Mechanical Filtration vs Nitrate

Hey Reefers,

My Marineland HOT Magnum came in today. I had a problem with my first one and they sent me a new one that works like a charm. Once a month I create a tropical storm in my nano cube, let me explain.

A lot of debris gets in between my rocks and behind in the filter area of the cube; bio-balls and the sponge. After about 1 month my rocks have a lot of dust on them.

So I bring out my HOT magnum and hang it on the side of the tank. Then I create surges of water against the rocks and corals, enough that my tank is looks as if a typhoon hit, (this is done with a turkey baster).

Then with the click of one button on the filter, my tank becomes crystal clear in less than 20 minutes, this is done with the Micron Filter it comes with, it also comes with a charcoal filter if you wanted to filter a heavily fish populated tank. In my case I have less fish more corals, so I use just the Micron Filter.

I'm really excited, also because it helps control my Nitrates, along with my water change, expelling all this debris out of my water brings down my Nitrates tramendously.

I've taken several pictures of the process so you reefers can see the efficiency of the filter. That crap you see in my cups, came out of the Micron filter; I have a spare Micron filter so I placed them side by side so you can see what it looks like after one use.

This morning I took a picture of my tank with only my actinic on. Look how open the corals are clam are after my micron filtering. It's just amazing.

yep

i had one too

i loved teh micron filter man

good score..

Chris

why are you up at this hour mikey?

Chris

Chris,

I know it was really late, I just started the project late because I had to work late. And you know when you reefers start something you cannot stop until its done. Luckly my wife fell asleep early and didn't force me to bed early....

Mike

p.s Chris after seeing Larnies post again, I'm going to go with what I originally wanted 2 JBJ 50/50. Man talk about wishy washy,,, I'm sorry and hope you haven't completed my lights....

I am a fan of the blue, just was scared it would be too much blue and it seems Larnie is happy and I know I will be to. Besides in the future when one of my bulbs burns I'll mix and match for a different look.

Hope this doesn't stress you out... Thanks,

Hey, that's cool!

I guess corals shouldn't be harmed by this in light of the fact that they should be naturally fortified against storms... though I would worry for my gorgonian just a bit. I'm real picky about all the debris that gathers in my tank so I'm pretty interested in doing this. I guess in the sense this would add a realistic element of nature to the tank too.

Do you have fish in your tank? Are there downsides to doing this? Is it really a significant improvement in the opening and other evident happiness of corals?

NEVER run the micron filter continously, or even once a day. You will starve all of the filter feeding inverts in your aquarium (eg. everything, but especially soft corals, gorgonians, tubeworms, clams) if you run it continously. I use mine for water polishing as well (once a month for an hour or after moving rocks around) but absolutely don't use it all the time!

He is totally right, never run the micron for more than just to polish your water. Since my nano is only 12 gallons, I run my for about 20 minutes and my tank is crystal clear of debris.

I don't like the debris that collects in the corner of my tank, and this rids that crap out. Since it takes 1 month to accumulate all this debris, this works out fine for me.

All my corals and mushrooms go crazy, enjoying the storm, it kicks up a lot of left over nutrients and the get it. Then after the water is clean, the corals open up fully.

It's really an eye catcher....

Mike