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hey peoples!
ive been thinking about buying a good quality diatom filter,ive red great reviews and articles on them!
i just wanted to know what you guys think of them,and i just had a few questions.
a few people that ive spoken too,and ive red it too,have said that they recomend not to use them full time!
just to use them,when you want to polish your water,or say if you have stoborn algae,or if debris and dirt get on top of the filtration you are running,you can connect a diatom for a few weeks,and get it back to pristine water again!
1,so why do they say not to use them fulltime.
2,why is the diatom particle powder,harmfull if breathed into your lungs(sevral of the articles i red and peolpe i spoke to warned me about this)
another guy i spoke to said they were a bit of a waste of money,even more so if you are running good filtration already,eg spinning arm mini reef!
3,do yous think they are a waste of money

Diatom filters uses the microscopic empty shells of a type of plankton called, as you may have guessed, diatoms. These shells are made out of silicon dioxide, which means that diatomaceous earth is basically just ground up glass. As you might expect, this is not the best thing in the world to regularly be breathing in and can lead to a whole host of problems, not the least of which is a condition called silicosis.

That being said, DE filters are excellent "water polishers" for aquariums. They filter so fine that they can even catch red blood cells. Their efficiency is actually one of the reasons that you don't want to run them all the time. They would clog up so much that it would be a gigantic hassle to keep them clean. Also, any beneficial (i.e. food for fish!) wee beasties that live in the water column will be taken out.

I wouldn't exactly call them a waste of money, but I certainly don't think that they're an essential piece of equipment. If you have the resources, go for it. I know that there are some DIY versions to be made, and I believe that FRANK might be able to give you some more information on it.

As soon as I read your answer I thought Frank.
I have never seen one at any LFS not that I have been looking any way.
Why do you require one do you have a special problem that requires such a fine filtration system?
If you just want to make sure you return water is perfect clean I would just add a very fine filter pad/s as the last filtration process.

This is not the same, as Frank will point out very quickly and will not do the same job as a Diatom Filter but it will help in polishing the return water.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
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Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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Hi,

The diatom filter is designed to remove particles in the
one micron size from the water.
It's media is Diatomaceous Earth, a white powder that
is actually the skeletons of diatoms. The skeletons
are made of silica dioxide (SiO2) which, by the way,
is also the chemical formula of glass.

These filters are so through that they cannot run 24/7,
365, like other aquarium filters. Instead they will
remove individual cells of algae, parasites such as Ich,
as well as particles of clay and so on from the water.

They will turn a newly setup tank with Sachem's
Flourite used for substrate, (a cloudy mess) into
crystal clear water in a few short hours.
My 30G tank went from "liquid mud" where you could not
see two inches into it, to crystal clear inside 4 hours.

Unless you look at your tank water under a microscope,
you cannot appreciate how much debris is floating in the
water. Using a diatom filter will "polish" the water
removing all debris, and make it crystal clear. So clear
the fish will appear to be swimming in air.

Depending upon the tank, the filter will eventually clog
up and cease to pump water through it. This allows the
motor to over heat, sometimes to the point where it is
impossible to touch the motor housing, and it will start
to smoke. That is why you cannot run it for long periods
of time. It will clog, and overheat, and could catch on
fire.

The Diatomaceous earth is an extremely fine white powder,
even finer than chalk dust. It is pieces of glass. If you
breath it into your lungs you could get a disease called
Silicosis (Miner's lung disease). Whenever handling the
powder always wear a face mask (such as a surgeon might
wear) and be sure to wash your hands before touching your
face or eating. If you get any powder on your clothing,
wash it by itself in a washing machine. Cigarettes will
cause cancer, the powder will cause cancer as well.
While it is much like talcum powder, it is dangerous and
not something to be careless around.

As for being a waste of money, in a sense he is right.
This is not a filter that you would run 24/7. It is a
specialized filter and you would probably only run it
once a quarter for about 3-4 hours. The rest of the time
it would sit on a shelf somewhere collecting dust.
But, use it once, and the difference in the tank water
is absolutely stunning. Perhaps you might find some
friends with aquariums, and together you could purchase
one and rotate it between yourselves.

Here is the filter that I have:
http://www.aquariumguys.com/diatomfilter.html
This is the powder:
http://www.aquatichouse.com/FILTRATION%20MENU_files/diatompowder.asp
This is the company that makes the filters:
http://www.diatomfilter.com/products/diatom_d1_filter.htm
This is a site about Diatoms:
http://www.indiana.edu/~diatom/diatom.html

I have had my filter for over 3 decades. I've never had
any problems with it and I purchase the bulk powder from
the site above.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

ah dam i love your answers frank,i was hoping for a detailed response,thanx for that mate,you too joe!
as for needing 1,i dont really,
but the local fish shop i use,is willing to do me a SUPER deal on 1!
he got a bunch of these but they didnt really sell,so this is the last 1 and he just wants to get rid of it,they have been laying around the store for a while.
now as for me,with the amount of tanks i normally have up and running at 1 time,(9-10 tanks,depending if i have babies)i could rotate the filter no problems.as the filter will be so cheep,i think it will be a great investment,just to use randomly or when needed on my tanks.
my guy at my lfs said for me,the amount of breeding my cichlids do,and as they dig and eat more,he said for the cheep price,
just this alone,the filter would be great to use when/after i have fry,just to bring that pristine water back!
well ill see if i get anymore posts/info,them im thinking i mite just get it.
i have face masks,and i wll be smart about using the powder,ill probly chuck on some gloves to just to be extra safe.
oh and more question frank,can the diatom powder hurt my fish!
plus frank having his for 30 years,just that has pretty much sold me on it.
so when i get to the new house and i have all my tanks up and running,even if i did pay full price,i would be getting my moneys worth in my opp.between all them tanks,im sure i could work out some sort of temparary rotation.....