Yep it will auto sense the connection
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Twinstar..what is it?
- Thread starter foxfish
- Start date
Tim Harrison
Member
So after all this time has anyone found a way to clean the mesh of calcium deposits without damaging it, that works long term?
Lauris
Member
I keep cleaning it in 7-10% vinegar. In long term.. As long as I have it.. about 9 months. cleaning once a month
I am planted!
I am planted!
Tim Harrison
Member
Thanks Lauris, and the performance is still good, and hasn't been effected?
What type of vinegar is that?
What type of vinegar is that?
Lauris
Member
not in my case. see no difference. it keeps doing thing as on the first day in
I am planted!
I am planted!
Tim Harrison
Member
Just got word from APS about cleaning the reactor - '...The manufacturers recommend 20ml sodium hypochlorite to 1000ml of water, and soaking the whole reactor in this...' Not sure that'll get rid of calcium deposits though.
I also found a German blog which recommends 3% HCl http://www.asx2.blogspot.de/2014/04/anleitung-wie-man-eine-twinstar.html
Anyone got any thoughts on these cleaning methods?
I also found a German blog which recommends 3% HCl http://www.asx2.blogspot.de/2014/04/anleitung-wie-man-eine-twinstar.html
Anyone got any thoughts on these cleaning methods?
Bleach won't do much for calcium deposits, soaking in RO water might soften them but it would be a slow process ... the vinegar is much less "stressing" than the HCl re acetic acid is usually ~ pH 4 - 4,5 (depending on your water buffering) while the HCl may easily be pH 2.0 (again may vary depending on your tap water buffering), if you splash any HCl you'll certainly notice the difference over vinegar 😉
Most plastics are acid labile (just as most plastics are weakened by UV)
Most plastics are acid labile (just as most plastics are weakened by UV)
Tim Harrison
Member
...or even Hydrochloric acid...but 3% sol'n is very dilute and apparently after consultation with a chemist it's recommended for cleaning electrodes in the German blog.
just to note make sure you use the correct ratio of vinegar to water as mentioned above. I used too much vinegar in mine and killed the probe 🙁
Tim Harrison
Member
From what I've read it's easily done, the thing is so delicate...I think I'll use vinegar - its probably the most accessible solution.
Glass pH electrode membranes are fine with dilute HCl, but I'd expect 3% solution to eventually (or sooner - depending on the plastic composition) to cause "crazing" of the plastic components of the Twinstar device, it may also react (adversely) with metal depending on composition ... of course I'm still waiting for my local shop to even stock the replacement disc 😱
Note that "concentrated hydrochloric acid" (HCl) is only 37%, so I'd consider a 3% solution as plenty strong, 0.3% would be "dilute" (though I'd still be gloving up during handling)
If Stu did his probe in with straight vinegar (which is generally only 4-7% acetic acid, a weak acid that is not unpleasant on skin, except for the odour, though longer exposures will cause drying & reddening), I'd stay clear of the HCl
Note that "concentrated hydrochloric acid" (HCl) is only 37%, so I'd consider a 3% solution as plenty strong, 0.3% would be "dilute" (though I'd still be gloving up during handling)
If Stu did his probe in with straight vinegar (which is generally only 4-7% acetic acid, a weak acid that is not unpleasant on skin, except for the odour, though longer exposures will cause drying & reddening), I'd stay clear of the HCl
aquascape1987
Member
Sorry,I'm trying to follow this but there are pages and pages and hundreds of posts. I've just managed to get to page 16 and the conversation seems to drift from how it works, which no one had answered... to where you can get them from. As if the original question remained unanswered and was kinda given up on. Yet on the latest posts, someone's saying "we know how it works and what it is" Is it actually known how this thing works?
Can someone enlighten me please? 🙂
Can someone enlighten me please? 🙂
Last edited:
xim
Member
- Joined
- 19 Mar 2010
- Messages
- 498
In case you haven't seen this one. 🙂
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/diy-twinstar-thoughts.34795/
HELIO FROTA
Seedling
- Joined
- 2 Sep 2015
- Messages
- 3
I AM BRAND NEW HERE
Could someone help me on the following:
Can it (TWINSTAR) be used in the Marine Water (Seawater or Saltwater)?
