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Post by devonjohnsgard on Apr 19, 2017 15:04:48 GMT -5
Very kind of you Richard. We consider you a dear friend and think about you often. We also say all the time you're our #1 supporter.
Would love to see how you do the top of system.... and would very much love to meet you in person too! If I end up going that direction for whatever reason, you'd be the first person I'd let know.
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Post by Carl on Apr 21, 2017 9:17:46 GMT -5
I would very much like to meet you and Carl some day... Richard Ditto! Over the years I met a couple of EA members in person. Neither though are currently active Carl
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Post by childofiam on Jun 29, 2017 11:56:23 GMT -5
I have come to the conclusion that a drip system will not work for me because of the price of water in our town. Our sewer bill is based on double our water bill so with a water, sewer bill averaging $150.00 a month it is not cost efficient as I was using about 8000 gallons of water a month to keep parameters where they needed to be. I use a lot less water by pulling out 30% of a tanks water and replacing it at one time. I do a 50/50 mix of tap, RO water and get a GH of 120. All of my tanks use this 50/50 mix including my spawning tanks. I do keep Wonder Shells in the grow out and planted tanks. I have Sterbia Cory cats spawning in a 20 long. I have had them for over a year and now the are spawning with success. The Discus have spawned many time without success so I have pulled them out of the 20 gallon High tanks and am now using a 75 gallon tank as a spawning tank. I noticed they did great caring for the eggs and wigglers in the 20 gallons but if one pair became startled and began to bounce off of the interior glass it would cause everyone who had eggs or wigglers to "eat the young". I have to admit that I have chosen to spawn the "hardest to spawn" of all discus but they are the top sellers in the aquatic world. The 75 I am using is completely empty with the exception of a return spray bar that pushes the return water down the inside end panel that aids in removing the collection of waist on the bottom. The overflow is at the other end of the tank. The external refugium does a great job filtering and heating the water before it returns to the tank. I am using a Ink Bird heater controller to keep the water at 86 degrees. The Ink bird controller does a great job of keeping a stable temp in the tank with only a .2 of a degree drop in the water temp before the duel heaters come on. I also have a TMC UV Sterilizer setup for this spawning tank www.americanaquariumproducts.com/TMCUVSterilizer.html It is one of the best investments I have made for water quality. The Shop is a mess so I need to do some cleaning up before I get some new pictures... Richard
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Jun 29, 2017 12:38:59 GMT -5
Sounds like you're getting close with the Discus. Can't you remove the female and leave the male to raise the young?
Glad you checked in.
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Post by Carl on Jun 29, 2017 12:52:48 GMT -5
The Discus have spawned many time without success so I have pulled them out of the 20 gallon High tanks and am now using a 75 gallon tank as a spawning tank. I noticed they did great caring for the eggs and wigglers in the 20 gallons but if one pair became startled and began to bounce off of the interior glass it would cause everyone who had eggs or wigglers to "eat the young". Have you tried darkening the tank with a towel and subdued light during this critical period? Carl
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Post by childofiam on Jun 29, 2017 15:13:54 GMT -5
Sounds like you're getting close with the Discus. Can't you remove the female and leave the male to raise the young? Glad you checked in. I have read this being done but at some point you need to have both parents because the young fry will play havoc on just one parent. It also gives a higher possibility that when you bring the other parent back into the tank the fry would be eaten. I have given this some thought and may try it at some point. Richard
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Post by childofiam on Jun 29, 2017 15:58:07 GMT -5
The Discus have spawned many time without success so I have pulled them out of the 20 gallon High tanks and am now using a 75 gallon tank as a spawning tank. I noticed they did great caring for the eggs and wigglers in the 20 gallons but if one pair became startled and began to bounce off of the interior glass it would cause everyone who had eggs or wigglers to "eat the young". Have you tried darkening the tank with a towel and subdued light during this critical period? Carl I am actually doing this with the 75 right now. Jim and Jane have a lot more room to move about and have been dancing about with each other today as they went into this tank this morning. This kind of activity has always been followed with a spawn so I will be feeding black worms a couple times a day along with their home made food they love. I think with the larger area to swim in I will have more luck. Jim and Jane are about 18 months old and have spawned many time this year. I contribute a lot of their failed spawns as a result of my own inexperience in breeding Discus. Jim and Jane are the two most curious Discus I have. Every time I come into the Discus room they watch every thing I do and if I get close to them, I get splashed on purpose. When I approach the tank they come to the water surface and I can put my fingers in the water and they will swim across my finger tips. They will also eat from my hand. If anyone else comes into the room they, as well as the other Discus, run and hide. Richard
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Post by childofiam on Jul 1, 2017 9:04:19 GMT -5
I was watching old youtube video's by Joey the King of DIY for fish. As I was watching on of his video's on water purity he pointed out that we need to start with the source water and this caused me to remember that at some point in the summer months, our water source gets bad. I tester our untreated tap water to find out that, the water has gone bad. With Ammonia at .5 ppm, NO2 10 ppm and NO3 at 30 ppm the water is poison. I have taken a FSB filter and packed it with PREMIUM LIGNITE CARBON from AAP and FLUVAL Clearmax, cut a sponge to fit in the top to prevent the carbon and Clearmax from being ejected from the FSB. I had a small pump directly attached to the FSB to force the water through the filter. Sometime back, I think a year or so... I posted this idea with pictures. I have a barrel for tap to be aged in so I set it all up in that barrel to see how long it will take to absorb the Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites. I do use Prime to treat my water but I need to setup a system of cleaning my Tap water all the time before mixing it with the RO.
