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Twinstar..what is it?

It looks like electrolysis, (mostly because it is) there is a very simple test for it, but that might give people ideas that might be fun and therefor not necessarily safe...
Instead, look at al the thing, how it is made, how it works, how all the diy copy's work ..... and there is only one possible conclusion.

Of course it is much nicer to look at it a mysterious machine that might involve magic and mermaids...
 
Hi all,
akwarium said:
Of course it is much nicer to look at it a mysterious machine that might involve magic and mermaids...
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Wookii said:
Anecdotally I have one in my tank, and the only two times I have had minor algae outbreaks (one BBA and one Staghorn) is when I had inadvertently turned the Twinstar unit off for a week or more (cutting the power to it resets it, and you need to press the button on the side to set it going again). Then again, that could be sheer coincidence, so as is often the case with these things,
Click to expand...
That is the real problem, we don't know why it works (if it does) and <"we may be barking up the wrong tree"> when we make conjectures about how it works.

As they've been around for a while, and people are still using them, my guess is that they do something positive.

cheers Darrel
 
Hi Folks,

My best guess is that the Twinstar Steriliser* adopts a similar approach to the OF Hydra Depurator**. Somewhere here on UKAPS, I seem to recall that I did a brief review of this OF product. What these products aim to do is to create hydroxyl radicals, which are denoted as '·OH'. Note the dot. It seems that there is a lot of interest in something called 'Advanced Oxidation Processes', AOPs***. By using a matrix of wires (sometimes coated with titanium dioxide) or parallel plates with some secret ingredient in-between and then applying a dc voltage, it would appear that hydroxyl radicals are produced. I believe this principle is now used in some room air purifiers.

Returning to the OF Hydra Depurator**, it didn't do what it was supposed to do and I returned mine to MA.

* https://twinstareu.com/steriliser/

** https://www.yihufish.com/products/f...ydro-pure-technology/hydra-aquatic-depurator/

*** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_oxidation_process

JPC
 
Wookii said:
I didn’t have that level of patience!
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Hi Jay,
should I assume you painted yours black and something like heatshrink around the cable? - I very nearly done this few times but had thoughts of quite the effects would be come bleaching time.
Have you tried bleaching yet and if so I assume the outcome was good?
Also how did you do it? - I'd masking tape and spraying the main piece in mind along with heatshrink along the cable but I know it needs one that would give quite a size ratio of original to finish etc.
Any input gratefully received. 😉
 
Andrew Butler said:
Hi Jay,
should I assume you painted yours black and something like heatshrink around the cable? - I very nearly done this few times but had thoughts of quite the effects would be come bleaching time.
Have you tried bleaching yet and if so I assume the outcome was good?
Also how did you do it? - I'd masking tape and spraying the main piece in mind along with heatshrink along the cable but I know it needs one that would give quite a size ratio of original to finish etc.
Any input gratefully received.
Click to expand...

Hi @Andrew Butler

There appears to be a misunderstanding. I don't own a Twinstar thingummyjig. To what are you referring, Andrew? Have I misled you?

JPC
 
Andrew Butler said:
Hi Jay,
should I assume you painted yours black and something like heatshrink around the cable? - I very nearly done this few times but had thoughts of quite the effects would be come bleaching time.
Have you tried bleaching yet and if so I assume the outcome was good?
Also how did you do it? - I'd masking tape and spraying the main piece in mind along with heatshrink along the cable but I know it needs one that would give quite a size ratio of original to finish etc.
Any input gratefully received. 😉
Click to expand...

Not ‘Jay’ but . . . 😀

If you take a sharp knife and slip in in between the top and bottom plastic covers, they simply pop off leaving the two metal mesh plates - then it was simply a matter of spraying them with some black paint, clicking them back together, and adding the heat shrink. Job done!

I don’t intend to use any bleach on mine, I’ve only had a little bit of BBA appear on it once, and I just misted some Excel on it and the shrimp munched it all off by the next day.

