DIY Drip System Water Parameters = Ammonia Spike

[gavigan1]

All this talk about Drip system insprired me to try it out. I already had 1 in pipe plumbed to drain my tank and 1/2 in pipe to fill.

I put in a T and connected it to my sump. I had to lower the pipe going through the wall to allow for drainage of the sump. I also added a valve so I could still drain the main tank.

On the outside of the house I connected 2 whirl pool 10 home water filters from LOWES. I filled them w 10in carbon filters and conneted them to my 3/4 hose outlet. Its dark out so I dont have pictures.

I tried a 2 GPH drip limiter but the pressure resulted in a some leakage from one of the elbows. I need to redo that area. So I just titrated the flow to about 2-4 GPH

24 hrs later my tank was looking a bit cloudy and due for its weekly 40% water change.

CHECK the water parameters!

From left to right
Test tube 1 tap water from kitchen sink = 0 Ammonia
Test tube 2 tank water = 0.5 Ammonia
Test tube 3 drip system = 1.0 Ammonia
Test tube 4 tank water = 5.0 Nitrates
PH 7.2 not pictured


My tank is well established and usually never tests elevated ammonia???? I checked my water company website and it did mention that they used a small percentage of chloramine.

Results CHLORAMINE treated water filtered by Carbon filter remove chlorine but the end product is Ammonia.

I thought my established tank would be able to break down any left over ammonia. WRONG- in just 24 hrs my tank began to accumulate dangerous amounts on of ammonia.....Just thought I would share so others dont attempt to skip the chloramine removal step.

 

[jcardona1]

yeah ammonia is a byproduct of chloramine breakdown. maybe you need more bio media or give it time to catch up to the extra load of ammonia?

 

[mdstark]

Slow down your drip rate. You're adding almost 100 gallons of ammonia filled water to your tank each day, which is certain to stress your biological filtration. Add a pressure regulator to your system and you can use the lower flow emitters without leakage. I'd recommend starting at 1GPH and see where your water parameters are.

 

[gavigan1]

good points I did a water 40% wter change through the filtering system righ before I tested the water. I ordered some refillable 10 cartridges and premium activated granular carbon from thefilterguys.com . I also added some more bio balls to my wet dry.

 

[Ed209]

.....Just thought I would share so others dont attempt to skip the chloramine removal step.

Hello,I'm about to do almost exactly what you did. What is the chloramine removal step? Is it a different kind of carbon?
Thanks

 

[Pharaoh]

Hello,I'm about to do almost exactly what you did. What is the chloramine removal step? Is it a different kind of carbon?
Thanks

Yes, you get the granulated activated carbon from The Filter Guys and put it in your filter.

 

[gavigan1]

Update, my $67 order from filterguys came really quick ( 2 days), excellent communication as well. UNFORTUNATELY the two 10 in refillable cartridges filled with the premium activated granular carbon is not effectively removing the ammonia, even at 2 GPH. The ammonia level is STILL 1.0 from my drip system. The equipment for chloramine removal I ordered had NO IMPACT on the ammonia level. I have spent almost $150 on this drip sytem and its not effectively removing chloramine. I will have to wait and see if my BB will break down the ammonia. I am going to look into a dosing system. Anyone that has chrolarmine in their water be sure to take your time when setting up a drip system, consider a dosing system.

 

[mdstark]

A chloramine filter will not remove ammonia. The carbon simply breaks the ammonia-chlorine bond and removes the chlorine. You are left with water containing ammonia. There is no easy way to remove the ammonia unless you install a dosing system. If you are going to install a dosing system, you don't really need the chloramine filter, since the dosing system will take care of the chlorine as well.

I have run a drip system with a chloramine filter for the past 3-4 years. I am dripping water that contains ammonia into my tanks, and my biological filtration converts that ammonia into nitrates. The downside to this setup is that I will never be able to acheive zero nitrates regardless of how much water I add to my tank. I am able to keep the nitrates around 5-10ppm though, and my fish have been doing well. There have been no ill effects to adding the ammonia containing water directly to my tank. The ammonia is converted nitrates by my biological filtration before it can build up to any meaningful level.

 

[Pharaoh]

I think what you have is working, but you are just adding so much water, that the biological media cannot keep up with the additional ammonia. If you have plenty of bio media, your issues should clear up in a few days as the tank runs through a mini cycle. I suggest lowering the amount of water added to the system until things straighten themselves out.

I have been running the same drip system as mdstark for over a year now and have not had a single problem.

 

[Ed209]

Thanks for the update gavigan1. You just saved me some money. The FilterGuys website led me to believe their chloramine filter would remove my chloramine problem. Until you,and mdstark posted,I did not know carbon did not remove ammonia. So their premium filters just exchanged the chloramine problem for an easier to take care of Ammonia problem.
lol
More stuff to consider...
I'll probably drip my chloramine filtered water into my trickle filter and depend on the biological filtration.
Again,I appreciate the updates.