I test on occassion. Nitrates stay steady at about 20. I assume because my fish stock and feeding are somewhat steady and my tank drains at same rate as drip. 18 gallons of nitrate free water in a day and 18 gallons of nitrate water out a day. If I up the drip, I anticipate the nitrates will go down further.
What percentage of water is being added to your tank per week?
I ask because as there is no doubt a drip is a fantastic thing, but on larger tanks it will take more water in a drip which is a dilution then a reg WC which you are removing then replacing
To achieve the same results.
I am contemplating between the two on my 400g. I was going to make doing WCs easy with a turn of a valve.
I went over this in simply Discus and basically you need a lot more water in a drip to achieve the same results with a Reg WC.
Not dogging Drips just wanted to add that point for who ever didn't know.
What percentage of water is being added to your tank per week?
I ask because as there is no doubt a drip is a fantastic thing, but on larger tanks it will take more water in a drip which is a dilution then a reg WC which you are removing then replacing
To achieve the same results.
I am contemplating between the two on my 400g. I was going to make doing WCs easy with a turn of a valve.
I went over this in simply Discus and basically you need a lot more water in a drip to achieve the same results with a Reg WC.
Not dogging Drips just wanted to add that point for who ever didn't know.
What percentage of water is being added to your tank per week?
I ask because as there is no doubt a drip is a fantastic thing, but on larger tanks it will take more water in a drip which is a dilution then a reg WC which you are removing then replacing
To achieve the same results.
I am contemplating between the two on my 400g. I was going to make doing WCs easy with a turn of a valve.
I went over this in simply Discus and basically you need a lot more water in a drip to achieve the same results with a Reg WC.
Not dogging Drips just wanted to add that point for who ever didn't know.
I'm currently at +/-40% per week but have been advised via this thread i can go as high as 60% plus.....so I will likely up the drip to about 60% per week in near future.
CANAMONSTER the nice thing about a drip is your tank water readings are steady for the most part with no man power once setup (compared to regular water changes).
I am on well water which is steady ph all year round, no amonia, and a little nitrate.
I use one 5 micron filter and a carbon filter for filtering the hot/cold drip and drip 180 gallons and 125 gallon a week for a 100% volume changes in both tanks which I think works out to about 75% new water a week. I like the fact that once a month a can crank the drip up and do a 100% water change with my drip system in one day if I have an issue
My nitrates are at about 20, maybe a little less. I'm running the drip pretty much wide open its a 100Gpd on a 300 gallon system. I have a ton of plants, and I'm also adding in biomedia in my first sump chamber to aid in waste breakdown.
[QUOTE="CANAMONSTER, post: 7443471, member: 112484"Do you guys mix the water hot and cold before it enters if not are your heater's working on over drive?[/QUOTE]
I haven't, but when I increase drip in future I will if needed.
