Eco-Aqualizer - thoughts anyone?
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Forum Name: Equipment
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Topic: Eco-Aqualizer - thoughts anyone?
Posted By: BrineySea
Subject: Eco-Aqualizer - thoughts anyone?
Date Posted: October 08 2007 at 11:25pm
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We are considering the addition of an Eco-Aqualizer to our filtration output line. Based on the information we've been reading about them, they sound wonderful and the scientific argument seems legitimate.
Does anyone have any first-hand experience with one of these do-hickies? ------------- JnK Wadsworth |
Replies:
Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: October 08 2007 at 11:30pm
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A plastic pipe with a magnet wrapped around it. Ive seen one torn apart. Lots of money for nothing. Search this board. There was a thread on it at one time. ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: October 08 2007 at 11:31pm
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Love your avatar! ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: BobC63
Date Posted: October 08 2007 at 11:39pm
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I agree with Dion on both counts.
The Aqualizer is junk. AND I love your avatar, too  ------------- - My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) - * Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 * |
Posted By: BrineySea
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 12:08am
Thanks....I think I came up with it from Bedknobs and Broomsticks (totally hokey, I know), there was that song about swimming around in the briney sea. Just came to me.
While the construction may seem a wee bit basic for the cost, it appears to have some merit in terms of "the way it works." Maybe I'll just blow the cash and see what happens. I'll touch base after I've tried it out and let you know.....seeing is believing, oh, and water tests of course.
It's not the construction that matters necessarily it's what it does to the water molecules---it sounds like a natural anti-oxidant or free-radical reducing process for water, put in layman's terms I guess???
------------- JnK Wadsworth |
Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 12:13am
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There have been several studies that have disproved the claims of this product. I wanted it to work when I was looking to add one to my system. After doing searches for it I found it to be nothing more than a gimmick. If you decide to buy it I wish you luck. ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 12:21am
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http://www.reefs.org/library/testing/ecoaqualizer - http://www.reefs.org/library/testing/ecoaqualizer
http://www.chem1.com/CQ/ionbunk.html - http://www.chem1.com/CQ/ionbunk.html
------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 12:49am
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http://www.chem1.com/CQ/gallery.html - http://www.chem1.com/CQ/gallery.html
http://rexgrigg.com/debunked.htm - http://rexgrigg.com/debunked.htm
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=419873 - http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=419873
http://www.3reef.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Product;action=display;num=105080033 3
You get my point. I hate seeing anyone throwing away money on junk science  ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: BrineySea
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 1:17am
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LOL! "This won't be pretty!" I love it!!
I searched the old threads and went to the links and read the studies. VERY interesting indeed, we're probably wasting our money for certain.
Although, I must say that our previous 40g sump w/G2 skimmer, worth a small fortune, wasn't apparently removing the "waste" either as my mere 54g corner reef tank has suffered from high nitrates for months now and I only feed the fish 1/4 tsp of Dianichi dry food pellets a day. We religiously do 5g water changes every week (& occassionally two) using RO water and Instant Ocean.
About two weeks ago we spent another "small fotune" changing out the Oceanic sump & G2 skimmer with a bio-filtration system (sump/refugium) & downsized our skimmer to an exterior mount version and my nitrates are still exactly the same. We've added hords of LR to both the intake and final stage of the filtration (& there's tons in the tank too), but alas nothing seems to work. We have 7 fish in the tank along with the standard cleaning crew. I figure if the eco-aqualizer doesn't do anything I can at least send it back for a refund......who writes their testimonals?? ------------- JnK Wadsworth |
Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 2:10am
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My question is what do you expect it to do? It cant remove waste. Where would it go? A refugium is awesome. Down grading the skimmer is not.(IMO) High nitrates will come down with the refugium if certain things are present. 1- good sand bed that is alive. (several weeks) 2- good light on the refugium. for now I would run it 24/7. I'm assuming you have cheto in it.
You need to remove all of the nutrients that you can. Check the RO unit and make sure the filters are good. Run the light 24/7. The cheto will grow like crazy and soak up the nitrates, I would run what ever skimmer you have to its full potential. More waste proteins you can remove the better. Run activated carbon to remove more waste. These things have an actual use and are proven the world over to work.
