Tropical Fish Forum

Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fishtank Filtration and Cycling => Topic started by: Moby on January 19, 2017, 06:59:24 PM

Title: Polyfilter??
Post by: Moby on January 19, 2017, 06:59:24 PM
Hi,wondering if anyone has any experience using polyfilter.Ive read the reviews which seem good.Does it polish the
water as well ?.
Thks Dave. :isay: :isay:
Title: Re: Polyfilter??
Post by: Sue on January 19, 2017, 07:46:39 PM
Do you mean Poly-filter with a capital letter or filter floss/filter wool?

A lot of people swear by filter wool/floss to remove the fine particles from the water and 'polish' the water. I have tried using it but didn't notice much difference. This is the stuff that looks like pillow stuffing and is quite cheap.

The one with capital letters (Poly Filter (http://www.arcadia-aquatic.com/poly-filter/)) is for removing pollutants such as medication, and is very expensive.
Title: Re: Polyfilter??
Post by: Moby on January 19, 2017, 08:26:04 PM
Do you mean Poly-filter with a capital letter or filter floss/filter wool?

A lot of people swear by filter wool/floss to remove the fine particles from the water and 'polish' the water. I have tried using it but didn't notice much difference. This is the stuff that looks like pillow stuffing and is quite cheap.

The one with capital letters (Poly Filter (http://www.arcadia-aquatic.com/poly-filter/)) is for removing pollutants such as medication, and is very expensive.

I was referring to POLYFITER MEDIA the expensive one.I know it's used for removing meds etc.I was wondering if theres any benifits in placing some in existing filter.
Cheers Dave. :isay:
Title: Re: Polyfilter??
Post by: Sue on January 19, 2017, 09:13:53 PM
Since it is expensive and must be replaced regularly, unless you don't mind spending that much I'm not sure it's worth it for a freshwater tank. Maybe yes for a marine tank.

For removing organic pollutants, carbon is good enough. For removing phosphates, there are rechargeable media.
I've just got out the pack in my cupboard and looked at the leaflet.

Quote
harmless to biological filtration because it allows sufficient ammonia to reach the biological filter to sustain the nitrifying bacteria

Under General Maintenance
Quote
...automatically removes harmful organic and various inorganic waste matter from the system for a considerable time span. Water clarity will improve rapidly, while lowering nitrate, phosphate and detritus levels.

It also warns to remove it before using medication, and to replace it once treatment has finished to remove the medication.




I've only ever used Poly Filter to remove medication, and then only after several batches of carbon. So I cannot say from personal experience whether or not is does remove phosphate or nitrate.
If it wasn't for having nerite snails which are easily poisoned by medication, I might not bother using it even after medication.
Title: Re: Polyfilter??
Post by: MarquisMirage on January 20, 2017, 12:43:10 AM
From the product description Polyfilters remove the following:
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Copper
Phosphates
Antibiotics
Dyes
Proteins
Toxic Metals
Insecticides

Ammonia shouldn't be a problem in a correctly cycled aquarium.  If you use a filter media that reduces ammonia it will end up depriving the beneficial bacteria and will cause reliance on the filter media.  Change the media at the wrong time and you can get ammonia spikes.

Nitrite shouldn't be an issue in a correctly cycled tank as it's converted to nitrates by the beneficial bacteria processing the ammonia.

Nitrates can be a problem if left to build up.  The exact safe limits can be confusing due to different sites having different info.  Personally I aim for below 20 ppm.  Higher levels will lead to eventual organ failure in your fish.  I've seen it described where a low level like 5 ppm is like a tee-total person while high nitrates 40+ ppm is like an alcoholic for the fish organs.  Some sites put the alcoholic level as high as around 100 ppm so it doesn't seem like a well studied area.  Anyway, high levels can lead to liver failure, blindness, stunted growth, and a lower immune system opening the door for other diseases.  This will affect young fish more than adult ones.  Like alcohol in people some fish will have a higher tolerance than others.  Knowing this I aim for as low nitrate level as possible,  Taking a fish from a store and adding it to a tank with a much higher ppm can cause death within days to sensitive fish.  Generally this will already be managed through regular cleaning of waste in the aquarium and water changes.  Some live plants will use nitrates but won't use up high levels.  If you have large nitrates in your tap water you can treat it before the water change using a filter material specifically for nitrate removal.  Algae can form in ppm above around 10 ppm.

Phosphates are handled pretty much in the same way as nitrates and are caused by the same things in an aquarium.  Often overlooked and can cause old tank syndrome.  Regular cleaning and water changes fix this too.  Interestingly keeping low phosphate levels help prevent the growth of most algae altogether.

