Xref: 127.0.0.1 rec.aquaria.freshwater.plants:79760

"Squid" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 22:58:50 +1000, "Graham Broadbridge"
wrote:
How many folks out there buy expensive tubes of pHup when Baking soda
does
the same job better :-)

I've read a few things about this in the archives. Do you mind
ellaborating on the process a bit. Like how much per gallon?

A little bit goes a long way. From memory 1 teaspoon of baking soda
(sodium bicarbonate) raises the kH of my 55 gal by about 2 german degrees (~
36 ppm).

I use quite a lot as the water here out of the tap is 0 dkH and I run CO2
injection and need to keep around 8 dkH, so for each 25 percent water change
I add a teaspoon or so, and then measure and adjust as necessary.


Graham.

Marineland has always provided that info and mine came with DE for use in
the filter
SamB

"TR" wrote in message
k.net...
"Randy Ocano" wrote in message
...
I've been using a HOT Magnum for years for just polishing.The micron
cartridge generally does a good job but on rare occasions I charge it
with diatom powder. I doubt if Marineland recommends this or if it
would void your warranty but it seemed to work fine. Haven't touched
either of my vortex filters since I've started using the HOT Magnum.
To charge the filter you'll need two input tubes, one for the input
and the other for the output. Place the filter in the tank and
submerge a small plastic pitcher and bring it up with the input and
exhaust tubes in it. I then slowly dump a cup of diatom powder in it.

Just received my HOT Magnum yesterday. Marineland now includes an
instruction sheet for charging and using the micron filter with diatom
powder. So I woudn't think there will be any warranty issues :-)
Instuctions are basically as you describe.

"TR" wrote in message
k.net...
"Randy Ocano" wrote in message
...
I've been using a HOT Magnum for years for just polishing.The micron
cartridge generally does a good job but on rare occasions I charge it
with diatom powder. I doubt if Marineland recommends this or if it
would void your warranty but it seemed to work fine. Haven't touched
either of my vortex filters since I've started using the HOT Magnum.
To charge the filter you'll need two input tubes, one for the input
and the other for the output. Place the filter in the tank and
submerge a small plastic pitcher and bring it up with the input and
exhaust tubes in it. I then slowly dump a cup of diatom powder in it.

Just received my HOT Magnum yesterday. Marineland now includes an
instruction sheet for charging and using the micron filter with diatom
powder. So I woudn't think there will be any warranty issues :-)
Instuctions are basically as you describe.



Interesting, I just picked up my 3rd H.O.T Magnum yesterday to replace the
2nd one that would not seal properly. There is absolutely nothing in the
instructions of mine to tell you how to use it with diatom powder.

Rick

On Tue, 4 May 2004 10:05:44 -0500, "Rick"
wrote:


"TR" wrote in message
nk.net...
"Randy Ocano" wrote in message
...
I've been using a HOT Magnum for years for just polishing.The micron
cartridge generally does a good job but on rare occasions I charge it
with diatom powder. I doubt if Marineland recommends this or if it
would void your warranty but it seemed to work fine. Haven't touched
either of my vortex filters since I've started using the HOT Magnum.
To charge the filter you'll need two input tubes, one for the input
and the other for the output. Place the filter in the tank and
submerge a small plastic pitcher and bring it up with the input and
exhaust tubes in it. I then slowly dump a cup of diatom powder in it.

Just received my HOT Magnum yesterday. Marineland now includes an
instruction sheet for charging and using the micron filter with diatom
powder. So I woudn't think there will be any warranty issues :-)
Instuctions are basically as you describe.



Interesting, I just picked up my 3rd H.O.T Magnum yesterday to replace the
2nd one that would not seal properly. There is absolutely nothing in the
instructions of mine to tell you how to use it with diatom powder.

Rick



I just got a stand-alone canister Magnum 350, and there is nothing in
there about it either.

After reading the previous posting, I also visited MarinLand's
website, and their downloadable manual doesn't contain the
instructions, either.

FWIW....


--Tony

Interesting, I just picked up my 3rd H.O.T Magnum yesterday to replace
the
2nd one that would not seal properly. There is absolutely nothing in the
instructions of mine to tell you how to use it with diatom powder.

Rick



I just got a stand-alone canister Magnum 350, and there is nothing in
there about it either.

After reading the previous posting, I also visited MarinLand's
website, and their downloadable manual doesn't contain the
instructions, either.

FWIW....