Who writes the testimonials? Paid people. People who have something to gain or are to ignorant to know any better. All of the studies that i could find that say it works are paid for by the company. (can you say conflict of interest?)
This is the same junk science as the notion that you have to feed clams. We got it straight from the Clam Guy. The notion was started by a phyto producing company and they paid a certain person a lot of money to write some articles saying it had to be done.
I was where you are in wanting to purchase this gadget several years ago. When it was proven to be bunk I didn't bother. Like so much bad it had started a cult following that hasn't died out.
Like I said I am just warning about what appears to be junk. Now if they will put real magnets on it, and plugs in for power then I might look back into it. ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 10:57am
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BrineySea, Would you mind answering a few questions so we can help? First would be some history of your nitrate levels, how you set up the tank in the beginning and then provide us with a pic or two. Please do this so we can help you figure out why the frustration with this tank. Thanks. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: trunks
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 12:26pm
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Also, what lights are you running on the refugium?
I found this DIY bulb review, and it looks like getting the correct bulb will make a huge difference. http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html - http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html |
Posted By: chk4tix
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 2:10pm
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[QUOTE=trunks]Also, what lights are you running on the refugium? I found this DIY bulb review, and it looks like getting the correct bulb will make a huge difference. http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html%5b/QUOTE - http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html[/QUOTE ] Thanks for that link ------------- Original Crappy Reef Club Member #2 |
Posted By: BrineySea
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 2:49pm
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We bought the tank just over a year ago (54g corner tank) from a guy here in Salt Lake who didn't want it anymore. It had LS & LR, but was in very poor condition. We paid The Aquarium to move it for us and we replaced the sand bed with a finer grade (about 1.5" thick--I think it's a bit skimpy, but the guy that moved the tank for us said it was adequate and we didn't know any better at the time). We put the LR back in and added quite a bit more. We waited about 2 months before adding the first fish and about 3 months before adding corals. We also replaced the very small refugium set up the guy sold with the tank (which was clearly inadequate given the condition of the tank at the time). We bought a 40g Oceanic sump and a G2 Protein Skimmer (these two items are currently up for sale in the Buy/Sell/Trade section of the message board. The nitrates were okay early on (avg of about 10), but over time they rose steadily to 20 and above. The skimmer has always been emptied about 2-3x per week and is filled with all the right disgusting stuff.
We have used carbon on and off as necessary in the fine mesh bag (about 1c), this has a very temporary effect on water quality and within a week of removing it the conditions persist.
There are photos in the gallery if you would like to see photos of when the tank was about 7 months old and photos I took about a week ago (they are either under my avatar or may be under Karin Wadsworth) and there is a photo of our new filtration system.
When I test for Ammonia there isn't any. Lately, I've noticed a small increase in Phos and that's concerning, but expected given the Nitrate problem.
I bought the standard dbl flourescent black box-type light from our LFS--it's pretty bright and we have been running it 24/7, hence the Cyano outbreak in the refugium.
How long does a newly set up refugium/sump system take to really start working? ------------- JnK Wadsworth |
Posted By: BrineySea
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 3:29pm
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Thanks for the link to melevsreef.com. What an incredible site!! Added directly to my favorites. ------------- JnK Wadsworth |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: October 11 2007 at 9:53am
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< Edited >
First let me say that the look of the tank is generally good.
The coral appear healthy. There is good coralline algae growth. A Nitrate level of 20ppm is not bad. I don't think you need to worry. Each tank finds it's equalibrium over time, but just for the heck of it, I'll give you my opinion on a few things you could do to tweak it to a higher level of health.It looks like you must have traded crushed coral substrate for CaribSea Special Grade Reef Sand, correct?
How deep is the deepest area of sand and how shallow is the shallowest spot?
Do you know that a small amount of Oolitic sand has solved the Nitrate problem for many tanks? I'd carefully place about a quart of Oolitic underneath the existing sand on each side as close to the back as possible. (That's two quarts) You were right about the guy from The Aquarium not giving you enough sand.
 What's the GPH of the return pump?
It appears that circulation is two maxijets (size?) with fan attachments and the sump/Refugium return. Those fan nozzles on the return are dispersing the power of the return water. I would remove all the fans. GPH means nothing if the circulation is not powerful.
