drip system through sand filter

[nfored]

I am ordering my chloramine filters Friday for my drip system. I will be place in these in my RO/DI filter for the cleanest possible water; I will also be dripping an R/O right solution to replenish the minerals in the water.

Well I was thinking about this will rocking my daughter to sleep, and a light came on. What if I fill a 5 gallon bucket with sand plumb the drip line to the bottom of the bucket, and have it exit at the top. I tought I would have to seal the bucket some how so it could completely deplete the O2; then have it exit through another 1/4" tube. I could then put a couple inline carbon filters on the exit tube to remove any bad gases or other toxins.

So am I crazy and I should just be happy with the RO/DI water or can I go for nitrate free RO/DI water?

 

[zennzzo]

yup...way overthinking it...
for the sake of discussion, how are you going to "drip" RO right solution into anything?

 

[nfored]

The sand part might be over doing it but I will for sure use ro water. I just like to throw out crazy ideas, you never know when a good discussion will take place, and produce something amazing. Can you imagine dripping pure water nitrate would have no chance.

As for the how kent makes a doser thats 2.5 gallon jug with an IV type drip. There are multiple ways to dose RO right since its liquid I can use any liquid doser, I am sure some of the high tech planted guys have some ideas. I will likely just use a jug and a 1/4" tube with a ball valve, and try to get the drip just right.

http://www.aquariumguys.com/kentaquadose.html

I guess I could even use an aqua lifter, a digital time should be able to be set in 1 or 5 minute increments.

 

[zennzzo]

http://www.chemilizer.com/index.html
this is the unit Neoprodigy uses and it is the goods...


http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74275
excellent read...takes all the "what if's" and "I'ma try's" right out of the equation...
Excellent read, all the way through!

and you can not run straight RO/DI water, got to be buffered as you know.
And because Nitrates are a product of the nitrogen cycle as well as Co2 they will be present in any filtration system using a biological filter. Co2, Also a product of the nitrogen cycle, will also alter the pH, by the amount that is present...

 

[nfored]

Yes nitrates are part of the cycle but it doesn't help dumping them back into the tank. If you can replace the water with nitrate free you will likely see almost no nitrates. Look at all the people with 10ppm on a drip system I bet the water they drip has nitrate in it, think how low it would be if it didn't. I just thought it might be easier to remove nitrate from 24 gallons a day then from the whole tank using a nitrate coil which can be dangerous.

Right I do know that if you drip ro you have to replenish, which is why I would drip the ro right solution. Dripping 24 gallons in one day and adding the need amount of ro right, is no different then doing a water change with ro. I used to do 50% changes on my 55 gallon with RO water, I stopped because it became very costly to replenish.

I have read all of the drip threads, and while I like the over cost savings in the long run of a chem injection, it would take a couple years before I would see the savings. Chem injector is about 200.00, the carbon last 5 months and cost 34, so I can buy 5 replacements before I have spent the same on the injector. Then you have to have ro or distilled water to make your diluted prime solution so on top of the inject your paying for distilled or ro water maybe 10 bucks over the 2 years no big deal, and also probably another 5 or 10 for the prime. So in total I figure 2.5 years before a chem injector pays for itself. I will say that a chem injector is probally safer if there is a sudden increase in chloramine. Also If you look at the one of the last post in the chem injector there is a guy who has crushed coral inline with the injector, I am thinking I could use something like that to help replenish the ro water and allow me to use less ro right. I have even heard baking soda can be used.

Needless to say I have some research still to do on exactly what options I have for replenishing the water.

 

[zennzzo]

Somewhere here at MFK is a thread that shows how much water you have to drip daily to equal a weekly 33% waterchange... it is way more daily dripping than I expected, to equal a straight up weekly water change...

That's what's keeping me from plumbing in my 5-stage RO unit.
I've heard that the first 3 stages of my unit will filter out the chlorine, then the RO membrane does the rest, while producing "waste" water at the same time...
There was discussion here that threw around the idea of de-chlorinating with the 1st 3 stages, filtering through the RO membrane and then remixing the RO water with the "waste" water, and then dripping that at 50 gallons per day for a 225g tank...

~BenO.

 

[nfored]

Now that is an excellent Idea. You should be able to test the water using some test kits to determine the correct mixture. I really want to run RO/DI but might just run the chloramine filters.

I am setup in a way where I could do a drip or an automatic water changer, I decided not go Auto WC due to cost and complexity. If any part fails it could be disastrous, the dosing pump fails then your dump chlorinated water in the tank, the valve on the fill line brakes then you will be dumping water and not pumping prime. If the drain valve breaks you lose most of your water and your pump runs dry.

 

[nfored]

Yes that's me the DI resin in my RO will remove Nitrate dang I am dumb. Always overthinking stuff because I am board and want a challenge.

 

[zennzzo]

Yes that's me the DI resin in my RO will remove Nitrate dang I am dumb. Always overthinking stuff because I am board and want a challenge.

I find myself doing the same thing at times...then the
hard,
cold,
reality,
sets in,
and I realize, that there are "think tanks" and "round table of engineers" that do all the thinking for the Multi-Billion dollar Aquaria industry...
All I have to worry about is making the right decision about which combination of available gear, I should get, and who sells it the cheapest,
and
which things are gimmicks meant to appeal to the idea of water quality being a mysteriously, magical task, obtainable only with rare and exotic hardware.

I been keeping fish since I was a kid, and the air powered UGF was the leading edge of technology, the home Ph test was for the Elitist, and the fish lived just as happy as they do today...

...of course the old Water/Change is still the same and
still just as necessary...

 

[epond83]

What level of nitrates are in the tap water? 5ppm? now more then 10ppm i'm sure. With a drip system, only needing a way to remove chlorine, you can get your nitrates down to 10ppm or even less depending on your water supply.

Why do you need it less? This is plenty low enough to be healthy for fish. And still low enough to minimize algea depending on your lighting.