--Tony

The instructions are on a separate piece of paper (not in the manual). It
may have come with the Micron cartridge (it is titled "Instructions for
Micron Cartridge" on the front side). I purchased the "HOT pro" kit with
gravel vac, etc.
On the flip side it has directions for charging with diatom powder, a fast
method (simply pouring into the canister) and a better method, charging with
a container until the recirculated watrer is clear.

At the bottom of the slip are the numbers "004696", and perhaps a date
"10/97". It does have the Marineland logo and address on the slip.
Perhaps it is just something that comes with the Pro kits? I also ordered an
extra cartridge, an honestly I do not recall if the slip was packaged with
the kit or with the second separate cartridge.
--Tom

On Tue, 04 May 2004 22:48:22 GMT, "TR"
wrote:

snipping

The instructions are on a separate piece of paper (not in the manual). It
may have come with the Micron cartridge (it is titled "Instructions for
Micron Cartridge" on the front side). I purchased the "HOT pro" kit with
gravel vac, etc.
On the flip side it has directions for charging with diatom powder, a fast
method (simply pouring into the canister) and a better method, charging with
a container until the recirculated watrer is clear.

At the bottom of the slip are the numbers "004696", and perhaps a date
"10/97". It does have the Marineland logo and address on the slip.
Perhaps it is just something that comes with the Pro kits? I also ordered an
extra cartridge, an honestly I do not recall if the slip was packaged with
the kit or with the second separate cartridge.
--Tom




I'll have to double check that... I too got the Pro model, came with
the gravel vac, and a double set of Bio-Wheels.




--Tony

"TR" wrote in message
ink.net...
Interesting, I just picked up my 3rd H.O.T Magnum yesterday to replace
the
2nd one that would not seal properly. There is absolutely nothing in
the
instructions of mine to tell you how to use it with diatom powder.

Rick



I just got a stand-alone canister Magnum 350, and there is nothing in
there about it either.

After reading the previous posting, I also visited MarinLand's
website, and their downloadable manual doesn't contain the
instructions, either.

FWIW....


--Tony

The instructions are on a separate piece of paper (not in the manual). It
may have come with the Micron cartridge (it is titled "Instructions for
Micron Cartridge" on the front side). I purchased the "HOT pro" kit with
gravel vac, etc.
On the flip side it has directions for charging with diatom powder, a fast
method (simply pouring into the canister) and a better method, charging
with
a container until the recirculated watrer is clear.

At the bottom of the slip are the numbers "004696", and perhaps a date
"10/97". It does have the Marineland logo and address on the slip.
Perhaps it is just something that comes with the Pro kits? I also ordered
an
extra cartridge, an honestly I do not recall if the slip was packaged with
the kit or with the second separate cartridge.
--Tom




that is interesting Tom. I just checked the paper that was wrapped around my
Micron Cartridge and there is no such information. As a coincidence I have
been swapping emails with one of their Customer Service Rep's. over problems
I was having with my H.O.T unit and asked him about it. His reply was that
if you have a filter that has those instructions in it then it is old and I
mean old stock. According to him they stopped including those instructions
10 years ago when it became known that diatom powder was a carcinogen in
airborne state.

Rick

"Rick" wrote in message
...

that is interesting Tom. I just checked the paper that was wrapped around
my
Micron Cartridge and there is no such information. As a coincidence I have
been swapping emails with one of their Customer Service Rep's. over
problems
I was having with my H.O.T unit and asked him about it. His reply was that
if you have a filter that has those instructions in it then it is old and
I
mean old stock. According to him they stopped including those instructions
10 years ago when it became known that diatom powder was a carcinogen in
airborne state.

Rick

Well, thats interesting....!
I just ordered this from Big Al's. I suppose it could be old stock, but I
would think that would be more likely to happen if I was buying from an LFS
that didn't see much turn over, not from a mail order site like Big Al's.
The box the Magnum came in has ©2002 on it, so I think that must be fairly
recent. The filter I can't tell, but certainly the packaging appears recent.
How reliable is your Rep? How long has he been with Marineland? Perhaps he
thought you were trying to make a case for choosing a diatom filter over a
Magnum and just tried to dissuade you?
Who knows. Certainly alot of diatom filters on the market, and the media
readily available. Seems odd for Marineland to take such a
'carcinogen...don't use it' stance. I may contact Big Als and see what they
have to say.
Well, I have no plans at this point to use diatom powder, but I do have the
instructions if I ever feel the need :-) The micron cartridge worked very
well. My biggest gripe is with the micro bubbles the Magnum puts out. The
water LOOKS cloudy but it's not. Turn off the magnum for a while and it
looks great. The micro bubbles are spewing continuously. Trying to reset the
seals and use silicon lube, 'burping', etc. no luck yet.

