small strange particles in my water...

[parker002]

I've noticed for the last few days tiny white dots floating in my water. They looked like really fine air bubbles.

They didn't clear so this morning I turned off my HOB sponge filters just to see. The lift tubes of the sponge filters empty just below (and to the right) of the HOB filters, so I thought maybe the outflow of the HOB filters were pushing small air bubbles back into the water.

However, they've been off for over an hour and the small dots are still there.

They look like grains of salt, suspended in the water. They're not really sinking nor do they seem to float all the way to the top. There's nothing at all on my fish nor do they seem sick, so I'm not sure what else to do.

[bikeguy33]

do you have an internal filter? if so...these may be tiny air bubbles and if this is the case, you can move the filter down an inch and the bubbles should stop...

[parker002]

I have two sponge filters - the lift tubes come within about an inch of the top. I shut them off today and it didn't change anything. Perhaps I'll shut them off tomorrow for a bit longer and see.

I had to do an emergency water change tonight - I put Nutrafin Waste Control in my tank by accident and almost killed my fish.

[Carl]

Have you tried taking the air diffusers out of the Sponge Filters (assuming you are even using these)?

Can you take a picture that would show these?

Carl

[parker002]

I can try to take a closeup - they're very small and almost look like glass or salt.

I haven't tried removing the air stones from the sponge filters but I did turn off all filtration this morning for more than 2 hours and there didn't seem to be much change.

I almost wonder if it's some kind of precipitate in the water - it is extremely hard.

[Carl]

Nov 22, 2010 17:02:18 GMT -5 parker002 said:

I almost wonder if it's some kind of precipitate in the water - it is extremely hard.

If this is the problem, try running a fine micron poly pad (at least 50 micron) in a filter.

You could even take a micron filter pad and wrap it around a sponge filter and hold it on with a rubber band (this would only be for short term as this filter would clog very fast this way)

Carl

[parker002]

That's exactly where I was headed next.

I'm not real fond of the Aqueon filter cartridges (or all-in-one cartridges in general) because the carbon wears out LONG before the mechanical filter media does.

I have been considering making my own filter media so that I can have separate inserts for carbon, micron/polyfiber pads, and my almond leaf bags you recommended.

[bikeguy33]

that is always a great idea....most of those cartridges can be busted open and refilled by you....even if it means using a zap strap or two...

[parker002]

Yeah. That's one thing I like about the cheap Tetra Whisper filters my daughter uses with her shrimp tank - the frame is actually a clip that's removable. You can refill them quite easily with loose charcoal, rinse the media, and back in it goes.

[parker002]

So I havent' been able to find any 50 or 100-micron filter pads yet since I've been pretty busy. I plan on doing a water change this weekend - I'm going to put in some shorter lift tubes on my sponge filters and see if that helps. I'm still not 100% convinced they're not tiny air bubbles.

On a side note, I decided to start doing a little research on making my own filter media. The polyfiber on the Aqueon cartridges is still almost brand new so I couldn't justify replacing them just yet. However, the charcoal in them probably expired long ago, so I went ahead and got some cheap API carbon and a couple of bags.

The first thing I noticed was the "dosage" recommendation. API recommended 1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons per 10 gallons of water. In looking at the Aqueon cartridges, they simply CANNOT contain much more than 2 tablespoons. I have two Aqueon 55 HOB, which means 4 cartridges. That's somewhere between 8 and 10 tablespoons TOTAL.

If the API recommendation is correct, I've been using about ONE THIRD the actual carbon needed!

So I filled each mesh bag with just under 1.5 cups of carbon, enough to cover between 55 and 60 gallons of water.

The difference is absolutely amazing. The ambient color in my tank changed from dull yellow (my gravel and most ornaments are sandstone-colored which certainly contributes) to a brilliant, bright white.

I posted some pictures here.

[Carl]

This is not surprising as to the recommendation vs amount in a cartridge.

It also can make a big difference in the carbon used;
The Lignite Carbon by Nirox and others is more effective than the Carbon API uses.

Although a crisp clear aquarium is certainly more desirable from our standpoint of viewing, a slight yellow tint is not necessarily bad, in fact most natural water softeners (using tannins) such as Driftwood, Peat, Indian Almond Leaves (BioLif) can make an aquarium quite yellow, but again this is not a problem from this standpoint other than being somewhat unattractive (at least in many persons view).

Also see this article:
Aquarium Carbon Use

A cut to use Poly Pad might be the simplest option for a temporary micron filter

Carl

[parker002]

I haven't used the BioLif recently and my wood has been in there for quite a while. I think my water was just discolored from a combination of those two, meds, and other things.

I know it's not necessarily "bad" for the water to be discolored but my issue with it was that it also seemed DARK. It's not dark anymore and my fish seem livelier because of it.

[Carl]

I too have seen fish "perk up" after changing/adding carbon (as well as water changes); my main reason for comment as to yellow water is that we have many persons who read here at EA (& never post or even join), so I just wanted to add some clarity for others.

There is no doubt to what carbon can do, just from this list of compounds carbon can & cannot remove

Carl

[parker002]

Yeah, I absolutely understand. No harm done.

For instance, alot of carbon manufacturers advertise that they can remove tannins. Having tannins in your water isn't at all a bad thing as you mention in several of your articles. You don't want people to come here and get the impression that "tannins are bad".

By the way, you mention in that article a couple of times that carbon cannot remove copper but it's not listed in the table. You might add that to the table for ease of reference. Especially since copper might be the most common heavy metal people will encounter (due to its use in anti-parasite meds).

[Carl]

Dec 3, 2010 11:58:33 GMT -5 parker002 said:

By the way, you mention in that article a couple of times that carbon cannot remove copper but it's not listed in the table. You might add that to the table for ease of reference. Especially since copper might be the most common heavy metal people will encounter (due to its use in anti-parasite meds).

Good Point!

I did had this to the list, but this is subject where I have to add qualifiers as not all copper is equal; for instance Copper Sulfate is more readily removed by carbon, especially in a pH under 7 and water with high amounts of dissolved oxygen.
Chelated Copper or similar (commonly used for marine aquariums do to its stability) is nearly impossible to removed with carbon.
So I need to correct any statements I may have made as to the removal of copper with carbon, as a generalization I generally do not like to depend upon carbon for copper removal, but a blanket statement by me that carbon cannot remove carbon would be incorrect.

Carl

[parker002]

OOPS. That is my bad - I meant to say CHELATED copper. I simply left out the word.

You didn't make a blanket statement that carbon cannot remove copper. I'm sorry I made it seem that way. Your articles and advice state that carbon cannot remove chelated copper.

I chose chelated copper as an example because I think it's probably one of the more common heavy metals novice aquarists like myself will see. About 60% of the ich meds at Petsmart/Petco contain chelated copper. And that same Petco associate that just told you to buy Mardel Coppersafe will tell you to use carbon to remove it. I know first-hand that's bad advice I TRIED IT.

Just this morning, I saw a blurb in the latest Foster and Smith catalog about using charcoal filtration and even they said using carbon would remove heavy metals, which in several cases is flat-out false.