DIY 24/7 water changer plan, how's it look?

[neoprodigy]

ok just a quick update on this, looks i have more research to do.

i called The Filter Guys and asked them about their chloramine filter. the guy basically told me it's not gonna work for my application. He said these filters can only pull chloramine out of the water when theyre running at flow rates of approximately 15gph. being that ill be running 2-4gpm, this filter will simply NOT pull the chloramine out. he said i would have to look at other options. by the way, this is the filter i was looking at:

the guy was really helpful and gave me all sorts of useful info, he didnt want me buying something i didnt need, so he asked if i was sure if i even had chloramine in my water. i wasnt 100% sure, so i called my city because we are served by three different water companies.

i finally tracked down the 2008 water quality report for my area and it looks like we only have chlorine and fluoride, which is a good thing and means i dont need a chloramine filter! but what i will do is buy a chlorine/chloramine test kit from thefilterguys.com and test the water every couple weeks to be sure there's no surprises from the water company.

here's the report: http://amwater.com/files/CA_Suburban_2008_web.pdf

so, now i need a basic carbon filter to remove the chlorine. can i just pick up the ones they sell at lowes with the carbon cartridges?

chloramine filter are great.. but ammonia is the by product of the --> http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68022

filters guys are great.. --> http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69178

you should call up the water company and ask. besides what if they decide to change to chloramine?

If you spend extra $200 on a chemilizer injector i garentee you , you will have a peace of mind

as for the micron and carbon cartriges... you can get the ones from the lowes/Homedepot. I ordered my via ebay in bulk... and i get rid of them once a month...

 

[jcardona1]

good stuff, good thing i dont have chloramines, saves a lot of headaches!! just curious, have your ever tested your water at the tap and after the carbon filtration to see what it's actually pulling out?

 

[jcardona1]

chloramine filter are great.. but ammonia is the by product of the --> http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68022

filters guys are great.. --> http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69178

you should call up the water company and ask. besides what if they decide to change to chloramine?

If you spend extra $200 on a chemilizer injector i garentee you , you will have a peace of mind

as for the micron and carbon cartriges... you can get the ones from the lowes/Homedepot. I ordered my via ebay in bulk... and i get rid of them once a month...

thanks for the info

yeah i know about the ammonia, but i figure any good bio filter setup should be able to deal with it no problems.

i called the water company and they said no chloramines; their report also did not list out chloramines (or ammonia). i saw your setup and it looks sweet, maybe one day ill run the Chemilizer, but for now i wanna keep it cheap.

question though, what's the purpose of the micron cartridge? do i need this, or can i get away with just a carbon cartridge for chlorine?

 

[dmopar74]

no, im way too lazy to do that lol. but here's what i can tell you, just today i realized that im up to 17 cichlids from 2"-8" and an 18" pleco in a 75g tank with 0-5ppm nitrates and i havent cleaned any filters of gravel vacked that tank since the day i started the drip. needless to say i need to get a bigger tank, but the proof is in the puddin.

 

[dmopar74]

and micron filters arent needed, but will prolong the life of your carbon filters. after a couple months my carbon filter will turn orange on the outside as it gums up with little nasties, this is when i will switch em out.

 

[jcardona1]

LOL i hear ya. but 0-5ppm of nitrates definitely means something is going right!

 

[Pharaoh]

good stuff, good thing i dont have chloramines, saves a lot of headaches!! just curious, have your ever tested your water at the tap and after the carbon filtration to see what it's actually pulling out?

I check the water upon occasion to see if there is chlorine or chloramines in the water, but I've never really paid much attention to the ammonia levels to see how high they were.

thanks for the info

yeah i know about the ammonia, but i figure any good bio filter setup should be able to deal with it no problems.

i called the water company and they said no chloramines; their report also did not list out chloramines (or ammonia). i saw your setup and it looks sweet, maybe one day ill run the Chemilizer, but for now i wanna keep it cheap.

question though, what's the purpose of the micron cartridge? do i need this, or can i get away with just a carbon cartridge for chlorine?

Sounds like you are OK, but you might just double check that they do not use chloramines to flush the system. A lot of municiple water companies use chloramines every now and then to kill off any resistant bacteria. never hurts to be safe.

Odd that the filter guys told you that. mdstark has been using his filter with drip emitters for years and has never had a problem.

As far as the filter, just get the standard issue filter fromt eh hardware store. It should be fine for chlorine.

 

[jcardona1]

thanks, thats what i might just do. if i have any money left over from my tax refund i may pick up a chemilizer

 

[dmopar74]

ok just a quick update on this, looks i have more research to do.

i called The Filter Guys and asked them about their chloramine filter. the guy basically told me it's not gonna work for my application. He said these filters can only pull chloramine out of the water when theyre running at flow rates of approximately 15gph. being that ill be running 2-4gpm, this filter will simply NOT pull the chloramine out. he said i would have to look at other options. by the way, this is the filter i was looking at:

the guy was really helpful and gave me all sorts of useful info, he didnt want me buying something i didnt need, so he asked if i was sure if i even had chloramine in my water. i wasnt 100% sure, so i called my city because we are served by three different water companies.

i finally tracked down the 2008 water quality report for my area and it looks like we only have chlorine and fluoride, which is a good thing and means i dont need a chloramine filter! but what i will do is buy a chlorine/chloramine test kit from thefilterguys.com and test the water every couple weeks to be sure there's no surprises from the water company.

here's the report: http://amwater.com/files/CA_Suburban_2008_web.pdf

so, now i need a basic carbon filter to remove the chlorine. can i just pick up the ones they sell at lowes with the carbon cartridges?

so you told them youd be running 2-4 GPM!!!?????? because that far exceeeds 15gph. the filter should work up to 15gph, but not effective with flow rates over that.

 

[Pharaoh]

so you told them youd be running 2-4 GPM!!!?????? because that far exceeeds 15gph. the filter should work up to 15gph, but not effective with flow rates over that.

I didn't catch that. LOL So what's the deal here? You yankin' our chain? haha