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I have a question around RO/FILTER water:

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
I'm building a fish room and i have some ideas but not sure if this is the correct route - first some background:

My tap water is around 100-120 TDS and I want a couple of SA tanks that would do better with TDS around 15-25 but i want minimal work around maintenance of the tank.
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My idea is to have something that filters the water so it has no cholorine (any suggestion for a model?) and it pumps water into a 500 gallon container.
My idea is to have something that RO the water so it has no minerals (any suggestions for a model?) and it pumps water into a 500 gallon container.
These containers then run through two pipes and there are valves to control the flow of each one near each tank (mix val -> shut off val). The water at the shut off val can then be measured occassionally to make sure things stay on track. The reason for 500 gallon containers is that these tanks are not small and the water needs to be preheated a bit so the fishes don't get shocked. The motivation to mix ro water with filtered tap water is to avoid having to add minerals to the water nor add water conditioner to remove chlorine.
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More complex is for a couple of the tanks i'm thinking of running a drip system (pump water in - it overflow in the sump to the drain - then the question is what to do with this drained water - i was thinking of running it through either resin or ro system and then through and ro system and put it back into the ro tank (is this a good thing to do or will it cause serious issue esp if there is parasite or bacteria in a tank - will the ro system filter out these negatives?).
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So i guess i'm asking a few things:
what is a good large thingy to filter the water ?
what is a good large thing to produce ro water ?
is it worth trying to reuse the waste water from the tanks (whether it is a water change or drip system) or would i be better off sending it down the drain to the city ?
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Some considerations:
We are talking about 4 tanks between 80gallons and 500 gallon; the tanks with the softest water will likely have discus, geo or similar. I'm not set on discus due to heat requirement (i prefer to not run a tank above 82 degree) and this system can also be used with apistogramma and similar (no more nijsseni dying from 100tds water).
I'm not set on a drip system though it is feasible since we are running the water pipes in the room - these tanks are not intended for breeding though fishes might breed and i would likely move any pair i seriously wanted frys to the basement where the ro/filter units are located - those tanks woudl be smaller - 20gallon to 40 gallon.
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I hope i provided enough details with what i am trying to accomplish. If not please ask.
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
I'm building a fish room .............My tap water is around 100-120 TDS and I want a couple of SA tanks that would do better with TDS around 15-25 but i want minimal work around maintenance of the tank.
Can you use rain-water? You can collect a huge volume during the wetter months of the year.
i was thinking of running it through either resin or ro system and then through and ro system and put it back into the ro tank
You need a high pressure pump if you want to do this, the RO units are only efficient when the input water is under pressure.

cheers Darrel
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
My concern with rain water is fertilizer from lawns around me as it runs onto the property. Putting out a pail to collect it would not collect the volume required.

Hi all, Can you use rain-water? You can collect a huge volume during the wetter months of the year. You need a high pressure pump if you want to do this, the RO units are only efficient when the input water is under pressure.

cheers Darrel
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
My concern with rain water is fertilizer from lawns around me as it runs onto the property. Putting out a pail to collect it would not collect the volume required.
You need to get it direct from a roof. I use water butts, I've got three water butts at the back of the house (below) and two at the front.

back_wall-jpg.47876


Water quality can still be an issue, but I use a simple <"bioassay technique to assess water quality">. For larger volume storage you can get <"reconditioned IBC etc">.

<"Tim Addis is a well known UK fish keeper and breeder"> and he collects rainwater from his roof for his fish-house, even though he lives in Central Birmingham.

cheers Darrel
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
My concern is impurity on the roof. The shingles will be tar based. Has it been an issue for you ?

Hi all, You need to get it direct from a roof. I use water butts, I've got three water butts at the back of the house (below) and two at the front.

back_wall-jpg.47876


Water quality can still be an issue, but I use a simple <"bioassay technique to assess water quality">. For larger volume storage you can get <"reconditioned IBC etc">.

<"Tim Addis is a well known UK fish keeper and breeder"> and he collects rainwater from his roof for his fish-house, even though he lives in Central Birmingham.

cheers Darrel
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
The shingles will be tar based. Has it been an issue for you ?
It might depend on how long they've been up there. If they don't leave an oily sheen on the water they are probably all right.

Our roof is concrete tiles, but they've been there 50 years and are very hard, so I don't think they have any effect on water chemistry.

Our rain-water has some carbonate buffering, but I think it is from dust, it is all limestone here.

cheers Darrel
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
New build. Sadly the roof is not stone base but tar base. I'll have to talk to some people about this feasbility. We already have to put a tank underground to manage runoff from the hill this water was going to be use for irrigation. The question is would filtering or ro purify it of things that might poison the fish. I've heard different thing and i do not have a chemist background. Naively i presume that tds is all things in the water including bacteria and fertilizer but i suspect this is an over simplification of what is being measured after all bacteria doesn't disolve. Someone suggest a 50 micron filter would filter out most things harmful in the water but again i don't know if i am asking for trouble down the road.

Hi all, It might depend on how long they've been up there. If they don't leave an oily sheen on the water they are probably all right.

Our roof is concrete tiles, but they've been there 50 years and are very hard, so I don't think they have any effect on water chemistry.

Our rain-water has some carbonate buffering, but I think it is from dust, it is all limestone here.

cheers Darrel
 

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