What is the effect in the DO in the Water? Does it increase? How much?
What is the effect in the ph of the water increase? decrease?
What is the effect in the others parameters like ammonia? nitrite? etc,
Can it be uses continuously (non stop) (keep it on in a big tank?)
What is the effect if we increase the voltage (V) and keep the current (Amp) constant?
What is the effect if we increase the current (Amp) and keep the voltage (V) constant?
What are the gás produced?
Is there any preciptated material?
What is the min and max voltage (V) recommended?
What is the min and max current (Amp) recommend?
Thanks
Could someone help me on the following:
Can it (TWINSTAR) be used in the Marine Water (Seawater or Saltwater)?
What is the effect in the DO in the Water? Does it increase? How much?
What is the effect in the ph of the water increase? decrease?
What is the effect in the others parameters like ammonia? nitrite? etc,
Can it be uses continuously (non stop) (keep it on in a big tank?)
What is the effect if we increase the voltage (V) and keep the current (Amp) constant?
What is the effect if we increase the current (Amp) and keep the voltage (V) constant?
What are the gás produced?
Is there any preciptated material?
What is the min and max voltage (V) recommended?
What is the min and max current (Amp) recommend?
Thanks
Julian
Member
- Joined
- 20 Jul 2013
- Messages
- 688
HELIO FROTA
Seedling
- Joined
- 2 Sep 2015
- Messages
- 3
Julian
Thanks a lot.
I got it. The Twinstar isn't disign to seawater.
Anyhow in case we use it in salt water,
How will It affect the salinity and ph?
Indeed I try it in the seawater...
The water became clear and there was a preciptated substance,
As I am no chemistry, I don´t know what it is...
The only way I had to test it. It was the taste.
The water was still salty, but not like seawater, we can drink it ant it doesn´t hurt the throat like seawater.
My concern is how the twinstar will affect the salinity and of the sea water. And if the good effects in the fresh water will be similar in salt water.
Thanks for the link it was really woth
Helio
Thanks a lot.
I got it. The Twinstar isn't disign to seawater.
Anyhow in case we use it in salt water,
How will It affect the salinity and ph?
Indeed I try it in the seawater...
The water became clear and there was a preciptated substance,
As I am no chemistry, I don´t know what it is...
The only way I had to test it. It was the taste.
The water was still salty, but not like seawater, we can drink it ant it doesn´t hurt the throat like seawater.
My concern is how the twinstar will affect the salinity and of the sea water. And if the good effects in the fresh water will be similar in salt water.
Thanks for the link it was really woth
Helio
I've been using a Chihiros doctor nano -unconventionally- for several months. I have several small heavily planted tanks - too many to invest in one unit per tank so thought I would experiment.
I started using it as a couple of my Betta's developed fin rot despite all my w/c efforts, so I thought I'd give it a try.
The fish definitely seem to have a tolerance level which oddly varies from fish to fish. At first they seem to enjoy it even actively seeking out the bubbles, but at a certain point they start acting a bit stressed. I have learned to use it appropriately to prevent them getting stressed.
All I can say is that after using it I see rapid fin repair. Before, even with ocd cleaning/filter cleaning & w/c, the fish would sometimes get fin deterioration and rot. Not any more.
I use the device for a short while ( less than an hour) in any tank I feel needs it. One of my fish can only tolerate 20 mins of it before getting anxious. My tanks are too small for even nano size recommendations, so there is no way I would use it non stop in any of them.
I don't use it everyday - usually less than an hour for 3 days in a row if a fish has a raggy fin - otherwise once week - works well for my needs.
One of the things I notice is a very fast clarity to the water during use - it does seem to make it noticeably sparkle and the water looks really good for a good few days after.
Algae - I don't get anything other than brown diatom outbreaks and sometimes a little green algae on the glass. I had a minor outbreak of cyno on some moss some weeks ago. I tried it on this - it seemed to help, but I really can't be sure as I also manually removed the stuff from my tank. It never came back though - so maybe it did help.
