Use 1 micron RO sediment filter to filter tank water?

[fixingstill]

Use 1 micron RO sediment filter to filter tank water?
I was reading about the vortex diatom filter and how it could filter ich (free swimming) and make the water crystal clear. To achieve that, it needs to filter 1 micron by adding DE powder.
But isn't some RO sediment filters already 1 micron? Hooking one up is simple and those filters are cheap. At least I can try before investing into a vortex.

Yet I have not found any mentioning of that. Am I missing something?

RE: https://www.*********.com/threads/di...212429/page-14

[sde1500]

Whats the plan with that? To actually try curing your tank of ich? Because I doubt that will work. Do you just want to use it to filter tank water? It will clog crazy fast I think.

[SAT]

Originally Posted by sde1500

Whats the plan with that? To actually try curing your tank of ich? Because I doubt that will work. Do you just want to use it to filter tank water? It will clog crazy fast I think.

+1
RO sediment filters are designed for nearly clean tap water at rates measured in gallons per day.

[fixingstill]

Hmmm. You are right. But let me try to hook one up on my 30G QT and see how long it takes to clog up.

[mcgyvr]

Originally Posted by fixingstill

Hmmm. You are right. But let me try to hook one up on my 30G QT and see how long it takes to clog up.

And what pressure pump are you going to use to get the required min pressure to pump water through it

[SAT]

I had a diatom filter back around 1973. It's great for polishing the water and very useful when cleaning out a tank. It's not popular for Ich treatment because it basically doesn't work for that.

[fixingstill]

I ran it off my return pump manifold so I don't know how much was the flow but it took 2 days to see the flow stop.
I am sure it did filter something as the filter element is now darkened.
I can't tell if the water is clear. It was already clear to me.





Done playing with this idea.

[sde1500]

Well it was an idea, never hurts to try things sometimes.

[d0ughb0y]

a more economical option is to use filters for milking cows.
$15 for 100 pcs
https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/milkhouse-brand-heavy-duty-milk-filter-socks-2-1-4-in-x-24-in-/0000000001459?Ntt=filter

I have used this to aggressively filter the water.

guaranteed to be food grade and reef safe

[Sk8r]

The reason we don't use diatom filters much now is that it stripmines the water of just about everything. They ARE useful in cases of green water, or your nephew dumping cereal into the tank. Wish I'd had one when the autofeeder got generous with spirulina (still fighting the phosphate). But as an ich cure, no. It exists in more than one stage, and unless you starve it out, your chances of getting it all are practically nil.

[heathlindner25]

But if you break the water stage of ick,can you not break this cycle ?

[45commando]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

And what pressure pump are you going to use to get the required min pressure to pump water through it

Are you confusing a RO membrane with a sediment cartridge filter? A 1 micron sediment filter will filter down to 1 micron even if the water trickles through the filter.

[ktownhero]

It probably filtered out your salt lol

[SAT]

Originally Posted by heathlindner25

But if you break the water stage of ick,can you not break this cycle ?

Yes, but no filter will do that.

[fixingstill]

Does it filter all the bacteria (which is up to a few micron in size)? All parasites? All the algae pores for killing the algae? Anything more than 1 micron? The water might be really stripped and the corals might be starving but it that breaks the ich life cycle, I don't mind the corals starving for a few days?

[lapin]

Good idea but here is the catch. You will need to filter 100% of your water. There is no way to do that unless you are transfering that water to a different tank. Remember there is water in your sand and rocks which can never be filtered out without drying them for a long period of time.

[SAT]

The effect of removing or killing microbes in the water is most easily achieved with a strong UV light (which won't clog). In multi-tank scenarios, such as a LFS, UV can be very effective at preventing transmission between tanks. However, multiple studies have shown that in a closed loop scanario, UV cannot eradicate Ich, although it can somewhat reduce the population, which might give the fish more time to develop immunity.

Taking this approach with Ich means you will always have Ich in your tank. Some people find that to be acceptable.

[fixingstill]

Originally Posted by lapin

Good idea but here is the catch. You will need to filter 100% of your water. There is no way to do that unless you are transfering that water to a different tank. Remember there is water in your sand and rocks which can never be filtered out without drying them for a long period of time.

Hmmm. QT tank with PVT pipes might be able to use that... I don't know, just throwing out the idea.

[SAT]

Originally Posted by fixingstill

Hmmm. QT tank with PVT pipes might be able to use that... I don't know, just throwing out the idea.

I don't know what PVT pipe is, but it doesn't matter. It's well established that sterilizing the water in a closed loop to eradicate Ich simply doesn't work. I know that's not an intuitive answer. If you would like a literature reference, I can provide.

[fixingstill]

Thank you. I don't disagree.
BTW, I meant PVC, not PVT.