DIY Aquarium Polishing Pads: Sparkling Water Made Simple!
Do you want to know the secret to having crystal clearaquarium water so when your friends and neighbors stop by, they say “WOW! Howis your tank so clear?” One of the secrets we use is a polishing pad; thesecond secret I will share with you at the end of this video.
What a polishing pad does is it takes out very smallparticles in your water very fine particles in the micron range we will talkabout that in just a few moments. Now this can be used for a filter type systemif you have that which we will talk about in the video.
This exact same type of material is also available infilter socks; I don’t want to go into a lot of detail about filter socks,but these are often found in restaurants and hotels where reef and saltwater tanks must have super clear water.
Filter socks are positioned in a filter below theaquarium called a sump. Water from the aquarium flows throughthese filter socks. Specifically, dirty water dumps through the socks, flows into the sump and into the reservoir, then is pumped back to the aquarium.
Debris from the aquarium water is trapped in these filter socks. Again, these arevery fine filter socks they can clog up fairly quickly. This is the materialthat we are using in sump filtration and now you can use the exact same material inyour home filter tank.
Polishing Pads work in hangon the back filters, canister filters, and they can even be used in wet/dry filters.
One challenge with filter socks is that they can clog up quickly unless you are using a pre-filter. So, as the water comes from your tank, sometimes you might place asponge in the socks, but if you don’t, dirty water will flow directly into the filter socks and they clog up quickly.
The same is true of Polishing Pads, these are best used with some sort of pre-filter.
Our Classic Blue is a very open weave filter pad; you can see the fibers are open andthis pad traps large to medium size and sometimes small particles.
We stack the Classic Blue on top of the polishing pad so that water flows through the top of this pad first trapping large, medium and small particles before flowing into the Polishing Pad.
The somewhat clean water then flows through the polishing pad which traps fine particles so that your tank looks crystal clear.
Another option we offer is our Filter First Premium dual density pad. The thing about this pad is that it has a very open fiber top and a very tight network down below; not as tight as thePolishing Pad, but very similar.
The loose part of our pad traps large to mediumparticles, the lower pad traps smaller particles, and then our polishing padtraps very fine particles so as the water flows through there it’s going totrap all those guys so clear water comes out the other side.
Polishing Pads are best used on the bottom layer of filter pads so that insteadof having to change them really often as with filter socks in a saltwater aquarium or a sump type aquarium, they can last longerbecause they won't be quickly clogged with large particles.
Polishing Pads are available in different micron ratings. We have filter pads that will capture particles as small as 100 microns and some that will capture particles as small as 50 microns. To be clear, 50 microns is actually much smaller than 100microns. Because of this, whenever I go to anestablished aquarium I start off using a 100 micron Polishing Pad.
It is interesting to note that the human eye can see particles as small as about 50 or 60 microns, like particles of dust floating in the air. People with super eyesight might be able to see forty micron particles.
To recap, Polishing Pads are best used in conjunction with some other type of filterpad to pre-filter the water, as a final filter to remove the smallstuff. So as not to be forced to change the pad too often, begin withthe 100 micron size and maybe later switch over and go to a 50 micron.
These pads are easy to cut and, as mentioned, can work in all differenttypes of filters.
Ifyou want your used Polishing Pads super clean then you will likely want to put them in the washing machine with bleach to wash the organic material out so it will look like new again. We give exact steps to wash the pads on our website. Now the cool part about our Polishing Pads are that they are huge: two feet by three feet rectangular pads. Because this materialis so thin you can easily cut it with scissors to any size you desire.It can be a big pad or a small pad.
Generally,if I'm using small pads I will throw them away and cut new ones. However, if youwant to rinse them and use them again you are welcome to do that. As Imentioned earlier, this filter pad is what you need to polish your water.
Say your water is clear, but you are an extremist and sit up at night worrying about those finer, microscopic particles that are less than 50 microns. “What do I need to do to get rid of them?”Well, now we offer KloudAway. This particular version of water clarifier is for freshwater use. KloudAway brings particlestogether, so fine particles, and even macroscopic particles you cannot see, clump together into larger particleswhich are easily trapped by filter material. If the particles are reallylarge they may fall to the gravel.
Do Irecommend this to everybody? No, but if those who want more polishing power this is what you need for ultra,super clear, super clean water. For most people this polishing pad alongwith a series of other pads of mechanical filter media is all you need to keepyour tank super clear.
Side note: Polishing Pads, even with KloudAway, will not clear live free floating algae from water. While they trap it, they do not prevent it from multiplying.
Polishing Filter Pad - Superior Polishing Pad for Aquarium - Cut to Fit 24" by 36" Media for Fresh Water & Saltwater Fish Tanks and Terrariums - Made in USA
Classic Bonded Aquarium Filter Pad - Blue and White Aquarium Filter Media Roll Bulk Can Be Cut to Fit Most Filters, Made in USA
KloudAway Freshwater Aquarium Water Clarifier - Clears Cloudy Water, Water Clarifier for Fish Tank, Made in USA
-
Our polishing filter pad catches minute particles that cause cloudiness. It clears cloudy water quickly without adding any chemicals to your aquarium.
-
The tighter 50-micron polishing pad can catch most phytoplankton species, and even more free-swimming ich parasites, speeding up treatments to get your tank healthier faster. The 100-micron pad will catch less but last longer.
-
The polishing filter pad's durable polyester cloth can be gently washed and reused many times before needing to be replaced, making it a cheaper alternative to disposable filter media.
-
Our Polishing Filter Pad is easy to cut into whatever shape is needed to fit the needs of your filter. It works with wet/dry, sumps, and more.
-
To extend the life of a polishing pad, have water flow through a pre-filter pad such as our Premium Dual Density pad trapping small to large particles before the water flows through the polishing pad.