I put it in a jug of conditioned water and blast it in that a few turns, before it goes into another tank. One thing that puzzles me is that I gave the water in the jug a sniff and it smelt strongly of hydrogen peroxide or maybe chlorine??? - despite being dechlorinated. Not sure what that's about?! Any ideas?
I'd not advise anyone to use it as I do, without very careful observation of their fish. For fighters it seems to be a fine line - I do think if it was left in too long it would be detrimental to the fish and some other types of fish might react badly, I don't know. I'm breaking manufacturers instructions here, but in my defense, I was desperate.
So far it has been around 6 months of this intermittent use and my fish look happy/healthy. If I even think a fin rot episode might break out, or a fish seems below par, I use it preventatively. I feel it helped me get on top of an issue that was very troubling and for me it's a relief to not be subjecting my fish to medications and risking upsetting the bio balance of my tanks in the process.
The only pain is the scale build up. It would do my head in if it was in full time operation in my tanks.
I have a spare diffuser on standby - and I probably get more use out of the diffuser anyway, than if I was using it conventionally.
I started using it as a couple of my Betta's developed fin rot despite all my w/c efforts, so I thought I'd give it a try.
The fish definitely seem to have a tolerance level which oddly varies from fish to fish. At first they seem to enjoy it even actively seeking out the bubbles, but at a certain point they start acting a bit stressed. I have learned to use it appropriately to prevent them getting stressed.
All I can say is that after using it I see rapid fin repair. Before, even with ocd cleaning/filter cleaning & w/c, the fish would sometimes get fin deterioration and rot. Not any more.
I use the device for a short while ( less than an hour) in any tank I feel needs it. One of my fish can only tolerate 20 mins of it before getting anxious. My tanks are too small for even nano size recommendations, so there is no way I would use it non stop in any of them.
I don't use it everyday - usually less than an hour for 3 days in a row if a fish has a raggy fin - otherwise once week - works well for my needs.
One of the things I notice is a very fast clarity to the water during use - it does seem to make it noticeably sparkle and the water looks really good for a good few days after.
Algae - I don't get anything other than brown diatom outbreaks and sometimes a little green algae on the glass. I had a minor outbreak of cyno on some moss some weeks ago. I tried it on this - it seemed to help, but I really can't be sure as I also manually removed the stuff from my tank. It never came back though - so maybe it did help.
I put it in a jug of conditioned water and blast it in that a few turns, before it goes into another tank. One thing that puzzles me is that I gave the water in the jug a sniff and it smelt strongly of hydrogen peroxide or maybe chlorine??? - despite being dechlorinated. Not sure what that's about?! Any ideas?
I'd not advise anyone to use it as I do, without very careful observation of their fish. For fighters it seems to be a fine line - I do think if it was left in too long it would be detrimental to the fish and some other types of fish might react badly, I don't know. I'm breaking manufacturers instructions here, but in my defense, I was desperate.
So far it has been around 6 months of this intermittent use and my fish look happy/healthy. If I even think a fin rot episode might break out, or a fish seems below par, I use it preventatively. I feel it helped me get on top of an issue that was very troubling and for me it's a relief to not be subjecting my fish to medications and risking upsetting the bio balance of my tanks in the process.
The only pain is the scale build up. It would do my head in if it was in full time operation in my tanks.
I have a spare diffuser on standby - and I probably get more use out of the diffuser anyway, than if I was using it conventionally.
5678
Member
Fwiw, I've bought one to use in my new tank. With nothing conclusive online and some saying works, some saying it doesn't, I thought I'd give it a go!
Hope you'll let us know if it works for you or not.
It definitely helps my fish and water clarity. Because my tanks are in a row next to each other it's evident which one just got the chihiros treatment - the water just looks so much brighter.
I'm pleased with mine and when this one gives out I will buy another.
It definitely helps my fish and water clarity. Because my tanks are in a row next to each other it's evident which one just got the chihiros treatment - the water just looks so much brighter.
I'm pleased with mine and when this one gives out I will buy another.