I may need to take it out and give it a citric acid bath to remove any limescale off the mesh at some point, though I’ve see no signs of limescale so far despite my hard water, but I can’t imagine that will have any effect on the paint.
 
jaypeecee said:
Have I misled you?
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Nope, sorry Jay - saw your name in amongst something and it stuck in my head :banghead:

I'll try again........
Hey @Wookii :pompus:
Andrew Butler said:
should I assume you painted yours black and something like heatshrink around the cable? - I very nearly done this few times but had thoughts of quite the effects would be come bleaching time.
Have you tried bleaching yet and if so I assume the outcome was good?
Also how did you do it? - I'd masking tape and spraying the main piece in mind along with heatshrink along the cable but I know it needs one that would give quite a size ratio of original to finish etc.
Any input gratefully received. 😉
Click to expand...
Wookii said:
If you take a sharp knife and slip in in between the top and bottom plastic covers, they simply pop off leaving the two metal mesh plates - then it was simply a matter of spraying them with some black paint, clicking them back together, and adding the heat shrink. Job done!

I don’t intend to use any bleach on mine, I’ve only had a little bit of BBA appear on it once, and I just misted some Excel on it and the shrimp munched it all off by the next day.

I may need to take it out and give it a citric acid bath to remove any limescale off the mesh at some point, though I’ve see no signs of limescale so far despite my hard water, but I can’t imagine that will have any effect on the paint.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tips. 🙂
What paint/primer did you use out of interest? - I'd Plastikote in mind before.

I'm not going to stir up the cleaning discussion as I do believe you to be following the best method but was told by a more official source once that it would damage electrodes and to use dilute bleach. Not looking for any further input from anyone with regard to this! 😉
 
Andrew Butler said:
Nope, sorry Jay - saw your name in amongst something and it stuck in my head :banghead:

I'll try again........
Hey @Wookii :pompus:


Thanks for the tips. 🙂
What paint/primer did you use out of interest? - I'd Plastikote in mind before.

I'm not going to stir up the cleaning discussion as I do believe you to be following the best method but was told by a more official source once that it would damage electrodes and to use dilute bleach. Not looking for any further input from anyone with regard to this! 😉
Click to expand...

As I often do, I referred to what Reefers do in their tanks since they seem to do a lot more DIY than us planted tank people do, and their tank inhabitants are often a lot more delicate. The common recommendation was for Krylon Fusion spray paint.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00176TH8C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UzxSEbVJSRTMC

The double bonus was that it requires no sanding or priming to use - just clean the item and start spraying - and is known to be aquarium safe once cured. It’s also touch dry after about 10 minutes making it very easy to work with.

As for the cleaning, a critic acid solution should be just as, if not more gentle than bleach. We do eat it regularly in fruit after all.
 
Wookii said:
As I often do, I referred to what Reefers do in their tanks since they seem to do a lot more DIY than us planted tank people do, and their tank inhabitants are often a lot more delicate. The common recommendation was for Krylon Fusion spray paint.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00176TH8C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UzxSEbVJSRTMC

The double bonus was that it requires no sanding or priming to use - just clean the item and start spraying - and is known to be aquarium safe once cured. It’s also touch dry after about 10 minutes making it very easy to work with.

As for the cleaning, a critic acid solution should be just as, if not more gentle than bleach. We do eat it regularly in fruit after all.
Click to expand...

I've used the chihiros doctor and the twinstar, mainly for oxygen purposes.

In my very hard water the chihiros discs lasted 3 weeks before output dropping by like 70%, even after cleaning the discs never performed well again and needed to be replaced.

Where as the twinstar disc seems to perform well and the disc seems to last much longer. I've had the disc in for 2-3 months and have only cleaned it of limescale twice so far. It still performs like it did the day i bought it.

I've been cleaning it with citric acid, 500-600ml warm tap water with 0.5tsp citric acid for 30mins seems to work well and gets rid of 95% of visible lime scale and it still works great.
 
LondonDragon said:
This is probably the longest chat ever! 7 years in the making haha 🙂 What is the official conclusion?
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Hi Paulo / @LondonDragon

Take your pick? It wouldn't be difficult to measure ORP, as I suggested. Or, oxygen level. I'd be happy to run some simple tests but I don't have one of these things. It's not rocket science.

JPC
 
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