"TR" wrote in message
nk.net...

"Rick" wrote in message
...

Well, thats interesting....!
I just ordered this from Big Al's. I suppose it could be old stock, but I
would think that would be more likely to happen if I was buying from an
LFS
that didn't see much turn over, not from a mail order site like Big Al's.
The box the Magnum came in has ©2002 on it, so I think that must be fairly
recent. The filter I can't tell, but certainly the packaging appears
recent.
How reliable is your Rep? How long has he been with Marineland? Perhaps he
thought you were trying to make a case for choosing a diatom filter over a
Magnum and just tried to dissuade you?
Who knows. Certainly alot of diatom filters on the market, and the media
readily available. Seems odd for Marineland to take such a
'carcinogen...don't use it' stance. I may contact Big Als and see what
they
have to say.
Well, I have no plans at this point to use diatom powder, but I do have
the
instructions if I ever feel the need :-) The micron cartridge worked very
well. My biggest gripe is with the micro bubbles the Magnum puts out. The
water LOOKS cloudy but it's not. Turn off the magnum for a while and it
looks great. The micro bubbles are spewing continuously. Trying to reset
the
seals and use silicon lube, 'burping', etc. no luck yet.



I know nothing about the guy except he answered by query to the Company.
This is my 3rd H.O.T Magnum. I also get the small bubbles however my problem
with the other two was the unit purging the water from inside the filter
only leaving about half and this then causes noisy operation and lots of big
bubbles. Pain in the neck. The silicone did not work for me however I did
get a laugh when the "Rep" suggested in a previous exchange that I use the
small tube and if that was not enough to buy more at the Hardware store and
use copious quantities. He said that the problem is the D ring which does
not seal properly. I told him that if I had to use copious quantities of
silicone then I would suggest they have a manufacturing defect in their
product. The new one works fine with the exception of the small bubbles.
Here is his rely to my query.

Hi Rick,

Glad to hear that you got the issue resolved at the store. Regarding the
use of Diatom Powder, this is something that has been used in the hobby for
quite some time. We used to include it with our Magnums until we discovered
that diatom powder is a carcinogen in an airborne state. This stuff is known
to cause cancer. For that reason we stopped recommending its use. The micron
cartridge by itself can filter out particles as small as 4 micron. With the
use of diatom powder I think it brings that number down to 2 micron, not
that much difference really when referring to such a small particle size.
If you do choose to use diatom powder, simply hang the Hot Magnum on the
tank. Take a small container, such as a milk jug with the top cut off, to
isolate the intake and return tube. With the container full of water and the
tubes isolated, turn the filter on and add an amount of diatom powder to the
small container. The filter will continue to circulate the water inside this
small container. Allow it to run until the water appears to be clear again.
All of the powder is now going to be attached to the micron cartridge.
Simply lower the small container to introduce the intake and return tubes
back into the tank. Do not turn the filter off, as this may cause an amount
of diatom powder to loosen up and shoot back into the tank when its turned
on again which may have an adverse effect on the fish.
Is sounds to me like the person on line had gotten a hold of some older
stock if he had found instructions regarding diatom powder in the manual. We
have not recommend this stuff for at least 10 years. I hope this is some
helpful information. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further
questions or concerns.

Thank you,

Matt Bennett
Marineland Customer Service
1-800-322-1266 x4474

"Rick" wrote in message
...
I know nothing about the guy except he answered by query to the Company.
This is my 3rd H.O.T Magnum. I also get the small bubbles however my
problem
with the other two was the unit purging the water from inside the filter
only leaving about half and this then causes noisy operation and lots of
big
bubbles. Pain in the neck. The silicone did not work for me however I did
get a laugh when the "Rep" suggested in a previous exchange that I use
the
small tube and if that was not enough to buy more at the Hardware store
and
use copious quantities. He said that the problem is the D ring which does
not seal properly. I told him that if I had to use copious quantities of
silicone then I would suggest they have a manufacturing defect in their
product. The new one works fine with the exception of the small bubbles.

Hmmm, thats disappointing to hear about your bubble problem, and lack of
solution. If it wasn't for that myself, I'd be thinking I have found the
perfect filter. It really irks me that the tank is actually quite clean, but
looks so cloudy due to the bubbles. If I can't resolve it, I'll be buying
another filter (shhh, don't tell my wife), maybe a rena Filstar 204 or
something similar. I'll keep the magnum for its ease of use and micron
filtering, but not as my primary filter. I've lubed the D ring, and the
inlet o-rings, so far not enough to make an improvement. It also bothers me
that the D-ring seats in a channel on the LID of the unit, rather than in a
channel on the canister. Heck, if you don't have a lot of silicone lube on
the D-ring its likely to fall out as you try to place the top back on the
canister. Seems like the channel ought to be on the canister.
I think the Magnum has a lot going for it, but a few design quirks keep it
from being as good as it could be, IMHO.

