David R

Shouldn't take too long to dry out then, I'd say a week of good hot sun would harden it sufficiently.

Thanks for steering the discussion back on track Mark! You're right that the noise is one downside. Have you got a link to the NZ units? I'd be very interested in seeing them, I'm not sure I'd want one in my livingroom, but I'm sure enclosed in a box in my garage the noise could be sufficiently reduced. Are they made for aquarium use or adapted from something else?

old woolen sock? I very much doubt my work socks would catch 1-micron particles! Polypropylene needlefelt on the other hand... I've seen one person on MFK using a large DE filter (Haywards is the brand IIRC) with good results, but you're right that they aren't particularly popular. I don't think filtering to 1 micron is at all necessary with the average aquarium, and far from practical with a tank the size of mine, it would be handy for dealing with things like whitespot on clown loaches though. I know the drum filter isn't the finest form of filtration on the market, but you have to admit that 40micron and completely self cleaning is pretty damn cool, at least for us big tank guys! I've certainly never seen anything else like it.

Whoops, I blame nightshifts for my mis-reading of that line, maybe I should stay off the net unless I've had >5 hours sleep... Perhaps we can rename this thread to "Alan's Campfire Filtration Stories and Sing-along thread" if people are more interested in hearing that than discussing the item I posted. Maybe if we're really lucky he'll actually share a photograph or two, presuming cameras were around back then?

Again, cool story, not really sure how it is relevant to the discussion at hand. Are you seriously suggesting 40 micron mechanical filtration isn't fine enough for the average aquarium? Compared to the usual sponge or wool 40 micron is incredibly fine. Most people I know of running filter socks use 100 micron, few use 50, and I've only ever seen a couple using anything less than that. Compared to the foam I'm using 40 micron is tiny.

Yeah it isn't for everyone, but I'm sure as time goes on they will become more affordable . They were originally build for koi ponds, there is a guy on MFK who runs a big one on his pond and is putting a 30-micron one on his Ultra High Tech 300 gallon Discus install, which is almost completely automated and digitally controllable, and expected to hit US$100-per-gallon cost! I'm not sure where Alan gets the idea that 40 micron is "coarse" in terms of aquarium filtration, as I'm sure you know from running 100-micron socks that they will catch almost everything that comes out of your fish. Compared to regular filter wool or sponge 40 micron (that is 0.04mm!) is incredibly fine, then consider that because of the regular self-cleaning nature of this filter nothing is going to be slowly breaking down to bypass it or gradually work it's way through he media over time with the flow of the water[unlike most forms of aquarium filtration]. If you were really a fussy bugger who wanted gin-clear water you could probably run a couple of 5-micron or even 1-micron socks after this, and I'd bet the amount of waste they would catch would be very minimal. I guess some people love new technology and innovation, others just stick with what they know.

Are we talking finger-thick roots or trunks as thick as your leg?

Yeah that is pretty cool, but only the beginning really. The fact that when it senses a difference between the two it cleans itself and performs a little water change for you is what impresses me! If you had enough circulation in the tank to prevent dead spots, then an overflow feeding into this thing, then a sump with some bio media and a clean water feed on a float valve, and a pump on a timer to regularly pump out old water you could have a completely maintenance-free aquarium. No water changes, no cleaning filters, just feed and enjoy.

Cool story bro. :facepalm:

Not starting the filter cleaning debate again, if you think hanging onto three months worth of crap in a filter is a good idea then that is your prerogative, and I wouldn't expect something like this to be of interest to you. I'm sure there are still people out there who think the earth is flat too. Back on topic please...

I guess you're lazy then.

40 micron mechanical filtration that you never have to clean/change. http://youtu.be/HdzATPKVYqw Dirty water comes into the inside of the drum. When the mesh clogs the water levels get out of balance tripping a sensor that starts spinning the drum and spraying high press water on the outside of the drum. This washes the dirt into a catch tray mounted inside the drum and under the spray nozzles, which then runs out and down the drain. Gravity driven like a sump with built in overflow bypasses in case anything does clog. Obviously you need some sort of auto top-off/drip system to compensate for the water lost to cleaning it, but that is another step towards having a completely automated aquarium. Not cheap at US$2500, but when you consider the time/effort/water etc spent cleaning/replacing other mechanical filter medias it starts to look pretty attractive...

