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I have a forced hot water boiler via tankless coil hot water heater. Water has heavy iron and other typical minerals. Screen on hot water side of washing machine CONSTANTLY plugs up. Already double cartidges on domestic cold before boiler, I know I should get a softener system, but are there any other COST EFFECTIVE options? Does a cheap in-line screen (near washing machine)or filter system exist that can reliably withstand 170Deg. heat? Standard cartridge filter systems will fail on hot water systems. I just want to stop doing weekly maintence on the Washing machine. I've almost worn out the plastic inlet on it, which means a $100 soleniod replacement when you strip that out! Any Suggestions welcome!!

The iron is dissolved in the water and must be removed via oxidation. A water softener is capable of removing small amounts of iron and will need more frequent regeneration. Potassium permanganate or chlorine are also used in treatment systems and are better suited for iron removal.
Particulate filters such as those you are using will remove solids from the water but not dissolved elements. I have a pair of particulate filters at the input to my water softener to help keep it clean inside.

2007-01-25 12:13:46 by Q&A Man

www.waterfilters.net Aquaman demonstrates how to change a Sediment Water Filter Cartridge and offers some useful tips on general maintenance ...

I shut off both hot and cold water under the sink and then I left both faucets open to depressurize the system. I have tugged and pulled and twisted the damn thing so hard that I've pulled a muscle in my back. It has not moved a hair - not a micron.

What am I doing wrong?

It is an under-sink filter with three cartridges.

The worst part is: without filtration, the water may be "safe" but I wouldn't give it to an enemy. Tastes like chlorinated algae.
Yes, I am doing it the right way. I think the tool is the best way to go. Thanks everyone.
By the "right way", I mean in the correct direction. Thanks anyway, I bet people do try to unscrew it the wrong way, and hopefully that will help someone who searches for this in the future.

I had the same problem with a Pur faucet attachment. I got one of those tools that unscrews the oil filter or some other part in a car. Its a metal strap on a handle and when you turn it, it tightens itself on the fulter. Or try using a scrap of padded grippy shelf liner and a large jar opener. I buy that liner by the roll at Costco and use it for dozens of things. I you don't have it use a rubber glove or shower mat. If the filter is small enough you can use channel lock pliers. Remember righty tighty, lefty loosey. So turn left to remove it.

2009-03-04 16:54:38 by The Divine Bubba Blue

I have an established 50-gallon aquarium. Ammonia or nitrite levels have never been present, and nitrates are generally between 1-5 ppm. In addition to the presence of nitrates and moderate light, my tap water also has high concentration of phosphorus, resulting in green water formation within a day of water changes.

Is there any real solution to this, besides the stop-gap measures of light deprivation or the drastic adoption of R/O filtration? Are micron cartridges or diatom filters any good, or simply quick fixes? Thanks so much!
Algae eaters do not eat free-floating algae. They are not filter feeders and can only tackle limited types of algae.
The tank has 1 fluorescent tube, lit for 6 hours a day. There it no sunlight in the room, at any given time. My predominant concern is the amendment of phosphorous by my water municipality. Since this is done in high amounts to prevent pipe corrosion, the established algae readily capitalize on the supply every time I do a water change.

Another concern is the use of R/O filters and UV sterilizers, since R/O removes all trace elements and sterilizers oxidize nutrients, leaving them unusable. I was hoping there might be a simple, less costly solution for long-term control.

The two chokepoints for algae control are nutrients and lighting. There are two ways to reduce nutrients. The passive way is to reduce feedings to every other day, or so. The active method is to heavily plant your tank. Since you're NO3 levels are pretty low to begin with, though, I'd say your only option, aside from using deionized or reverse-osmosis water would be a complete light blackout for 3-4 days to knock the algae back, then sizable reduction in your lighting cycle after that. Hope this helps, I had the same problem with my 55gal fw tank.

2006-06-14 18:07:43 by shannontakita

They seem to really suck at filtering. After only a couple days it seems like the water is backing up behind the filter because it wont pass thru it. I hardly feed the fish any food so I know I am not the cause. Maybe the whole filtration unit is bad? Its a penguin biowheel 200.
I have 2 tinfoil barbs that are about 8 inches long, a pleco that is about 6 inches long, a 2 inch tiger barb, and 2 1-inch tiger barbs. Its a 29-gallon tank. Its been set up for at least 3 years, the 2 baby barbs were added not too long ago.

What kind of and how many fish do you have? The tank size would help too. I know that in a tank that has been running for a month or less, there will be more sediment trapped by the filter and that happens fast. It is ok to take the filter out and rinse it off under tap water to get a few more days out of it.

Gold fish are very dirty fish. if you have several of those they can stop up filters in a week or less. Rinsing the filters is ok here too as the carbon is still functional.
A Plecostomus will put off a lot of waste when it gets big (over 10") but again, rinsing the media will extend the life.
Lastly, you can look for sources of "C" media on-line as that is usually cheaper.

Tony

2007-05-16 19:17:32 by djmixmode

I already have a power filter that filters up to 20 gallons on it, but I've noticed that even when I do water changes with gravel vacuums, there's still a lot of stuff floating around. Sure I'll try to net it out, but it still floats around in there. Whenever I put a new cartridge in my filter, a week later, its clogged with dead food and fish waste and my filter does filter properly because of it. I guess its because I recently switched from feeding my fish flakes and bloodworms to flakes, bloodworms, brine shrimp, and tubifex, but not in one feeding. I just feed them twice a day without feeding them the same foods consecutively. Plus at night I drop a tropical tablet and an algae wafer for my cory cats and oto cats.

Do you think that adding another power filter like the one I have will reduce the clogging of my cartridges with better filtration? If so, will it have any big affects? For instance will I have to recycle my tank because of the new filter? I'll give someone a best answer
Well I have been kind of slacking on remove excess food, but I have 3 cory cats, 3 oto cats, 4 neon tetras, and 1 dwarf gourami.

I agree, it sounds like you are overfeeding your fish, but 10 minutes is insane! In 10 minutes, a 10 gallon fish tank could empty a small package of bloodworms! Only feed what they can eat in about 2 minutes... This will prevent excess food from getting to the bottom... I just give them some flakes in the morning, once at night, and sometimes a third time in between (a very small amount each time) and they get bloodworms weekly. This allows all the fish to get their share of food before it gets to the filter...

In your case, I think the food you are finding in the filter is likely because your filter is so strong that it sucks up the food before the fish have a chance to eat it... Try to put the floating food in the corner farthest from the filter (it will begin to drift in the current if the fish don't eat it, and eventually end up in your filter any ways...). You know how to contact me if you need to... ;~D

Soop Nazi

2007-09-15 07:11:10 by Ricky