Fluidized Bed Filters

[mani]

anyone got one? what are your experiences - Will you get good growth rates with these.....

[wrk21]

groth rate of what??


 ))o

[grokz]

i got one and it works brilliantly :wink:

[Cory Fan]

I also have one but never use it :lol:

Just sitting under the shelves :lol:

[cosmotiger1]

they are great inventions.

if you use (seachem) PURIGEN instead of sand then it will take nitrate out of the water too.
so yes your fish will get better growth (because nitrate stunts fish growth)

[mickvick]

With all due respect to Cosmo, I would not use Purigen instead of sand in a FBF because the benefit of a FBF is that it has fantastic properties for growing large bacterial colonies.

In order for it to be effective at removing Nitrates (acutally anything), Purigen requires you to 'recharge' it every so often by rinsing it in bleach. When you do this, it will completely wipeout the large bacterial colony that you have established in your FBF. As a result of wiping out your bacterial colony, you will need to cycle your tank again.

Defeats the purpose of a FBF.

So, DO NOT use Purigen as a substitute for sand in a Fluidised Bed Filter.

Michael

[Aquariums Alive]

ill have to agree with you both here
If your only going to be using the FBF then dont use Purigen as mick is correct and you will destroy your bacteria but if your going to use it as an extra to help you keep your water cleaner then the use of purigen will be ok
A FBF is an excellent way of using Purigen, though not a stand alone filter.
Do you plan on using other filters as well????
or just the FBF???


Brad

[mickvick]

The problem as I see it Brad, is that if you use Purigen in a FBF, it will, by nature of the effectiveness of the type of filter, house the majority of your bacteria, regardless of having other filters.

The minute you rinse it with bleach, it will destroy the balance of your tank and you will have to re-start your cycle. Sure, you will have other filters to assist in that cylce, but I absolutely, 100% guaruntee that you will have spikes in ammonia and nitrite.

If it were me, I would use the purigen in the other filter as an FBF is far more effective as a biological filter only.

Michael

[cosmotiger1]

sorry but i dissagree mick,
if you have other filters aswell(recommended) they [u:0acf070bd6]WILL[/u:0acf070bd6] house bacteria.

and tell me what bacteria does????? it turns ammonia to nitrite to nitrate.

if you have purigen it absorbs all of these, illiminating the need to keep the bacteria alive in your FBF.

and from experience i can say the cleanest and healthiest fish room i have ever seen had this system and it housed some of the rarest fish in australia and his fish had the greatest growth rates ive seen

[Aquariums Alive]

if you have enough filtration excluding the FBF then removing the bacteria from this will not cause an ammonia spike. If you just have enough filtration with the FBF then no doubt removing the bacteria from this will affect the levels enough to cause spikes.
I myself use purigen in a few different setups and using different applications and i assure you that removing the purigen and cleaning them in these tanks hasnt affected my levels at all.
The cleanest setup i have seen was using Purigen in a FBF in a sump as an extra.
As i said above only use purigen as an extra in a FBF
The bacteria will multiply in all filters and as long as you dont remove and clean all filters at once you will be fine

Brad

[mickvick]

Guys, I'm merely presenting my opinion and as we are all aware there are a number of ways to skin a cat.

Cosmo, theres no need to be a smart arse, I am aware that other filters will hold bacteria.... as I said [quote:89e426210f]Sure, you will have other filters to assist in that cycle[/quote:89e426210f]

One question though if you genuinely believe in your theory.....

[quote:89e426210f]and tell me what bacteria does????? it turns ammonia to nitrite to nitrate.

if you have purigen it absorbs all of these, illiminating the need to keep the bacteria alive in your FBF[/quote:89e426210f]

then why do you even care about cycling your tank and why bother recommend having other filters to house bacteria?....because apparently purigen does it all.

Michael

[cosmotiger1]

[quote:0ec43c6e54]then why do you even care about cycling your tank and why bother recommend having other filters to house bacteria?[/quote:0ec43c6e54]

[quote:0ec43c6e54]In order for it to be effective at removing Nitrates (acutally anything), Purigen requires you to 'recharge' it every so often by rinsing it in bleach[/quote:0ec43c6e54]

you answered yourself smartass!!!
you need something to filter the water while the purigen is being regenerated

[Aquariums Alive]

[quote:702c253174]then why do you even care about cycling your tank and why bother recommend having other filters to house bacteria?....because apparently purigen does it all. [/quote:702c253174]
LOL good point mick
I know we are just presenting our own opinions
and we are both right in our own ways
though we do agree we cant just use purigen as a filter medium we do require other filters
I only use purigen as an extra to polish the water gives it an added clarity effect as it does help lower nitrates

Brad

[cosmotiger1]

fine kill 2 birds with 1 stone and run 2 of them.......1 with purigen and 1 with sand.

i know how a sand one works and it is great but it is also the most effective way to use prigen

[mickvick]

Is that two birds with 1 stone or one bird with 2 stones??? :lol:

Seriously, if you were going for the ultimate, I would invisage that you would run 2 in tandem. The first would be normal sand and the second purigen.

That way you would have a single pump (less cost), the bacteria in the first would take care of Ammonia and Nitrite, and the purigen in the second would mop up any leftover Ammonia and Nitrite and take care of the Nitrate.

Also by having it run throught the sand one first, you would maintian the maximum biological filtration and extend the time between recharges on the purigen. When recharging the purigen, you wont end up killing the bacteria in the first.

Best of both worlds.

Just my opinion though.........

Michael