jcardona1's Super-easy DIY 24/7 water changer!

[jcardona1]

ok, did a nitrate test after getting rid of my sand and doing a 75% water change. looks like the sand was a freaking nitrate factory! before, even after doing a big water change my nitrates were in the blood red zone. its hard to distinguish the colors, but id say in the 80ppm range.

today the color was a lot more orange, id say about 20ish. tap water on the left for reference, which is about 10ppm. so hopefully now that the tank is bare bottom the drip system will help keep levels low

after removing sand and 75% water change


with sand, after doing 75% water change

 

[zennzzo]

I'd probably not use that sewer cleanout, no telling what kind of hell is down there and it could cross contaminate the drain water...
How about putting a section of soaker hose in the garden/flower bed/edge of the lawn and connect to that.
Then, the water will distribute evenly down the length of the soaker hose. No puddles and no visible sign of waste water...

 

[jcardona1]

I'd probably not use that sewer cleanout, no telling what kind of hell is down there and it could cross contaminate the drain water...
How about putting a section of soaker hose in the garden/flower bed/edge of the lawn and connect to that.
Then, the water will distribute evenly down the length of the soaker hose. No puddles and no visible sign of waste water...

hadnt thought about those, but do they require a certain amount of pressure to work? im wondering if it will back up as the water wont pass through the hose...

 

[zennzzo]

hadnt thought about those, but do they require a certain amount of pressure to work? im wondering if it will back up as the water wont pass through the hose...

Shouldn't be much back pressure at the flow rate you are at...
even so you can always do the "red hot Icepick" thing to get the flow to dump without any back pressure, and they hide so well in the garden...

If you get one and cut it down to a shorter length, save the extra, because it makes an excellent Bubble Curtain when you put an air pump to it...

 

[West1]

So you are thinking the sand is messing with the params??

Hmm, sounds like I wont be messing with this type of drip system.... I want sand in mine (atleast right now)... Interesting tho, to try and find a way to correct it with sand

 

[jcardona1]

So you are thinking the sand is messing with the params??

Hmm, sounds like I wont be messing with this type of drip system.... I want sand in mine (atleast right now)... Interesting tho, to try and find a way to correct it with sand

well the sand/nitrate issue is completely unrelated to the drip system. i have nitrates because of the deep sand bed and bio load. a drip system is a way to get rid of your water changes, as many people use this method.

a drip system will work for any tank. if you have high nitrates to begin with, like i did, you need to find out what is causing the problem

 

[tcarswell]

Congrats Jose ! Looks like you got the issue figured out. Maybe try some tile for the substrate ? That would look cool. Are you still running the larger nozzles ? For the water input to the tank ?
I would think that sewer cleanout would have a ton of bacteria and nasty stuff escaping but I could be wrong...

 

[jcardona1]

thanks man. i sure hope the barebottom helps out with the nitrates. im actually going to lowes in a bit to check out tile

 

[tcarswell]

thanks man. i sure hope the barebottom helps out with the nitrates. im actually going to lowes in a bit to check out tile

Right on. When I was working on doing that I was advised by many to stay away from slate at lowes because it can rust Just a heads up. And yeah switching from gravel to barebottom in my poly only tank made a big difference in Nitrates allowing the filters to work more efficiently and cleaning much much easier.

 

[West1]

well the sand/nitrate issue is completely unrelated to the drip system. i have nitrates because of the deep sand bed and bio load. a drip system is a way to get rid of your water changes, as many people use this method.

a drip system will work for any tank. if you have high nitrates to begin with, like i did, you need to find out what is causing the problem

Oh, how thick is your sand? So if someone went with this System and kept sand, they would have to stir up the sand, right (to keep the - params on check)?

thanks man. i sure hope the barebottom helps out with the nitrates. im actually going to lowes in a bit to check out tile

Q with Tiles... if you drop tiles in there, wont the poop and stuff get under the tile? Creating almost the same with the sand you had?

Or would you slap some under water glue on them??

This is one Q ive had since i read about Tile bottoms (Tiles would look G R E A T in a tank)