This deserves another journal...My 190g Wild Discus build!
- Thread starter jcardona1
- Start date
Thanks!foldem;5065802; said:
Thanks Li for updating the first postneoprodigy;5065924; said:
Ha thanks man. I think I'm maxed out on cool ideas thoughceeej31;5065939; said:
Yup, I really got to dig up that PM where I predicted you would be going wild discus and getting a full on RO and drip system going.
Curious, what are your thoughts on discus and the use of RO water now? I've seen several discussions on the web where you have talked about keeping discus in hard, basic, alkaline tap water? Any changes in opinion?
That system is SICK btw...
Curious, what are your thoughts on discus and the use of RO water now? I've seen several discussions on the web where you have talked about keeping discus in hard, basic, alkaline tap water? Any changes in opinion?
That system is SICK btw...
Ah, so basically your limitations on a full drip are similar to what limits my ability to take the end product of my full drip [as yet uncreated] and use it as an auto-fertilization/water system for the landscaping on our patio. I have the gravity and places to hide the drainage from the sump, but run into all those sump and solenoid related issues when getting into going back up from below-grade to where the plants will be.jcardona said:
As I recall, you did have a bit of room for gravity to work when things were in your garage with the 405. And you are running discreet but un-concealed small plumbing from this system to your 190 in the living room, right? Is there something preventing you from just letting the drain line run in that same place but ultimately out the garage? I guess the only way I'd fully understand this is if I had a floor plan of your place.
The learning continues. In this scenario, am I correct to assume that the waste water is actually harder than the tap? It has the solids from the tap plus the solids taken out of the RO/DI product, right? Or is that not how it works?jcardona said:
I wonder... instead of T-ing off the tap water to go through a chlor filter and an RO, then T-ing those outputs off into two drips... maybe I could just push RO/DI into the upstairs tank, keep heckels there, then let gravity take the runoff from the upstairs sump (at least 50% of the 120g a day) plus the waste from the RO, and then let a combination of that feed the sump of the [220/360/300/whatever I end up with]. So if the waste is higher TDS, the used RO would recombine with that to lower the TDS, which would support the wilds and geos in water that roughly approximates my current tap, which they're used to...
Hmm.....
Awesome setup man, I need to get on level of fish keeping. Just out of curiosity why didn't you include a UV sterilizer?
LOL thanks. I think I do remember that discussion, and I said I'd never do it. Look at me now haha! As for RO water, you can keep discus in tap water, especially the domestics. But after seeing pics of how other people's wilds look in softer water, I had to give it a try. They're colors are amazing, while mine seem like they could be better.aclockworkorange;5066011; said:Yup, I really got to dig up that PM where I predicted you would be going wild discus and getting a full on RO and drip system going.
Curious, what are your thoughts on discus and the use of RO water now? I've seen several discussions on the web where you have talked about keeping discus in hard, basic, alkaline tap water? Any changes in opinion?
That system is SICK btw...
Those folks are keeping them in very soft water, like GH of 3-4, and very low TDS levels. Plus, it's said that discus eggs won't hatch at GH levels higher than 8, before I started using RO/DI water I was getting a reading of 12 in the tank! That's considered very hard water, and surely can't be good for a fish whose osmoregulation depends on low levels of TDS. So far I've done two water changes using RO water. My GH has now gone from 12 down to 7. My goal is to keep it around 3, with TDS as low as possible. I have a digital TDS meter coming in the mail so I'll let you guys know what my TDS is now.
Yeah the main issue is that this is a rental house. So everything I do can't be permanent. If this were my place, I'd drill through the walls. Right on the other side of the tank is a bathroom sink. So if I owned this place, I'd drill through the wall and tap into the sink's drain to dump the water. That would be the ideal setup. It's a little hard to explain how I have it all routed, so I'll get some new pics up showing the setup.DaveB;5066164; said:
As for RO waste water, I don't think it would be higher in TDS than the tap, since a lot of stuff actually get's caught by the membrane. My system has a flush valve, that when I open it, I can flush off the face of the membrane with high pressure water. While flushing, I'm sure this waste water would have a higher concentration of TDS. I was reading on the NADA site that discus fry actually need a good level of TDS to develop, hence using waste water over pure RO water is preferred.
Yeah there's tons of options on how to use RO/DI water and the waste water. My main restrictions are that I don't own this place. Otherwise, I'd having several barrels in the garage with lines going in/out of the house through the walls. That would let me get a good mix of RO and waste water, plus give me a way to drain. Hopefully soon though
Thanks! As for a UV, I don't know, just never thought they were needed for an aquarium. There is no substitute for clean water via regular water changes. On our koi pond, we have a UV light simply to control algae, and because you don't do water changes like you would on a tank. That is when a UV light is a must IMO. For fish tanks, I'm not yet convinced.TeChris;5066462; said:
Thank you!Dangerdoll;5066676; said:
Thanks man!xander;5066992; said:
Thanks!Monolicious;5069954; said:
The group of Alenquers in their quarantine tank were quite spunky this morning, so I snapped a few pics before work. I actually gave these guys a water change using RO/DI water, so the GH is even lower in this tank than my main tank...