Proteins are basically left over food, fauna waste, or dead plant material.  Proteins are what break down to make ammonia.  Again this is usually kept low by regular cleaning and water changes.

Copper, Antibiotics, Dyes, Toxic Metals, and Insecticides have no business being in your main tank to start with IMO (and those benefits are probably aimed at marine users mostly).  If you need to dose your fish a quarantine tank is a better place to do it.  However, I do appreciate it's not always possible to keep a quarantine tank in which case this filter material will have a use then.

In summary most of the benefits this filter material offers are not really needed in a well maintained aquarium.  Given that the advertising also says it removes 'excess nutrients' it would seem that it would be particularly bad for a planted aquarium.
Title: Re: Polyfilter??
Post by: Hampalong on February 05, 2017, 10:37:10 PM
PolyFilter is one of my 'must have' aquarium innovations. I use it to purify all of my water before it goes into any tank. Used this way it is an extremely cheap no-brainer for me - a standard 'sheet' (about 8" x 4") lasts the best part of a year, purifying 50 gallons a week. It totally prevents wipe-outs from 'bad batches' of tapwater, which do happen from time to time.

Used this way PolyFilter is very cheap and very effective. Used in a mature rank it will fill up very quickly and prove to be very expensive.

Genuine PolyFilter must have a capital P and a capital F and be all one word, with no space or hyphen. The spelling is a registered trade mark. All others are fakes.

:)
Title: Re: Polyfilter??
Post by: Andy The Minion on February 06, 2017, 05:36:41 AM
Like Hampalong I condition tank water and find normal filter floss (just the polyester filter material) in a circulating filter comes out rusty brown after a few weeks but there is iron in our supply and I assumed it was that. Has anybody seen any rest results for Poly-Filter, I had a look and can see plenty of description that are based on marketing material but no actual results. The claims seem to be fantastic but they are also easily verifiable as we all have the test kits, a sample of clean water with a dose of ammonia or nitrates from a tank sample should also be easily verifiable? All I saw was a test where it worked like a dialysis machine ?? It's not a semi-permeable membrane so that can't be true. A second claimed that Chlorine in tap water will release toxins from the Poly-filter coatings and that's probably not true either.
Title: Re: Polyfilter??
Post by: Paddyc on February 06, 2017, 05:39:37 AM
PolyFilter is one of my 'must have' aquarium innovations. I use it to purify all of my water before it goes into any tank. Used this way it is an extremely cheap no-brainer for me - a standard 'sheet' (about 8" x 4") lasts the best part of a year, purifying 50 gallons a week. It totally prevents wipe-outs from 'bad batches' of tapwater, which do happen from time to time.

Used this way PolyFilter is very cheap and very effective. Used in a mature rank it will fill up very quickly and prove to be very expensive.

Genuine PolyFilter must have a capital P and a capital F and be all one word, with no space or hyphen. The spelling is a registered trade mark. All others are fakes.

:)

Can I ask the method you use when using PolyFilter to pre-purify the water?
Title: Re: Polyfilter??
Post by: Sue on February 06, 2017, 11:15:23 AM

Genuine PolyFilter must have a capital P and a capital F and be all one word, with no space or hyphen. The spelling is a registered trade mark. All others are fakes.


That's interesting. I used to get PolyFilter made by Underworld but that vanished only to re-appear as Arcadia Poly-Filter.

Arcadia's website says
Quote
An established favourite from the U.S. the unique POLY-FILTER is now available once more through Arcadia.
implying that it is the same stuff.

Where do you get your PolyFilter (no hyphen) from?
Title: Re: Polyfilter??
Post by: Hampalong on February 06, 2017, 03:47:11 PM
I prepare my water-change water in a 50 gallon plastic water butt. When I've used it I refill it from the kitchen tap, and have a spare internal filter in it which contains the PolyFilter. Old bits that still have a little life in them are just left to float about, or sink.

Underworld bought the uk rights to PolyFilter from the American inventors Poly-Bio-Marine. Underworld subsequently sold these rights to Arcadia who are the current authorised distributors.

It lasts so long I haven't bought any for a few years now, but I think I got my last batch from an eBay shop.
Title: Re: Polyfilter??
Post by: Sue on February 06, 2017, 03:53:50 PM
I got my last lot from Ebay as Arcadia Poly-Filter, with a hyphen. That hyphen is what made me wonder if it is the same stuff.
Title: Re: Polyfilter??
Post by: Hampalong on February 07, 2017, 11:20:29 AM
I got my last lot from Ebay as Arcadia Poly-Filter, with a hyphen. That hyphen is what made me wonder if it is the same stuff.

That bit puzzles me too.