flow through tank

[Ben]

At the moment i am setting up a flow through tank. here is the link where i got idea's from everyone:

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4711

As i slowly assemble the system i will put up progress posts.

Below is a picture of stage one.
Acquiring the goods!

Cheers
Ben

[Ben]

So far this is what i have bought from PSI water filter service in Tasmania.

Brass 3/4'' tap adapter
15 metres 3/8'' tube
Twin under sink filter core
1 metre 1/4'' violet tube
Float valve
Empty cartridge
1kg loose coconut GAC carbon
2x polyspun 1 micron sediment cartridge

i have a 200 litre water storage drum and will pick up the tank in a few days.

Ben

[Mulisha]

good luck hope it works i was thinking of doing the same thing :wink:

[Ben]

I have finished setting up the filtration unit and connected it to the drum.
below are some pictures.

i just need a few more coats of paint on the tank.

so far so good..........

[Ben]

couple more pictures

[rtraher]

Hi Ben,

Which cartridges did you use in the 2 filters? Is one the 1 micron sediment cartridge and the other carbon? What is the TDS of the water when it comes out?

I like a system that requires little maintenance and you sure seem to be getting there...

Cheers,
Russel

[Ben]

Hi Russel,
the sediment cartridge is 1 micron and the carbon cardtridge is loose carbon which is replaced every 20,000 litres.

I checked the TDS and it is 26 PPM.

It will be very interesting when its all set up! and should work very well!
cheers
Ben

[Ben]

almost there!!!!

just need to wait for the silicon to cure!

[Mulisha]

Starts blowing on the silcon :thumb

Good work man... 8-)

[Benny]

I will be interested to see the results, but the amount of water flowing thru that daily, seems a tad irresponsible (but im used to sydney water restrictions here)..

Also. i mean it would be less irresponsible if u can super overstock it.. i mean, how many fish can u keep in that tank, with that amount of water flowing through it..!?

If you could eliminate half ur tanks, its not so bad.. :P

[goldenpigeon]

no he wouldnt eliminate his tanks he would just fill them up with more fish.

ben with that much run off i hope u plan on purifying it because otherwise that is a terible waste. water is so precious now it is a shame to let it run down the drain.

nice work bud :D ;)

[Ben]

Very valid comments Benny and David, and I am very concerned about the environment and will do my part in becoming environmentally friendly!

At this stage i want to get it set up and running smooth for a few days, then i will use the waste water on the vegetable garden I am also setting up.

Andrew Soh's book, page 48 has an excellent idea of how the water can be recycled, something else to think about...

At the moment i have 2x 4 foot tanks the same size at this flow through tank. They have 35+ discus in each tank and get on average 2 water changes per day (sometimes 3) at %90 per water change.
I can save some water and will be able to keep the entire discus in this one flow through tank. It won’t be over stocked but stocked at a comfortable level.

But to start i will move 1 tank of the same batch discus and be able to monitor various things as they grow.

The idea with this sort of tank is that primary it will be perfect for growing discus and secondary it will save me a lot of time.

Cheers
Ben

[nicholas76]

Great idea Ben

Glad someone has taken SOH'S ideas and have put them to the test.

The idea of running a system that basically completes a 400% water change a day is mind boggling. In theory you really shouldnt have a disease problem at all, infact your discus should be in mint shape like non others seen. Truly look forward to the results.

I see some have given Ben a flaking over the water usage issue.

Well... at the end of the day Ben as a rate payer can do what he likes with water as he is paying for it.

What enviromental impact does Bens water usage have anyway... I mean serously car pollution, land fill, toxic waste? I can understand but jeeez this is nothing in comparison.

If we are going all environmental about this well I'd gladly argue the other stance.

We dont have a water shortage problem , we have governments that are short of willingness to do what it takes to build dams for our ever increasing population.


Not getting heavy folks but just my ten cents.

[Benny]

As I Said, sydney is in a much tighter position, as far as water is concerned then melbourne... If he is changing 400% water daily, cant he then reuse it on other tanks? i mean how dirty could it possibly be?

i mean, i am curious, what the readings of nitrates and phosphates would be, on a tank full of "discposed" water, it could well be good enuf to pass thru a community tank, then out the drain or something...?

