A new mouse trap

[vic]

:thumbs: :thumbs:

Have a look at the video at this web site. Interesting new product from the excited states. The price is apparently in the $200UAD range. I have requested more informatin and additionally information about pricing and shipping to Canada. I will post as the information comes to me.

Please note that this product is not intended to replace water changes. This system does not have any direct bareing on water params. This system cleans the water by passing the water through an external filter and then returning the water to the tank. Exactly the same process as a diatom by Vortex. The process simply provides as much time as is required to do the vacuuming rather than only the time available during a water change. I would suggest that by doing a better job with this methodology, the interval between vacuum jobs will be significantly lenghtened, read less work on tank maintenance. This is a very new product and the market is untested as yet. The Vortex people also have a gravel vac attachment and have also developed a much simpler system for charging the diatom filter with diatomacious earth (historically that was a major performance). In my mind it remains a bit of a toss up. The micron capability of the diatom based Vortex is likely a much "finer" filtration process than the system in the video. Vortex claims that the diatomacious earth will filter out ick and, this claim is generally supported in the industry. It is very unlikely that the filtration process of the new product will attain this efficency! In terms of price I believe you can buy a diatom in Canada for around $110CAD plus the attachment for ???.

Will take some evaluation to determine the best alternative by individual!

Cheers;

Edited March 14, 2006 by vic

[TheGr8Blade]

Too cool..........................................................ya I would love one. -roll-

[midgetwaiter]

meh.

It's a gravel vac attached to a canister filter. Looks like it uses standard filter cartridges too, you can get something like this from Pentair that is mounted on a cart with a UV serilizer and chem media. You could also roll your own with this:

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/catalog/product...id1=2885;pcid2=

And a mag pump for less than $200 CAD. It would have a way bigger filter cartridge too.

You could probably also just put some 100 micron pads in a fluval and try that. Might not be great but it would probably work.

[Murminator]

I dunno if I would be vacuuming saltwater substrate like that. You would release all the nasties and could kill off your tank. FW it would probably work A-OK