Do you know how to turn the maxijet nozzles to point upward without the need for the fan attachments?
I would place one maxijet diagonally across the surface so that it intersects the flow from one of the return nozzles (depending on the GPH of the return, I might even take off the "Y" so there is just one nozzle.)
What size/wattage are the PC tubes in that light fixture over the refugium? It looks like 13 or 18 W. It's hard to find a manufactured Refugium light that beats the DIY alternatives. They grow Macroalgae like crazy.
Could you find a way to increase the Refugium substrate surface area?
There isn't enough Macroalgae in the Refugium in this pic and there is LR rubble covering the sand. Remove the rubble. Sand cannot do it's job when it is covered with rock.
I would swap the LR compartment for more substrate and algae. Sand has many times more filtration capacity than LR.
 What's the purpose for that little powerhead in with the return pump? If it's to keep a pile of detritus off the bottom, I'd remove the PH and allow the detritus to settle and then remove the little pile periodically.
The placement of the skimmer before the Refugium is making the skimmer pull out more than it needs to. Having the skimmer after the Refugium allows the refugium to benefit from all the nutrients that come down the drain. But I'm not sure anything can be done about this, so forget I said anything.
 Please describe or show a good pic of the aquascaping from an upward angle. What kind of structure and how open is it, especially over the sand? Placement of a powerhead (the remaining one) in the back behind the rock, pointing down, to create circulation through the corner did wonders for filtration of SMatney's 90 gal corner tank. Circulation over the sand increases filtration capacity.
You said the old LR was in pretty bad shape. Where did the new LR come from and what did it look like?
Do you know what it means to submerge, turn, twist and shake the LR when moving it from store to tank or from tank to tank?
That's all for now. Looking forward to further discussion. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: BrineySea
Date Posted: November 02 2007 at 4:36pm
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Wholly Cow Mark! I'm trying to digest all the useful info. Okay, let's see if I've got this:
1. You are correct on the substrate replacement, but adding anything to the back of the display tank would be difficult as the LR canopy leaves little room for access in the rear. Can this be added to the front? We have about 1.5" of sand and is pretty even throughout the tank bottom, e.g. not high/low spots. The LR base is directly on the bottom glass (it was added before adding the sand--the sand was then blown off the rocks with a baster and allowed to settle).
2. We used most of the existing LR that came with the tank, but added about 5 new pieces which make up the upper canopy - the new LR was from The Aquariums LR tanks and were swished around before loading into the cooler for transport.
3. The return pump is 1200 gph and we recently reversed the sump, which significantly shortened the uptake line and hard-plumbed the entire system to reduce detritis build up that was occuring in the tubing.
4. The maxi-jets are pretty well covered with corraline, but I think they're 1200s (they have very strong flow and I often override the timer so both are running together for additional circulation). Not sure if I understand what you mean by being able to point them downward, they seem to only rotate left to right. I did recently remove the fan from one of the jets and have considered removing the "Y", but am leary to eliminate any additional directional flows. The "Y" is definitely causing some low flow issues from the intake pump--this is partly why we flipped the sump around and eliminated about 3' of tubing leading back to the tank and this helped, but didn't resolve the issue.
5. The refug light is 18w and there are only about 3 pieces of LR in there (it just looks like more from the photo angle). The light runs 24/7 and the substrate is Figi Mud. I'll take a photo from above so you can see it. The micro algae is blooming like mad,but the macro algae isn't doing much.
6. Should I remove the Tongan branch from the compartment and add about 6" of Oolitic, leaving just enough LR rubble at the bottom to keep the coarse grade from being sucked into the intake pump? I didn't know I could do that, but it seems completely logical from a natural filtration perspective--it's like filtering home brew mash using the grain as the filtration system, ha, ha.
7. I will post new photos so you can see the changes we've made. We lost one of our clams (purple) and the other (can't recall their names & don't want to run and look them up) keeps tipping over. The Turbinaria has been moved up and 2 pieces of Tongan branch were added to the rear of the display tank (after living in the skimmer side of the sump for two weeks) as additional canopy supports.
I think this hobby requires the need for an aquarium doctor who makes house calls--there is definitely a niche market for this profession I'm certain of it. :-)
Karin ------------- JnK Wadsworth |