Will be interested to see some tests on the disposed of water..!!

[nicholas76]

Benny my post wasnt a direct slam to you just so you know.

just out of curiousty what are the dam levels in Sydney??????

Victorian dams all except one ( the largets one) are full. Yet we still get this propaganda crap about being short of water.

i wonder if the same can be said about Sydney

[Ben]

Benny, if i am to use the waste water for fish again, it will need to go through a series of filters and an UV sterilizer. This is very possible to do and is described in Andrew Soh's Book.

But at this stage i will monitor results on this flow through tank and within a week or so i will be able to have it running out on a vegetable garden...

Hydroponic vegetable would be ideal...

But one stage at a time mate.

Cheers
Ben

[chrissyoscar]

Hi Ben

Keep me posted on the results. I'ld love to come over when it's up and running and have a look at the whole setup.
As for water waste I wouldn't worry to much about it. When you have a standard 4ft tank with anywhere from 50 to 200 fry in it that can't be helped.
Like you said you have 2 standard 4ft grow out tanks running and changing water twice daily so the water waste will still be the same.
Keep up the good work and remember it's better to have healthy happy fish than misserable sick fish so keep the water flowing.

[Ben]

this is very exciting!

so far so good!
it holds water!

I just had to order some extra bits and pieces so will have running by thursday.

Ben

[Ben]

ok, almost done! all it needs is fish which i will do soon!

the temp is holding really well. and everything seems to be running smoothly.

cheers
Ben

[goldenpigeon]

I see some have given Ben a flaking over the water usage issue.

Well... at the end of the day Ben as a rate payer can do what he likes with water as he is paying for it.

What enviromental impact does Bens water usage have anyway... I mean serously car pollution, land fill, toxic waste? I can understand but jeeez this is nothing in comparison.

If we are going all environmental about this well I'd gladly argue the other stance.

We dont have a water shortage problem , we have governments that are short of willingness to do what it takes to build dams for our ever increasing population.


Not getting heavy folks but just my ten cents

Nick,
that is all well and good mate. and yes water isnt one of the most critical issues in the world at the present time. sure car pollution and the destruction of the amazon are shocking as Hell but we all need to do our bit.

the enviroment really couldnt give a shit about how much ben is paying for water. just because he is paying for it doesnt mean he can just go and waste it however he likes as long as he pays for it. melbourne may not have a water problem atm but if everyone is careless and slack you guys will have a problem..... and once water restrictions are put in place guess who will be moaning and giving the government the angry eye about the restrictions? u guys will. its simple really. it is EVERYONES responsibility to care for the enviroment and not be wasteful. if we let ourselves give in to being wasteful the water problem will be just as bad as many more of the more shocking problems that we face in our lives.

humans are led by example. if ben can go waste water like theres no tomorow then it has the impression on everyone thats its fine to do it. THEN WE HAVE A BIG PROBLEM!!!!

mate im not trying to have a shot at u but am just raising the subject. i know what you mean but your post sounded like it was okay to just waste a few litres here and there. anyway its all good now :)

ben great going mate keep up the good work :D

[nicholas76]

gee golden pigeon

I got all warm and fuzzy with that environmental speel.


nice one.

[Benny]

Benny my post wasnt a direct slam to you just so you know.

just out of curiousty what are the dam levels in Sydney??????

Victorian dams all except one ( the largets one) are full. Yet we still get this propaganda crap about being short of water.

i wonder if the same can be said about Sydney

No propaganda...

Dam levels are well below 50% at warragamba dam, Sydney's main supplier of water...

Last i remember it was somewhere in the 30% range, cant be sure tho

[nicholas76]

in that case benny

all sydney hobbyists stop keeping fish :!: :!: :!:

or better still all purchase RO units and recycle your tank water,, that would be the envrio thing to do.

[chrissyoscar]

Who of us has an outdoor pool. Who waters there lawn, who washes there car every second day. How many of us have 15min showers. Truth is we all waste water one way or another so lets back of on Ben. he breeds discus and that requires lots of water so he has two choices he keeps doing the water changes or he stops breeding.
His fish are healthy and thats because of the water changes. Most of us would love doing more water changes but are to lazy so I'm with you Ben and Nick.

