To earth student: I think you need to experiment with rays as I have been running massive growth pothos on my tank and I cannot see a shift in nitrate, they are great at bringing nitrate from 100 to 30 ppm but my tank runs under 25ppm due to a limited drip of 30 gals per day and the pothos doesn't drop it any more. The tap water is close to zero ppm. My point is that a discus or tetra or small cichlid tank will be fine on plants....rays produce so much that plants struggle when on their own....in my experience and I test weekly.
Reverse osmosis for rays
- Thread starter rudy
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DB junkie;5125879; said:If there wasn't water volume equal to the tank in that system then I might only need half that. In order to change half the water on that tank's system I'd need 750 gallons of water even half and half that still means bottom line is a Merlin......
If it was as easy as buying a $100 RO and mixing it in a 5 gallon bucket then it would have been done a long time ago...
It's nice to bring you over to the hurdles we're trying to get over though. Your input is greatly appreciated.
I think in a case where you might need such large amounts of water, storage would be the best way to go. I would hate to rely on something like this in a time of need. At least if you were storing water you would have time to repair it possibly before you would have such an emergency. Like you said, something always goes wrong and if your luck is anything like mine with Murphy, a fish would puke and the R/O unit would go out the same day.
Another option I was looking into is a water softener. Have not got to far in my research, anyone know much about using them on aquariums or any problems they might have?
You can get big ro units for big tanks, mine will do 4 gpm. When you get to this level you don't have to change the membranes, there is a built in pump for crossing the membrane which also cleans the membranes into the waste water. The worst thing for membranes is chlorine followed up by calcium and lime. Mine has a mini softener built into it because sodium ions are easier to remove than most minerals. The biggest problem with these larger systems is that you have to set up a holding tank for drip systems because you have to turn it on manually.
earthstudent;5125906;5125906 said:
Water softeners are BAD for aquariums! They don't really 'soften' your water. It's an ion exchange filter. They use salt to remove the magnesium and calcium in the water (what makes up your GH) and releases salt, sodium. If anything, they may result in a higher TDS than w/o the softener. That's why it's recommended to have a water line before a water softener if you keep fish, so you could use that for your tanks.
DB junkie;5125858; said:6 stages?????
How many stages any are actually necassary?
Depends on your water, and how pure you want it to be. The first couple stages are sediment and chlorine/chloramine filters. Sediment is usually stage 1, chlorine/chloramine will be stages 2-3. You want to be sure NO chlorine gets through as this will destroy your membrane, so this is where you want to double up on the filters. Stage 4 is typically the RO membrane. And if you want 0ppm, then you'll need a DI filter, which is stage 5.
Any units with more stages just offer repetition. This would be a basic RO/DI setup. Without DI, you're looking at 3-4 stages.
Here's my system. I've actually changed it since this pic. I got rid of the GAC cartridges (1-2) and added more of the carbon block filters.
jcardona1;5063836; said:Got the RO/DI system hooked up. Thanks again to www.thefilterguys.biz. Second time I've ordered from them. Their products and service are top notch! I picked up the 5 stage Ocean Reef +1 unit, and hooked it up to the chloramine filter I bought from them some time ago. So I'm essentially running a 7 stage RO/DI unit
Hookup was a breeze. The unit started producing pure water in no time, with no leaks at all. Here's a quick rundown of all that is going on for those that are new to RO/DI units (this is my first one as well).
*in order of water flow*
1. GAC Chloramine cartridge (granular activated carbon)
2. GAC Chloramine cartridge (granular activated carbon)
3. 5 micron poly sediment filter
4. 5 Micron Matrikx NSF rated CTO/2 Workhorse carbon block
5. 0.6 Micron Matrikx NSF rated chlorine guzzler carbon block
6. Dow Filmtec 75gpd RO membrane
7. DI cartridge w/ refillable resin
*misc*
8. Pressure gauge for water going into RO membrane
9. Inline dual TDS meter (measures straight tapwater and water before RO membrane)
10. Inline dual TDS meter (measures water after RO membrane, and after DI filter)
Waste water is going into my laundry drain. Maybe in the near future I can figure out a better use for it so I'm not wasting so much water.
And here's some photos of the TDS meters in action:
Tapwater straight from the faucet
After passing through the RO membrane
And after the last stage, the DI filter. Purest water you can get. 0ppm TDS!!!
jcardona1;5125924; said:
So basically for this application a 3-4 stage would be good since we are not actually looking for 0 TDS.
Yeah, I'd say bare minimum should be 4 stage. Sediment, chlorine/chloramine, chlorine/chloramine, RO.earthstudent;5125936;5125936 said:
Just Toby;5125895; said:
I have also found that pothos only do OK as a plant filter. Like you said, they work fine for a less demanding system, if you have allot of them. I have found algae to be FAR superior to any other plant. Algae grows faster than any other plant and can be controlled in a more compact space as well. So it really becomes a powerhouse nitrate remover and there are other benefits as well. I have found algae filters do work better on salt water tanks but they still do an amazing job on a freshwater systems. I have actually been playing with an over the tank "stream" design that is working out really well. I also am growing moss in the stream that is taking over and seems to be sucking everything out of the water. But you are completely correct in that I need to work with rays to have a real challenge against waist production. That is my next big project, a 2000g ray tank. Anyone want to donate a couple rays when it comes time?
earthstudent;5125959; said:Anyone want to donate a couple rays when it comes time?
Prove to me you know what you're doing with them and there may be some floating around.
I haven't kept all the rays I own under my roof for years. I have most of them at my place but I also have some with a good buddy.
All I ask is that they are taken care of by the same standards they are now.
They've begun showing signs of regular breeding so I'm sure there will be some around by the time you get that monster built.
You should probobly start a new post and share your algae findings with us. IF you want to test this out real world I have systems right now that make plenty of waste. I could use some ideas......
I know I'm all ears on this algae scrubber bit or whatever form it comes in. I think I can close the chapter on bio for my system, think I'm set there. Mechanical will be no big deal to upgrade as I left room to play around. However, the veggie filter/scrubber is nothing more then a clean slate right now. I have to move bio towers to open up some room but that should free up at least a 150 gallon rubbermaid to devote strickly to nitrate removal by any green means necassary.