"TR" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Rick" wrote in message
...
I know nothing about the guy except he answered by query to the Company.
This is my 3rd H.O.T Magnum. I also get the small bubbles however my
problem
with the other two was the unit purging the water from inside the filter
only leaving about half and this then causes noisy operation and lots of
big
bubbles. Pain in the neck. The silicone did not work for me however I
did
get a laugh when the "Rep" suggested in a previous exchange that I use
the
small tube and if that was not enough to buy more at the Hardware store
and
use copious quantities. He said that the problem is the D ring which
does
not seal properly. I told him that if I had to use copious quantities
of
silicone then I would suggest they have a manufacturing defect in their
product. The new one works fine with the exception of the small bubbles.

Hmmm, thats disappointing to hear about your bubble problem, and lack of
solution. If it wasn't for that myself, I'd be thinking I have found the
perfect filter. It really irks me that the tank is actually quite clean,
but
looks so cloudy due to the bubbles. If I can't resolve it, I'll be buying
another filter (shhh, don't tell my wife), maybe a rena Filstar 204 or
something similar. I'll keep the magnum for its ease of use and micron
filtering, but not as my primary filter. I've lubed the D ring, and the
inlet o-rings, so far not enough to make an improvement. It also bothers
me
that the D-ring seats in a channel on the LID of the unit, rather than in
a
channel on the canister. Heck, if you don't have a lot of silicone lube on
the D-ring its likely to fall out as you try to place the top back on the
canister. Seems like the channel ought to be on the canister.
I think the Magnum has a lot going for it, but a few design quirks keep it
from being as good as it could be, IMHO.



yeah I agree. My D ring constantly falls out when putting this thing
together. They are handy though and easy to move from tank to tank. I
borrowed a System 1 diatom filter from a friend and this little unit is
amazing. Much easier to use than a Vortex. Hangs on the tank and can be
easily moved from tank to tank. I had quite a bit of free floating algae in
my 77 heavily planted tank. Hooked this think up and it was amazing how
clear the water was within an hour. The next day I used it in my fish room.
Charged it with 5 tbls of diatom powder and did 10 x 10g tanks using the
same charge. Nice little unit.

Rick

On Thu, 6 May 2004 11:24:33 -0500, "Rick"
wrote:


lots of snip

Hmmm, thats disappointing to hear about your bubble problem, and lack of
solution. If it wasn't for that myself, I'd be thinking I have found the
perfect filter. It really irks me that the tank is actually quite clean,
but
looks so cloudy due to the bubbles. If I can't resolve it, I'll be buying
another filter (shhh, don't tell my wife), maybe a rena Filstar 204 or
something similar. I'll keep the magnum for its ease of use and micron
filtering, but not as my primary filter. I've lubed the D ring, and the
inlet o-rings, so far not enough to make an improvement. It also bothers
me
that the D-ring seats in a channel on the LID of the unit, rather than in
a
channel on the canister. Heck, if you don't have a lot of silicone lube on
the D-ring its likely to fall out as you try to place the top back on the
canister. Seems like the channel ought to be on the canister.
I think the Magnum has a lot going for it, but a few design quirks keep it
from being as good as it could be, IMHO.



yeah I agree. My D ring constantly falls out when putting this thing
together. They are handy though and easy to move from tank to tank. I
borrowed a System 1 diatom filter from a friend and this little unit is
amazing. Much easier to use than a Vortex. Hangs on the tank and can be
easily moved from tank to tank. I had quite a bit of free floating algae in
my 77 heavily planted tank. Hooked this think up and it was amazing how
clear the water was within an hour. The next day I used it in my fish room.
Charged it with 5 tbls of diatom powder and did 10 x 10g tanks using the
same charge. Nice little unit.

Rick


Concerns over getting the Dring to seat properly lead me to get the
Regular Magnum. It sits on the floor, and has a completely round
ring. Like the HOT version, though, it too is on the lid, not the
canister. When in a not paying enough attention, I have had a couple
issues getting to stay on properly..... it didn't take long to notice
it.. a few drops spurting out, air back-filling into the canister...

To date I have not had to use the silicon that came with it. crosses
fingersknocks wood




--Tony