[Benny]

Can u recycle tank water if u run it thru a RO unit?

I will seirously consider it if thats the case....

I Water my lawn's with the tank water i drain...

I was my car once every 3 months, and take 5 min showers!

We have a pool, it doesnt get filler we wait for rain, or i drain some tank water into it..... Its tough in sydney, and theyre bumping the water prices up..

Nick ease up on the personal insults here, i only asked if the water was clean enough to be recycled some how..?

[nicholas76]

what personal insult??

i havent posted one ?

if you have an issue with me take it into private messages

[Ben]

Time for a group hug peoples!
:)
I appreciate every ones constructive comments. :D

What i am trying to achieve is healthy Australian bred discus. by doing this small time breeders like myself can sell to the public knowing that the fish are local bred, used to the Australian water conditions and don’t have some of the nasty diseases that come with imported stock. :D

Whilst I am all for protecting the environment there will be some water wasted by this tank system I have set up, in saying that I am keeping the wastage to a minimum and I do my little bit in other areas of water conservation, by rarely washing my car and when I do I do it at a drive through car wash that uses recycled water. I don’t water my garden because it is heavily mulched and this holds in the water until it rains again. And “if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down!
:thumb

[nicholas76]

And “if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down!

remind me of your policy the next time i come over

[kalebjarrod]

before any one gets to up in the air

the ration go's something like this

household use 8% of water (this includes pool filling, gardens etc etc)

comercial 20% this is to make stuff

aggricultural 70% most of it wasted by useless out dated farm practise's that we have to subsidise to enable the produce to be competeitive on the australian market!

how do we like deem apples! now thats what we should be debating! :wink:

[chrissyoscar]

That's good to know Ryan.
Ok Ben you don't have to feel bad now.
Keep us updated with how it all goes and how the temperature is.

[dreamer]

We have a pool, it doesnt get filler we wait for rain, or i drain some tank water into it..... Its tough in sydney, and theyre bumping the water prices up..


yucks !!!!!!

[Ben]

After i put the babies in their pristine tank, they were hungry and were eating like little piggies an hour later!

[Ben]

The temp is maintaining it self very nicely Oscar..I will monitor during the course of the nite to see how it holds up as it cools down.

With 2x 300 watt heaters in the drum and a 400 watt heater in the tank i think it should be no worries at all.

Cheers
Ben

[chrissyoscar]

What all those heaters.
Mate have you heard about the hole in the OZONE layer. :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P
Just kidding
Good to see it's all working.
I will definitly try this down the track.
Nice work ben.

[nicholas76]

Nice one Ben

The experiment is working well.


Infact I may try this at home .. well done in being the first to take the plunge!

[Benny]

We have a pool, it doesnt get filler we wait for rain, or i drain some tank water into it..... Its tough in sydney, and theyre bumping the water prices up..


yucks !!!!!!

60,000L of chlorinated water, u think 100L of water with 10ppm nitrate makes any difference??

I mean seriously dude, this is a serious conversation here, why mock something i do? Especially given that its not like id do anything stupid to my own families swimming pool :S

[nicholas76]

its not the nitrates...more like the fish terd in the face that bothers me LOL

[Benny]

ahuh....

good on ya..! whatever isnt obliterated in the 20M hose journey down the side of the house, is fixed by a creepy crawly.... And i dont tend to fill the pool all that regularly with tank water, but its mroe responsible then chucking it down the drain, which most fishkeepers i presume actually do.

[dreamer]

sorry ... i wasnt trying to be rude ... its just that ...fish tank water and swimming pool ...

[nicholas76]

ahuh....

good on ya..! whatever isnt obliterated in the 20M hose journey down the side of the house, is fixed by a creepy crawly.... And i dont tend to fill the pool all that regularly with tank water, but its mroe responsible then chucking it down the drain, which most fishkeepers i presume actually do.

it was a joke Benny

chill mate chill

[Merrilyn]

Thanks for the input everyone. Time to lock this thread off. I think every point has been covered.

Ben we'd love to see a photo coverage of the growth of those babies.

Thanks everyone.