Question on BioFilter

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pramod2424

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Dec 16, 2014
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Hello guys,

I have a 150 gallon tank having one Giant gowrami and a pair of catfish. Today my drinking water purifier was serviced, and they replaced the "Spun-bonded Polypropylene prefilter" catridge. I was wondering whether the old catridge would make a much more efficient biofilter having more surface area for the bio-bacteria to build up ?

Thanks in advance
 
FreshyFresh

FreshyFresh

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I'd be afraid of it releasing stuff into the tank.
 
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pramod2424

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Thanks a lot for the reply FF.
But i was wondering, its a catridge used in our drinking water RO purifier. Those are supposed to be even more safer than the pet supplies. Why they use PP threads, as far as i know, is because it wont discharge anything into water,, and has enough surface area to trap impurities. Whichs why i was thinking of cleaning the catridge properly and using it as a bio filter medium only , as a replacement for ceramic rings - means,, the water entering the catridge chamber will be mechanically filtered using the filter sponges.
 
FreshyFresh

FreshyFresh

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Gotcha. I was just thinking this used pre-filter would be loaded with various solids, minerals and other stuff not normally contained in your fish tank.
 
wesleydnunder

wesleydnunder

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I think it will clog quickly and be difficult to rinse out sufficiently.

Mark
 
D

dougall

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Mar 29, 2005
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I'd say it's likely to be expensive compared with more standard bio media, and will likely need pressure to get the water through it. I would also be concerned what chemicals might leech into the aquarium water.

Probably easier and cheaper to add a large PVC pipe filled with bioballs if you're looking to save money on biomedia.

I would imagine that using this media inline with an existing mechanical filter would reduce your overall flow rate due to pressure making your mechanical filtration much less effective.
 
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pramod2424

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Dec 16, 2014
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Yes, Mark ,, You are right - difficult to rinse.

The water passing thru the catridge is guaranteed to b almost mechanically crystal clear with only the dissolved impurities in it.
I wanted to try experiment with the catridge. But how can i ensure if the catridge is being biologically effective in bacteria colonizing or not ?
Im not putting my fish into danger because 2 established bacterial medium are already there - ceramic rings , and pot scrubbers.

PR
 
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pramod2424

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Dec 16, 2014
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Dougall,

As i said no chance for leeching. as it was used for curing drinking water and doesnt look much bad. They changed it as a part of my AMC only.
 
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pramod2424

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Maybe i will remove my ceramics and pot scrubbers gradually over a week and keep on checking the water quality daily with the test kits
 
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dougall

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If it was being used to filter your drinking water, I assume it was removing something from your source water.

Whatever it removed from your water, at least mechanically as opposed to chemically, is likely to be in contact with your aquarium water which could be a concern, or could not, unless you have ways to determine that nothing is leeching back into the water, I'd personally err on the side of caution.

My biggest concern would be the pressure needed to get water through the filter. If you can pour water through the filter as quickly as it drains out, this is not a concern; If not, I'd look for something less restrictive to the flow. All you ultimately need for biological filtration is surface area for the water to flow past
 
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