If they [Manuka] are green I usually soak them for a bit to soften the bark, remove the bark and any dirt with a waterblaster, give them some time in the sun to dry and harden, then soak for a bit to remove the worst of the tannins.

I'd say the pH staying stable would be a minor added bonus of having a higher KH, having the KH closer to what your fish naturally experience would be more beneficial than the more stable pH [provided it wasn't crashing extremely low]. KH has far more effect on the fish and how they osmoregulate than pH. This a long but fairly good read on the subject, once you get your head around it! http://www.tbas1.com/Exchange/The%20New ... d%2011.pdf

I don't think it will last long, even if it doesn't leach out anything nasty I wouldn't bother with it. Manuka roots are the ones to go for!

Yes it can, depending on the type of media and how it is set up. A sump with a spray bar dropping water onto wool or sponge will easily have particles forced thru the media. Submerged media with the flow spread out like sponge in a canister (or my sump) isn't as prone to it, same with filter socks IME.

You're right it is certainly better to have too much rather than not enough, even though the bacteria colony will only grow based on the ammonia produced and not the amount of media available. I've seen calculations somewhere for K1 based on aquaculture practices, using the amount of food fed to work out how much media you need for X amount of fish. Not sure how they relate to other medias though.

I don't think that's quite right, having more flow won't make up for having less media, you still need adequate contact time for the bacteria to do its thing. How long that contact is I'm not sure, if you think of bioballs in a trickle tower the water isn't in contact with the media for very long at all. You may need more turn-over through the tank with less filter media, but that isn;t the same as having fast flow over the filter media. If you have too small a sump (or the wrong shape) the water may be moving through there quicker than is ideal, but I think it would have to be pretty fast before you start losing efficiency.

I'm a fan of glass tanks over those off-the-shelf type units. If you're in or near Auckland you can't beat Greg/Tanks2u for quality and price. They you can get it built to whatever size/shape you want that best suits your needs. With your catfish and bichirs you'd be better off with a wider tank rather than a tall narrow one as most of those 'brand name' units are.

Took me a while to find it, set up a saved search on TradeMe for "Epipremnum" would be your best bet. Mine are too small to cut sorry.

Looks like too much bio and not near enough mechanical filtration to me, unless you have a ridiculous amount of fish in that tank! If it were mine I'd be removing the last two baffles and running a filter sock in the part where you have filter wool/bioballs then fill the rest up with submerged rings, matrix, whatever.

Good to hear they're doing well, Seth I think that is a great idea what you've done with them! You're right about them being super easy to grow, I think that is the main reason they work so well. I'd love to do an aquaponics set up and grow lettuce, herbs etc with my aquarium water, but this is far simpler and has similar results [for the fish].

I meant I wouldn't put the foam in place of the filterwool as it isn't fine enough to be the sole form of mechanical filtration.

I wouldn't, 25ppi isn't all that fine.

Here's a couple of pics of my Pothos plant (Epipremnum aureum) growing in the sump of my tank. These were unrooted cuttings when I put them there a couple of months ago and have since grown reasonably well, more so recently now they are getting a decent sized root system on them. Unfortunately I'm not able to compare before and after results with the nitrate levels as they have been in the tank since day one, but I've never had a reading of over 20ppm despite heavily feeding the plecs and arowana. This thread on MFK has more details, including some results showing how much nitrate they can consume once established. Mine are growing under an 8w energy saver bulb as there isn't much ambient light where the sump is. They'd probably be ok without it, but 8w 12hrs a day isn't much power and more light = more growth = less nitrate! The roots have good water movement through them, and I'm hoping as they get bigger they'll help the settling chamber filter out more crap before it reaches the sponges. I don't have any spare at the moment, but if you keep an eye on trademe there is at least one person there who sells it occasionally (you'll have to look for Epipremnum, not pothos). I did distribute some spares when I first got it, interested to hear how other people are doing with it.