Thanks Carl for checking on the API Ammo-Chips. I went to Petsmart last night to pick some up but found a empty slot where it normally was. A employee said that it was on back order so I picked up the FLUVAL Clearmax to use temporary until I can find a cheaper way to remove the badness of our tap water. Pure Zeolite is what I am after so any Ideas of where to get some works for me.
Richard
Update: I just purchased 20 lbs of pure Zeolite chips from Ebay for 29.99 with free shipping. The FLUVAL Clearmax comes out to be 18.59 a lb., so the bulk Zeolite on Ebay is a great deal at a 1.50 per lb.
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Jul 1, 2017 13:41:44 GMT -5
I was watching old youtube video's by Joey the King of DIY for fish. As I was watching on of his video's on water purity he pointed out that we need to start with the source water and this caused me to remember that at some point in the summer months, our water source gets bad. I tester our untreated tap water to find out that, the water has gone bad. With Ammonia at .5 ppm, NO2 10 ppm and NO3 at 30 ppm the water is poison. I have taken a FSB filter and packed it with PREMIUM LIGNITE CARBON from AAP and FLUVAL Clearmax, cut a sponge to fit in the top to prevent the carbon and Clearmax from being ejected from the FSB. I had a small pump directly attached to the FSB to force the water through the filter. Sometime back, I think a year or so... I posted this idea with pictures. I have a barrel for tap to be aged in so I set it all up in that barrel to see how long it will take to absorb the Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites. I do use Prime to treat my water but I need to setup a system of cleaning my Tap water all the time before mixing it with the RO. Thanks Carl for checking on the API Ammo-Chips. I went to Petsmart last night to pick some up but found a empty slot where it normally was. A employee said that it was on back order so I picked up the FLUVAL Clearmax to use temporary until I can find a cheaper way to remove the badness of our tap water. Pure Zeolite is what I am after so any Ideas of where to get some works for me. Richard Update: I just purchased 20 lbs of pure Zeolite chips from Ebay for 29.99 with free shipping. The FLUVAL Clearmax comes out to be 18.59 a lb., so the bulk Zeolite on Ebay is a great deal at a 1.50 per lb. Wow, that's a great price. I wonder if there's differences in purity to make the difference? You got so much, so if it works it works...doesn't matter.
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Post by childofiam on Jul 3, 2017 17:12:36 GMT -5
I was watching old youtube video's by Joey the King of DIY for fish. As I was watching on of his video's on water purity he pointed out that we need to start with the source water and this caused me to remember that at some point in the summer months, our water source gets bad. I tester our untreated tap water to find out that, the water has gone bad. With Ammonia at .5 ppm, NO2 10 ppm and NO3 at 30 ppm the water is poison. I have taken a FSB filter and packed it with PREMIUM LIGNITE CARBON from AAP and FLUVAL Clearmax, cut a sponge to fit in the top to prevent the carbon and Clearmax from being ejected from the FSB. I had a small pump directly attached to the FSB to force the water through the filter. Sometime back, I think a year or so... I posted this idea with pictures. I have a barrel for tap to be aged in so I set it all up in that barrel to see how long it will take to absorb the Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites. I do use Prime to treat my water but I need to setup a system of cleaning my Tap water all the time before mixing it with the RO. Thanks Carl for checking on the API Ammo-Chips. I went to Petsmart last night to pick some up but found a empty slot where it normally was. A employee said that it was on back order so I picked up the FLUVAL Clearmax to use temporary until I can find a cheaper way to remove the badness of our tap water. Pure Zeolite is what I am after so any Ideas of where to get some works for me. Richard Update: I just purchased 20 lbs of pure Zeolite chips from Ebay for 29.99 with free shipping. The FLUVAL Clearmax comes out to be 18.59 a lb., so the bulk Zeolite on Ebay is a great deal at a 1.50 per lb. Wow, that's a great price. I wonder if there's differences in purity to make the difference? You got so much, so if it works it works...doesn't matter. It was listed for ammonia removal in aquariums and ponds. I will let you know how it works in a drip through system which is the best way to use it. On a side note: a buddy of mine is giving me a pet store aquarium rack that has 3, 55 gallon tanks one above the other. The top 55 is divided into 3 tank compartments and the whole rack is plumed for the water to flow down from the top tank to the bottom tank. I just need a filtering system to run it and I have that covered. He said the tanks are made with 1/2 inch glass all the way around. I will be picking this system up in a couple of weeks as I need to drive to the other side of our state to get them. I also purchased a pair of Super Veil Angel fish to bread. My Sterbia Cory cats are spawning up a storm to. Two batches have hatch but with all of the drift wood I have not seen them off of the yoke sack yet. Still to early. Richard
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Post by childofiam on Jul 4, 2017 9:39:05 GMT -5
Tap water tested today shows that our water has increased to being very bad. NH2/NH3 .5ppp, NO2 20ppm, NO3 30ppm. I am still working on a DIY drip system but waiting for the Zeolite to get here. I have pond filter that I can place the Zeolite in and then disperse the water across a screen to drip through the Zeolite. The Zeolite I picked up at a useless LPS is working in my connected Duel 75 gallon system that is run by a single filtering system. This morning test; NH2/NH3 0, NO2 .002, NO3 7.5, pH 7.1, ORP 135, RH 25.69, TDS 159, GH 100ppm, KH 80ppm I did a 25% H2O on July 2 and the Nitrate level was 20 ppm after the H2O change so the Zeolite is working. I also watch my TDS levels as they do rise when the water quality goes down. My TDS's have risen in the last 24 hours from 158 ppm to 159 ppm. I guess for now I have to go bak to using 100 % RO and add my KH buffers and Replenish to maintain H2O.
