limited water changes... next step, overkill

[Magnum Man]

my 8 inch draw tubes, are fool proof draw of 8 inch's of art out of each tank, at maximum... today I modified my gravel vacuum to hook to my draw pump, so I can draw that water from the substrate if desired... also this set up would be used if Zi anted to drain the tank completely...

the only issue I've had, is my foot sometimes bumps the pump out pump, and the cheesy barb fitting attachments, strip off the threads on the pump, because of poor manufacturing tolerances... I've checked the threads on the pump, and they are 1/2 inch NPT, so I'll replace those with brass fittings, with teflon tape on the threads... I'm not worrying about any leaching, as this is all on the waste water side, 10 feet of drain hose away from the aquariums, so shrimp will be safe with this set up... I'm really liking my Indy pit crew fast water changes, at the push of a button... now there are 2 tanks, I'd really like to clean the substrate well

 

[Magnum Man]

I got the cheesy parts out, and the pump is drip free...
this is my siphon tube.... so the maximum it can suck, is just over 8 inches... just in case I get interrupted, don't want to come back to fish flopping on wet gravel

hmmm caught a lady bug...

 

[Magnum Man]

another big water change today, and I'm loosing some of the "dark" from my dark water tank... fish are still looking great, my need to take up adding "tea" bags to the filter media area???

 

[Magnum Man]

thermometer for the RO holding tank... C, and F temp scales, a 9 inch stem to reach into the actual water, rather than just recording the plastic tank measurement.... the thermometer is also able to calibrate

 

[Magnum Man]

Wow... 20 minutes for water changes for this group of 10 tanks, drawing down the full depth of my screened suction pipe... I was hustling, as I included 30 seconds, through a 1/4 inch line, of hard well water back in, per tank, when adding the pure RO water change water...
I always add the water above my digital heaters so I can monitor the temperature and that the cooler water is at the heater... with the mat heater laid against the side of the holding tank, and a piece of 2 inch foam insulation outside of the heating pad, the most temperature difference I saw, was 3 degrees F. including the colder well water... I'll be experimenting with how much mineral water I'm adding back...
it's a lot going on all at once, so I want to make sure I've had my caffine, and am focused, and uninterrupted while doing it...

so I'm pulling 9 inches of water out twice a week for water changes... I figure that is about a 50 % water change on the 55 gallons...

 

[Magnum Man]

well that was a half hour ago, and no one looks strange with the slightly larger water change, and the addition of about a gallon of hard water, per tank...

 

[Magnum Man]

took a while as busy as I am... but my stainless "T" is drilled and tapped for 1/2 inch pipe thread, and the themometer is installed... with a 9 inch probe and it sitting a few inches above the tank, if the water is within 6 inches of full, I'll get reliable temps

 

[MaloK]

In a stagnant water tank the bottom will always be colder. Sometimes a lot.

If you are on concrete, you can put the tank on 2 inch pink styrofoam and get R10 in between.

Since a sheet can do a lot more, why not R40 ( or maximum height available ).

 

[Magnum Man]

this system is working extremely well, and I get a 100 gallons of RO water in less than a day, which allows me to shut down the RO unit, so it's not using any water, and the holding tank can begin to start warming.... another 1 or two heating mats, and getting the tank on some foam insulation, and not touching the concrete floor will help there...

right now I'm working on a prefilter for the suction pump, so I can better use my gravel vacuum every other time for water changes I've bought a see through whole house filter, I'll mount in the work area... it won't take long for the 50 micron filter to plug up, so I'm now working on modifying a reusable stainless mesh filter... the pump can effectively pump most anything I would suck out of the substrate, I just need to prefilter gravel, or pest snails from going into the pump... the pump comes with a stainless mesh prefilter, but that chamber is really small, and down on the floor where the pump is... I have too many pest snails in one tank, so by adding a larger, more easily cleaned chamber, mounted in a convenient to work on position means I can try to suck out adult pest snails, or aggressively vac the gravel, without worry of damaging that pump... of course I can't find a prefilter as coarse as I'm wanting, so the stainless filter cartridge has a heavy coarse layer to support the finer mesh filter, so I'll be removing the finer mesh, and just using the heavier coarser base layer...

this is the canister I chose...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CYQDNMW8?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

 

[anewbie]

this system is working extremely well, and I get a 100 gallons of RO water in less than a day, which allows me to shut down the RO unit, so it's not using any water, and the holding tank can begin to start warming.... another 1 or two heating mats, and getting the tank on some foam insulation, and not touching the concrete floor will help there...

right now I'm working on a prefilter for the suction pump, so I can better use my gravel vacuum every other time for water changes I've bought a see through whole house filter, I'll mount in the work area... it won't take long for the 50 micron filter to plug up, so I'm now working on modifying a reusable stainless mesh filter... the pump can effectively pump most anything I would suck out of the substrate, I just need to prefilter gravel, or pest snails from going into the pump... the pump comes with a stainless mesh prefilter, but that chamber is really small, and down on the floor where the pump is... I have too many pest snails in one tank, so by adding a larger, more easily cleaned chamber, mounted in a convenient to work on position means I can try to suck out adult pest snails, or aggressively vac the gravel, without worry of damaging that pump... of course I can't find a prefilter as coarse as I'm wanting, so the stainless filter cartridge has a heave coarse layer to support the finer mesh filter, so I'll be removing the finer mesh, and just using the heavier coarser base layer...

this is the canister I chose...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CYQDNMW8?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

You might consider a 20 inch water filter housing - this one i have found very easy to open - has to do with male vs female:

20" Blue Filter Housing

20' Filter Housing 3/8" .. - Reef Tank owners need a dependable dealer of NSF Certified Parts for their saltwater aquarium zero tds water changes. We always have a huge inventory. Dependable parts since 1982! We wholesale. Please let us know if you have any question!

airwaterice.com

They sell membranes:

Twenty Inch (20") Sediment filter

20" Sediment 10 micron - Reef Tank owners need a dependable dealer of water filters for their saltwater aquarium zero tds water changes. We always have over 10,000 filters in stock. Dependable parts since 1982! We wholesale. Please let us know if you have any question!

airwaterice.com

 

[Magnum Man]

for waste water going to the drain, 10 micron is finer than I need, I assume the factory presceen was designed around how big the pump can handle, without damage... I didn't notice a micron rating, but it's like 1/8 inch square screen... I'm assuming the filter that comes with this filter housing, will only last 1-2 gravel vacuumings, before it needs replacement

I chose clear, for my filter housing, so I can monitor the filling of the canister, with gravel, and snail shells, rather than letting the pump slow, to stall... my pump out line goes directly into my drain line, so I'm not concerned with solids in the drain, only in preventing damage to the pump diaphragm

 

[anewbie]

Just be aware that the blue ones are a *lot* easier to open; well not all blue ones but the type i linked. I sometime need a hammer to open teh clear ones.

 

[Magnum Man]

well, they do make wrenches for them... and any kind of lubricant can be used on threads, since this is the waste water line

 

[anewbie]

well, they do make wrenches for them... and any kind of lubricant can be used on threads, since this is the waste water line

Yep - i use the hammer to hit the wrench handle

 

[Magnum Man]

extending the wrench handle ( cheater bar ) seems to make more sense than an impact... and I'd suspect a silicone thread lubricant would go a long ways towards sealing, without over tightening