Am I Crazy or Could This Possibly Work? - Goodbye Water Changes

[Angelphish]

I have no idea where you that get from. Excluding your own posts, almost no one has mentioned cost, money or doing something cheaper. I found 4 posts out of 66 that related to the cost of the project, and at least 2 cases that wasn't even the main point of the post.

And you've been given a ton of feedback on your project as far as why it might not work, what else it might need and how people might make changes to improve it.

There were multiple posts that mentioned cost or doing it cheaper.

If you did a drip system it would eliminate all the ato stuff and most of the other things you have planned. Probably wouldn't need the alk or most of the other supliments either. Bio pellets output will need to be filtered or you will get a bio film on everything after its output. In salt system a skimmer would remove the dead bacteria and keep it from creating more bioload. I have never messed with ozone production but if I was your dad I'd rather you build a mostly fail proof drip as opposed to using electrical current throught water to create ozone. Sulphur reactors are nothing to mess with either any of those things go slightly sideways and it's gonna be bad. If you put enough thought and a little redundancy a drip will be cheaper and more efficient way to handle your issues. Maybe all the stuff together will work your miracle you are looking for but what's that setup going to run you? Thousands? 2 minimum.
I don know a lot of info on ozone will it negate the need for mechanical filtration completely?

If the water is too soft from nitrification then your PH probe won't be accurate, unless you have a high end lab grade machine. PH only drops significantly when the Kh can't buffer anymore and it just shoots down which sadly can't easily be measured either

That's a ridiculous amount of money, last time I checked water changes worked.

Ozone won't do much more than kill bacteria if dosed like that.... I'd also keep in mind that if the generator leaks ozone in a closed environment such as a room it would be very harmful!

I'd just say build some huge algae scrubbers and be done with it. Water changes and some buffering and you are good to go.

The university professor I converse with uses denitrification coils and has to buffer his adult discus tanks with bicarbonate of soda to keep from a PH crash, our water is very soft though.

Good buffers like coral sand or oyster grit are cheap, can be put in a bag in a sump, and last more or less forever.


+1. IMO the only decision to make is algae scrubber vs refugium/veggie filter vs aquaponics
Why? that sounds like it would cause major fluctuations every time you dose, and IME dead coral and/or shells make very good buffers.

Beauty in simplicity.

Angelphish is it really worth spending 2300 dollars to perhaps not automate your system, or have a chance to? Who's funding this?

I should try this, all I have to do is not spend any of my pocket money for the next 15 years.

Are you fing kidding me? You can spend $2300 on a bunch of stupid hoopla, but you can't rough a sink into the basement? Really?

Only my 70 needs regular water changes luckily, mostly due to the soft water and higher density of fish. Rest is very lightly stocked

If you do sports lifting buckets isn't that hard. What do you do now angel? Maybe a high power fountain pump would get that water up the stairs

Going back over the thread there was an entire page that I missed because for some reason I didn't get notifications. You're right, there is more info on this thread than I thought there was.

 

[pops]

The holy grail of fresh water fish keeping, so far there is none, it can be done but the maintenance and expense and knowledge needed are far harder than just doing the water changes.

 

[J. H.]

Most of us have not used these types of equipment because they are are to expensive and there is no need to use it.
We are not complaining we are giving you better options because you will not be there to look after this tank personally and if your dad thinks dehumidifier water is good for water changes do you really want him tinkering with this equipment if anything goes wrong? Eliminating water changes will not happen

The holy grail of fresh water fish keeping, so far there is none, it can be done but the maintenance and expense and knowledge needed are far harder than just doing the water changes.

You people really need to look into aquaponics, walstad tanks, drip systems and algae scrubbers. Any one or combo of these if properly designed and run, can easily keep a tank going without any traditional waterchanges. They all have their drawbacks, yes, but it can be done.

 

[Angelphish]

You people really need to look into aquaponics, walstad tanks, drip systems and algae scrubbers. Any one or combo of these if properly designed and run, can easily keep a tank going without any traditional waterchanges. They all have their drawbacks, yes, but it can be done.

I've looked into all of those. I'd like to try one of everything to see how each method works and how effective each method is in person.

 

[millerkid519]

You people really need to look into aquaponics, walstad tanks, drip systems and algae scrubbers. Any one or combo of these if properly designed and run, can easily keep a tank going without any traditional waterchanges. They all have their drawbacks, yes, but it can be done.

I own rays. I would much rather run my drip and keep to what I know.
Aquaponics is something I am interested in but at the moment not a focus of mine. As for algae scrubber as stated before I run a drip so no need for a scrubber

 

[J. H.]

I've looked into all of those. I'd like to try one of everything to see how each method works and how effective each method is in person.

One of mfk's horrible never-ending threads, full of missing pictures, pointless posts, and off topic rambling, but when it comes down to it, it is packed with great first-person info, pictures of great setups, and inspiration. In other words, a microcosm of mfk.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...ltration-why-not-popular-in-the-hobby.404668/

 

[Dieselhybrid]

drip drip drip

You'll laugh at all of the time you've wasted over the years

 

[pops]

no argument with a good drip, if there is a silver bullet that is it. and has been. nothing new there.

 

[RD.]

The old Army Corps of Engineers dictum always comes into play ...... "The Solution to Pollution is Dilution". That means water changes, whether traditional via bucket, python, or a continuous drip, fresh water is required for this tank.

And with the OP's bio-load gaining speed daily, water quality (not just overall nitrates) is going to decline sooner than later. Goodbye water changes with this growing stock, in a 210. Not friggen likely. And JH, this set up doesn't even make the qualifying round for the Walstad Method. This is never going to be a balanced ecosystem, in any way, shape, or form.

 

[Hendre]

Walstad uses little fishies in a bigger tank with a lot of plants and soil as a fertilizer