tolstoy21
New Member
Ok so (longish story) . . . .
I am looking at changing how I prepare aquarium water so I can install a continuous drip system for water changes.
I already perform semi-automatic water changes on a 125 gallon planted aquarium by making water in a Brute can in my basement and then triggering a remote switch to pump new water into the aquarium (the excess old water drains out via sump overflow that drains back into the basement). This has been great for years, but the whole system relies on me making RO water and then remineralizing and buffering it, and this costs money.
Near term, I am also planning on doing some small-scale breeding in my basement, so I don't want the costs and labor of making RO water to increase, especially in an environment where I need to do more frequent larger water changes.
The main challenge with my well water has been Nitrates. There is a large golf course behind my property that fertilizes heavily and swings the ground water to about 20+ppm according to API test kit. This is 8 Mg/L of Nitrogen according to a recent professional water testing (I do these once every 2 years, and the nitrogen levels fluctuate somewhat based on other environmental factors, like seasons with heavy rain, etc.). 10 Mg/L is legal residential limit before whole house remediation is required. I went the RO route to mitigate this problem as Im not planning on hooking up to city water ($$$$$$) nor investing (yet) in whole-house remediation (less $$$$$ but still $$$).
I am now realizing that since nitrates seems to be my predominate issue, it would be more cost effective to install a small nitrate removal system to target just nitrate removal (something the size of an under-sink unit). The cost of running this long term will be far more economical than running a similarly sized RO system. I kind of wished I had researched this option from the beginning, before committing to RO, equilibrium, etc. as the upfront costs is also cheaper than the upfront costs of RO units.
So now the question . . . . . .
My raw well water is 2dKH and 8dGH, according to API drop tests. I know low KH is not ideal as it can contribute to PH swings. But, in a system that is continually changing small volumes of water all the time, will this be an issue? Will the potential for swings be more avoidable in this setup?
I am looking to get out of the business of stripping stuff out of my water only to spend money to put it back in, especially if I set up more tanks. I don't want to prepare water at all, actually, except in the case of my caradina shrimp tanks. Using crushed coral also seems like a no-go as this will push the GH up more than I'd like.
So any advice? Don't worry about 2 dKH? Or, is there an easy, low maintenance way to raise it without having to mix water, or add and measure buffers on a continual basis?
Any advice would be truly greatly appreciated.
I am looking at changing how I prepare aquarium water so I can install a continuous drip system for water changes.
I already perform semi-automatic water changes on a 125 gallon planted aquarium by making water in a Brute can in my basement and then triggering a remote switch to pump new water into the aquarium (the excess old water drains out via sump overflow that drains back into the basement). This has been great for years, but the whole system relies on me making RO water and then remineralizing and buffering it, and this costs money.
Near term, I am also planning on doing some small-scale breeding in my basement, so I don't want the costs and labor of making RO water to increase, especially in an environment where I need to do more frequent larger water changes.
The main challenge with my well water has been Nitrates. There is a large golf course behind my property that fertilizes heavily and swings the ground water to about 20+ppm according to API test kit. This is 8 Mg/L of Nitrogen according to a recent professional water testing (I do these once every 2 years, and the nitrogen levels fluctuate somewhat based on other environmental factors, like seasons with heavy rain, etc.). 10 Mg/L is legal residential limit before whole house remediation is required. I went the RO route to mitigate this problem as Im not planning on hooking up to city water ($$$$$$) nor investing (yet) in whole-house remediation (less $$$$$ but still $$$).
I am now realizing that since nitrates seems to be my predominate issue, it would be more cost effective to install a small nitrate removal system to target just nitrate removal (something the size of an under-sink unit). The cost of running this long term will be far more economical than running a similarly sized RO system. I kind of wished I had researched this option from the beginning, before committing to RO, equilibrium, etc. as the upfront costs is also cheaper than the upfront costs of RO units.
So now the question . . . . . .
My raw well water is 2dKH and 8dGH, according to API drop tests. I know low KH is not ideal as it can contribute to PH swings. But, in a system that is continually changing small volumes of water all the time, will this be an issue? Will the potential for swings be more avoidable in this setup?
I am looking to get out of the business of stripping stuff out of my water only to spend money to put it back in, especially if I set up more tanks. I don't want to prepare water at all, actually, except in the case of my caradina shrimp tanks. Using crushed coral also seems like a no-go as this will push the GH up more than I'd like.
So any advice? Don't worry about 2 dKH? Or, is there an easy, low maintenance way to raise it without having to mix water, or add and measure buffers on a continual basis?
Any advice would be truly greatly appreciated.
