Water Polishing?

[ejarrett]

Has anyone ever used powerheads with a water polisher attached? If so have you had success using them and what kind did you use?

As far as chemicals go can anyone give me some recommendations to help clear up my water? Or possible filter media that could help with clarity?

 

[Ch4rlie]

I'd avoid any chemicals that claims to clear water or suchlike.

Powerheads can be fairly powerful and am a little unsure where you'd put any sort of water polisher on a powerhead.

I would recommend you can add filter floss to your filter, this acts as a collector of any fine debris that may have otherwise entered back into your tank water.

If you cannot add any floss to your filter then perhaps you could use an additional small internal / hob / small external and stuff wih filter floss, that will do the trick plus be aware this may add to the water flow, so depends on what stocking you have in your tank you can adjust the flow accordingly.

Have used filter floss in my filters for years and regulaly change the floss every week as this does get pretty dirty and clogged at the end of every week or every two weeks at most. Keeps the water real nice and clean.

You can purchase 2 meter or more, rolls of filter floss cheaply online, lasts for ages. Really, probably best not buy from LFS, tiny patches a few square inches of filter floss that costs more than it should tbh.

 

[Byron]

Ch4rlie is absolutely correct, never use clarifiers as they do affect fish. Before considering remedies, one has to track down the cause; without resolving the cause, "band-aid" type remedies rarely work at all.

You mentioned cloudy water in another thread, and I think we reasoned it was likely a bacterial bloom. These are best left to clear naturally. But other sources of cloudiness are suspended particulate matter from the source (tap) water, or sometimes the substrate. Diatom and bacterial blooms can occur from various causes, primarily organics. In new setups a bacterial bloom is common. Good filtration, water changes, not overstocking or overfeeding, all factor in.

Byron.

 

[AbbeysDad]

+2 - chemical clarifiers work by binding particles together so they can be filtered easier. HOWEVER, this process is very hard on fish gills.
Let 'nature' run it's course and the water should clear in a few days.
Polyester fiber is an excellent final polish in a filter. I get a big bag at Wallymart in the craft area (same fiber as is used to stuff pillows and such) for about $4. Just make sure you get a type that is not treated with any chemicals.

 

[ShinySideUp]

I use this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AQUARIUM-...hash=item2c9c7c8623:m:mLMKVFCCHboHSrod_6a3Lgg

It is ten quid for ten metres. I put a bit in my U4 internal filter every week and chuck the old stuff away, this keeps the small particles out of the tank while my big (Fluval FX5) filter does the biological stuff. The fact that the FX5 doesn't contain fine filter material means it doesn't clog up and I don't have to clean until it's been running for a couple of months.

 

[DrRob]

I've used extra filters full off floss for this. It does block up fairly well and running it in a secondary filter means that you don't lose flow on the primary, but it only really needs a small filter for this.

 

[julielynn47]

I have a diatom filter. I got it here years ago. http://www.diatomfilter.com/

It polishes the water to an amazing degree. I use it after water changes and it gets the water so clear. It is almost unbelievable how this cleans.
It does not put anything in the tank water. It polishes the water with diatomaceous earth inside the filter.

 

[DrRob]

Can't run those too often though, and last time I looked the membranes didn't last very well. I will admit though that it's been a while since I looked at them.

 

[julielynn47]

Mine works great and I use it all the time. They do cost a little bit, but it has been so worth it to me.