Help! J-P's Set up

[Nick]

Weird that there would be manufacturing issues - those have been made more or less than same way for MANY years, likely more than the 30 I've been alive. Perhaps the maker of the motors is discontinuing that particular one? In any case, as long as you can get bags, I cannot see needing too many replacement parts.

[J-P]

nope haven't tried it yet.

I have to build a small table for them so that the hoses can reach the tank. Hopefully I'll be able to build it today.

AFAIK the only known issues were the plastic containers that housed the diatom media, some reportedly leaked.

BTW I opted not to go for the big 500GPH Xl and went for 2x D-1 units (250 GPH each). That way if one failed I have the other

sorry I had to edit this:
http://www.diatomfilter.com/ is the official web site for the Vortex (I think)

[J-P]

Just got off the phone with Innerspace, and they said that production is going normally and no products have been disco'd and all parts are available.

Although I didn't ask if the line up was changing

[DarkStorm]

cool sounds like a great investment

[RTR]

Nick - your time scale is close. One of mine is over 30 years old, the other is a mere youngster - it its early 20s. I have a third from a different company which is actually user-friendly, but has been discontinued. Anyway, I have plenty of spares for all of them.

[J-P]

Ok ... got the diatom filter up and running! Sort of.. I missed that part about having to disolve the powder first so it spit out a dust cloud when I first powered it up. I'm going to run it for a day and and I hope I can get a noticable improvement.

Pros: that is one mean machine and looks like it is doing what it is supposed to
Cons: The container ring doesn't fit perfectly (as I have read about) and with the contents under pressure it can leak. You have to screw it on REALY tightly. Quick fix: Plumbers tape or pretogel. Use it in a bucket of some sort just in case.

Ad a design note: I am suprised they didn't use glass and rubber "O" rings like a blender does.

Also, I hooked up my CO2 today It is only rated for 125 Gals so I am using only for the planted bottom section of the tank. If the top will benifit that is a bonus, if not, it is expected. Just got to figure out the bubble count portion of that set up.

Today's Readings:
Ammonia 0 (yay finally)
Nitrite 2.5 ~5
Nitrate 20~30

Now I got to work on those other #s..

[RTR]

Welcome to the world of highly effective totally non-user-friendly machines.

They originally were glass. Both mine are. They still leak. To operate a vortex, you need:
1. A waterproof cart
2. A bucket to hold the filter.
3, The recharge valve between the lines -or is that standard now - mine were extra.
4. A round Lee's catch bucket to hang IN the tank, to hold the intake and output in case you have the recharge valve mis-aligned. (you obviously did not have this item in place).
5. A stack of dry towels on a nearby table (not on the lower shelf of the cart - do not ask how I learned this)
6. No one else within earshot.
7. One cold beer. You cannot risk any more.
8. A short memory and a good sense of humor.

[Nick]

It's even more fun with number 9, a boss leaning over your shoulder micromanaging how you do it, rather than either doing it himself or leaving you be and doing one of the 20 other things the fish store needs doing.

[J-P]

The Lees bucket I think I can get away with using a juice jug (if I can find it)

The cart; maybe yes, maybe no. I have plastic food bins that I scooped from my former work place. It is sitting in that at the moment and yes there is about 1" of water in it after running it now for about 3 hours.

I will try the plumbers tape on the second unit I have tomorrow and see how that goes.

I am not certain what the recharge valve is, but in the instructions it said to fill the resivoir more than 1/2 way and start the unit upside down, and it worked! That created the syphon needed to draw in the water Even after 3 hours of it running I can see that the powder is noticably brown!

[Nick]

You can buy rubber gasket at home depot and cut it to size. It's good stuff.

[J-P]

I got the gasket just have to cut it out. Thanks for the advice!

Drumm roll... Tank chemestry:
GH = 8
KH = 7
Phosphate = 1.5~2.0
PH =7.8~7.9 (pretty close the PH, I know they are related but not sure how)
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0~.05 (yay!)
Nitrate 5~15 (I thought that was a little low considering I'm usually in the 100's)

Now if I understood the KH - PH relationship a little better that would be sweet.

So far so good! (I hope)

AND my bananna plant will go emergent tonight.. it grew another couple inches and is touching the surface now
Very Excited! Maybe I shouldn't get too excited too soon!

[J-P]

I just did my daily tank walkthrough...

6 lilly plants!

I KNOW I didn't buy that many. Maybe this will end up being a single species tank after all

[Flutter]

YAY Things are coming together again. I can't wait to see what it's like once it's all set up.

Some of my plants are starting to multiply. I wish it would happen faster.

[J-P]

ok you twisted my rubber arm ...

2 tank shots. 1st and 2nd half of the 210 bottom unit

next phase ... critters

[RTR]

The water pH is determined by the KH, but readily affected by the acids generated in the tank if they are persistent (tannic acids are). Most acids generated in-tank just burn out part of the KH (you asked by implication, so you get: Every milliequivalent of ammonium oxidized to nitrate eats up two milliequivalents of bicarbonate, HCO3). That is why change in the water profile versus source water is important. It measures how much biofiltration has changed your water, and how good your partials are at keeping up with such changes - which are central to tank stability long term.

All you wanted to know - and more!