comes off with an O ring for a seal. Pull the cartridge out, and media, wipe the inside down of the few drops of water left, insert new cartridge. Grease the O-ring with silicone grease. (light amounts), replace any filter media bags (carbon, purigen, GFO, etc). seal everything back up, close the valves, open the input and let it fill back up and start filtering again. In all it takes me 5 minutes to replace the filter cartridge.

Probably another 15-20 to wash the old cartridge. I do that in the garage, have hot water out there and floor drain. Spray it down for a few minutes, then soak in a bleach water solution for a few days, then spray it down again, then when I'm ready to change it out a month later, I fill up a 5 gallon bucket of RODI water and add a few drops of prime to the water to rinse out any bleach or chlorine left behind. after rinsing it a couple minutes in the prime / RODI water solution, I do a smell test to see if I smell any chlorine. And, if no chlorine smell it's ready to go into the cannister. :). It looks like new and works like new at that point. The guy I talked to at Marine and Reef said he runs it through the clothes washer with a few drops of bleach. That doesn't work for me with front load washers. It might work with a top load or something like that. I have to spray it down with a garden hose and garden sprayer adapter.
 

Josh@BVA

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run a canister filter with filter floss. easy to clean up and will quickly get rid of fine particles. You can even use it when you do regular water change or stir up the sand bed and then remove when the water quality is where you want it.
 

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thanks for the insight.. much appreciated.. My DT is about 600 gallons and again I am planning simply using this for cleaning up of the sand and rock in the about once a month ..roll it out on platform and let it run for a few hours. Wondering if anyone has pics of something similar
 

Rmckoy

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Could use this however it’s not cheap

01F01146-22E9-436D-BAE6-C9ADCD378E94.png
There is one in bulk reef supply for $150
But I don’t think they ship to Canada .
I can’t find them here anywhere
 

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Reef-junky

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There is one in bulk reef supply for $150
But I don’t think they ship to Canada .
I can’t find them here anywhere




 
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Treefer32

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I agree, I never tried the Nu-Clear cannister filter as a water change filter. It's small and easily portable. So, on one of those car rollers or a small utility roller bed, would work great. Throw on a pump, just need a place to discharge the cleaned water, (back into the display) so some flexible hoses and a vaccum hose to use on the sand. I think the 25 micron or 100 micron filter would work great for this (probably the 100 micron, as the 25 would probably plug up pretty fast on a 600 gallon. )
 

Josh@BVA

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thanks for the insight.. much appreciated.. My DT is about 600 gallons and again I am planning simply using this for cleaning up of the sand and rock in the about once a month ..roll it out on platform and let it run for a few hours. Wondering if anyone has pics of something similar
with this in mind, look out for next years black friday sale. you just missed it but petsmart usually has FX4 and FX6 canister filters (monsters) for like $120-$200. add a bunch of poly foam to the chambers and run while doing cleanings. I can confidently say that if you do this then the water will be crystal clear within an hour or 2 of running. then just rinse or replace the foam pads and store away until you need it again. Boom!!!
 

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with this in mind, look out for next years black friday sale. you just missed it but petsmart usually has FX4 and FX6 canister filters (monsters) for like $120-$200. add a bunch of poly foam to the chambers and run while doing cleanings. I can confidently say that if you do this then the water will be crystal clear within an hour or 2 of running. then just rinse or replace the foam pads and store away until you need it again. Boom!!!
I though about doing this didn't know if it would cause a mini cycle. Have you tried it?
 

Josh@BVA

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the bacteria will mainly be in you sand, liverock, and media so running a canister filter wont deplete the tank of bacteria. I do this pretty often on my tanks when i have a ton of algae particle flying around after a good scrub. never had any problems and looks amazing shortly after. i'll usually let it run for like 2-3 hours after i'm done and then just remove from the tank and clean out to be ready for next time.
 
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I though about doing this didn't know if it would cause a mini cycle. Have you tried it?
Yes, I'm running a 25 micron cartridge cannister filter on my 340 gallon from Marineandreef.com. I have 2 cartridges. I clean one spraying it down then soaking in bleach for a couple days, then spray it down again. I let it dry out, then soak in RODI water with prime to remove the bleach. Then, when the one in use slows down flow to about 1/3 of what it's capable of, I know it's starting to plug up and put the new one and wash the old one.

I run the 25 micron cartridge 24/7 on my display. Plus 200 micron filter socks on my overflows. My tank is so much clearer. And, no, no additional cycles. I suspect the decaying stuff on the cartridge releases phosphates, but it's food for my turf scrubber and for my corals. Keeps the water clearer for light to get through to the bottom of the tank. I change the cartridge every 3-4 weeks. Filter Socks I change every 2 days. How much junk my fish stir up!
 

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