Richard
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Post by Carl on Jul 4, 2017 19:55:06 GMT -5
Your KH, GH, & rH number are spot on as per the morning test
Carl
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Post by childofiam on Jul 7, 2017 10:47:21 GMT -5
After 3 days my NO3's have started to rise. This mornings readings: NH3/NH4 0, NO2 .002, NO3 10, pH 6.94, ORP 155, RH 26.05, TDS 160, KH 97, GH 80 I am seeing a change in my H2O because of the change over to 100% RO. NO2/NO3 readings in the tap water are 30ppm now with a NH3/NH4 of 20ppm A 3 day water change of 30 gallons is a far cry better than 30 gallon a day H2O change. I currently have 5 tanks set up and 3 more 55's to set up along with a 37 gallon and 2 20 gallons for the spawns. The Super Veil's are still in the skittish state as everything around them has changed. Richard
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Post by childofiam on Jul 9, 2017 17:49:50 GMT -5
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Post by Carl on Jul 10, 2017 9:03:13 GMT -5
Carl
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Post by childofiam on Jul 20, 2017 14:13:29 GMT -5
I have a new toy... a flow meter to measure how much flow I have from my filter into my tank. The meter is very accurate at 3.3 gallons per minute. I know now that I am turning my water over at 1.523 times per hour. No more guessing. Devon, you suggested me placing a chamber with NPX to better control NO2/NO3 and I am amazed at how well it is working. It has now been 5 days and this mornings readings NO2 = 0, NO3 5ppm. I now have to keep an eye on KH as it burs off much faster now and I had to add Alkaline buffer yesterday because I was down to KH 20ppm. KH, NO2 and NO3 are now measured every day. I used an old FSB with a sponge cut to go at the top so I wouldn't spit out the beads. Richard
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Jul 20, 2017 16:17:52 GMT -5
I have a new toy... a flow meter to measure how much flow I have from my filter into my tank. View AttachmentView AttachmentThe meter is very accurate at 3.3 gallons per minute. I know now that I am turning my water over at 1.523 times per hour. No more guessing. Devon, you suggested me placing a chamber with NPX to better control NO2/NO3 and I am amazed at how well it is working. It has now been 5 days and this mornings readings NO2 = 0, NO3 5ppm. I now have to keep an eye on KH as it burs off much faster now and I had to add Alkaline buffer yesterday because I was down to KH 20ppm. KH, NO2 and NO3 are now measured every day. View AttachmentI used an old FSB with a sponge cut to go at the top so I wouldn't spit out the beads. Richard Neat toy... Good to know about KH. So you should be able to not do as much water changes and just dose alk? That's a good amount of effort saved.
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Post by childofiam on Aug 3, 2017 7:42:24 GMT -5
I have been sick over the last two weeks and when you have 13 tanks to care for as well as over a hundred Supper veil Angel fry to feed every four hours, things can get out of hand really fast. Everybody is happy this morning as they all received new water in their closed environments.
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Post by childofiam on Aug 5, 2017 7:51:16 GMT -5
Our town water company came over to help me locate the source of my water problems. I had called them with concerns over NO3 exceeding 30 ppm at times. Come to find out... my Porcelain Iron filter that regenerates every 7 days was the problem. After regenerating it several times, my NO3 came down to 5 ppm With this information I have gone back to mixing my RO with tap....
Richard
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Post by Carl on Aug 7, 2017 9:36:50 GMT -5
Our town water company came over to help me locate the source of my water problems. I had called them with concerns over NO3 exceeding 30 ppm at times. Come to find out... my Porcelain Iron filter that regenerates every 7 days was the problem. After regenerating it several times, my NO3 came down to 5 ppm With this information I have gone back to mixing my RO with tap.... Richard This is interesting Carl
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