Twin Titan Tanks Part 2 (Controls & mechanical)
- Thread starter terrors r us
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Thanks so much for the detailed reply. That all makes perfect sense.
Refilling the tank after a backwash is the slow point for my tank maintenance at the moment as well. Ive considered adding a large water storage tank and aerate the water to stabilize PH and dissolved gasses in the water before refilling, then pump it into the tank at a fast flowrate, but I dont have the floorspace to accommodate the tank size I would need.
I recently daisy chained a 50 gallon tank to my 200 gallon sump to use as a "conditioning tank" where I can add the new water and dechlorinator to reduce fish stress after a water change instead of adding and dosing directly into the tank. (There is no bio media directly in my main sump that can be disturbed). With the additional 50 gallons I have just enough water volume to keep the sump running during a backwash.
Do you prefilter or age the incoming new water for a water change?
I recently added two whole house 20" filters on my refill piping that is tied into the hot/cold water supply. One with sediment cartridge and the other with high grade carbon to reduce chlorine content.
I still use water conditioner but have been trying to get the water as balanced as possible before adding it to the tank, without having to age the water, so the fish are not stressed by changes in the incoming water properties.
Your system is so well thought out and executed I figured I would check and see if you had a prefilter of sorts for the new water.
Thank you very much again for taking the time to share all your hard work.
Reed
Refilling the tank after a backwash is the slow point for my tank maintenance at the moment as well. Ive considered adding a large water storage tank and aerate the water to stabilize PH and dissolved gasses in the water before refilling, then pump it into the tank at a fast flowrate, but I dont have the floorspace to accommodate the tank size I would need.
I recently daisy chained a 50 gallon tank to my 200 gallon sump to use as a "conditioning tank" where I can add the new water and dechlorinator to reduce fish stress after a water change instead of adding and dosing directly into the tank. (There is no bio media directly in my main sump that can be disturbed). With the additional 50 gallons I have just enough water volume to keep the sump running during a backwash.
Do you prefilter or age the incoming new water for a water change?
I recently added two whole house 20" filters on my refill piping that is tied into the hot/cold water supply. One with sediment cartridge and the other with high grade carbon to reduce chlorine content.
I still use water conditioner but have been trying to get the water as balanced as possible before adding it to the tank, without having to age the water, so the fish are not stressed by changes in the incoming water properties.
Your system is so well thought out and executed I figured I would check and see if you had a prefilter of sorts for the new water.
Thank you very much again for taking the time to share all your hard work.
Reed
Hey Reed, it's sounds like you did more or less the same as me....
I also ran out of floor space for a large holding tank, so this is what I did;
I have a smaller 30 gal or so holding tank that I fill with city water, Prime and some powder stuff that is also supposed to remove the Ammonia,Chloramines and Chlorine.....The powder stuff is made by "MICROBE LIFT", they make stuff for ponds but are aquarium safe.here is a pic;
I add about a third of the can into my 30gal holding tank and about a third of a 500ml bottle of prime...
then as the tank is being filled, I also add Half a bottle of prime directly into the tank( a little at a time and keep the water moving).
I called the Prime manufacter to see how long diluted Prime would stay good in a holding tank by they had no answer so instead of taking chances, I do it this way (seems to work).
I don't screw around with my p.h., it is at 7.6 and never changes(even with all that wood inside my tanks).
Here is a pic of the holding tank;
the green tape with the white arrows is just city water for filling the tank, the clear small hose is Chlorine free water that leaves the holding tank and goes thru a mech. dosing pump, "The chemilizer" which adds the water from the holding tank, can't remember the ratio.
here is a pic;
you can see that two copper headers are hot and cold city water(by the way I also have an extra large hot water tank so It can keep up with water changes), the hose with the red tape(white arrows) is the hot water and the blue tape(white arrows) is cold water...
they join together into a boiler mixer valve that I can adjust manually, then the warm water comes out(green tape with white arrows).
from this point the warm water goes thru that pre charcoal and pre filter thing beside it, then from there the warm water goes thru The Chemilizer dosing pump which is adding diluted prime and Micro lift, then just follow the green/white arrows to the tanks...
The Rtd(Resistive temperature device) send a signal back to the PLC(Programmable logic controller or mini computer) and the panel view displays the city water temp on the screen...if its to hot or cold then I move I mixer valve until it reads the temp. that I want....
Not perfect but it works and not much work either....more pics;
Thanks for the great questions Reed, I hope it made some sense, if not then keep asking and I will explain as best I can.....cheers
That all makes sense to me, thanks for the picture diagrams. I considered going the chemilizer/dosage pump route but opted to add prime myself in intervals throughout the water change.
I looked into all types of mixing valves from thermostatic to pressure balancing and even a computer controlled valve from hass thats used in darkroom photography development. I have slightly harder water and the valves clogging or locking up made me nervous. I ended up just plumbing in fine adjustment gate valves on the hot and cold lines to control temperature with a ball valve shutoff plumbed before each. I have tried a number of different inline temperature gauges on the water output line but none seem to be very accurate.
Your plumbing is incredibly clean and organized. Wow! Big hot water tank is definitely essential. I love the two 75 gallon hot water tanks I have.
How is the flow rate your getting through the carbon/sediment filters?
I have the big blue type clear 20" housings and they are rated for 10-20gpm depending on the amount of pressure. Slower flowrate obviously increases chlorine reduction and efficiency of the carbon filter but takes longer to refill several hundred gallons of water.
I looked into all types of mixing valves from thermostatic to pressure balancing and even a computer controlled valve from hass thats used in darkroom photography development. I have slightly harder water and the valves clogging or locking up made me nervous. I ended up just plumbing in fine adjustment gate valves on the hot and cold lines to control temperature with a ball valve shutoff plumbed before each. I have tried a number of different inline temperature gauges on the water output line but none seem to be very accurate.
Your plumbing is incredibly clean and organized. Wow! Big hot water tank is definitely essential. I love the two 75 gallon hot water tanks I have.
How is the flow rate your getting through the carbon/sediment filters?
I have the big blue type clear 20" housings and they are rated for 10-20gpm depending on the amount of pressure. Slower flowrate obviously increases chlorine reduction and efficiency of the carbon filter but takes longer to refill several hundred gallons of water.
That is an amazing set up, and I'm really looking forward to more updates!! Makes my build feel small and amateurish by comparison, but I'm a fan of keeping things simple and also don't have to deal with near-freezing chlorinated water. Keep the pics coming, I want to see some fish in there!
yay for your fish! well done sir!WOOOOOOOOOW...... Now that is a filtration set up. Will you be charging admission fees to the new Sea World?..lol Dolphin show
