Review: Flow through tank.

[Ben]

I have moved 1/2 the baby discus into this flow through tank and it has been 24 hours since they have been in there.

It is working very well but there is a build up of proteins/foam near the inlet.

I will take regular pictures of both tanks to see if there are any growth improvements compared to the ones getting twice daily %80 water changes.

You will notice that the water in the flow through tank is greener...i feed a lot of organic spirulina in their diet and it seems the sponge filter absorbs the cloudiness more than simply being flushed out, in saying that i noticed it took approximately 2 hours for the tank to become clear again. As apposed to 30 minutes with the tank equipped with sponge filters

Ben

[rtraher]

Hi Ben, it looks great. You may have a better result if you inlude sponge filters in the flow through setup. The sponge’s filters will still nitrify ammonia and nitrite and then the flow through water will eliminate the nitrate. Otherwise you may need to really increase the flow to eliminate ammonia in the tank... You'll be able to feed those guys every 10 minutes!! Cheers, Russel

[Ben]

Thanks Russel for the idea, i will add a sponge filter to the tank. there is already an airstone so adding a sponge will be easy.

cheers
Ben

[chrissyoscar]

Hi Ben

Looking good mate.
If you want to eliminate the foam build up just lower the hose into the water of have it just above it like 5mm to 1cm above water level. That should help.

[piranha-discus]

hi ben i have also thought of if u put soapy water in a bowel and blow air in it it cause bubbles, mabe same is what happing to you with the spirulina and the current water flow going in from the height of the inlet from the water. the higher the inlet the more downflow the water will go into the tank adding air cause bubbles and the spirulina would cause the foam. i say put the inlet 2 cm in the water will solve the problem and u shouldnot have a problem cos the water cannot flow back in the drum due to the drum being above the tank see what happens... ben

[Ben]

Thanks oscar and ben for the feedback.
i added a sponge filter last nite and this has seemed to help clean the tank.

I will put the inlet equal with the water line, this should prevent any foam.

will update next week

cheers
ben

[Ben]

since adding a sponge filter and lowering the inlet tube there is hardly any foam.

Below are a couple of pictures taken today.
The discus in the flow through tank has a slightly slower raspatory rate than those in a standard tank.

[Ben]

pictures taken at the same as the top 2.
(mind the tank they are to recieve there 2nd water change very soon!!!)

[Benny]

If u were gettin that foamy cr@p, could you then add a skimmer to get rid of it??

I mean i didnt think that FW tanks had the surface tension to get a skimmer working properly, but if u are gettin foam, then maybe u can actually remove the protein ??? That would then make even HAPPIER fishies! as is, theyre spoiled rotten! lol

[piranha-discus]

benny i dont think a protin skimmer would work, as the skimmer it gets the water that comes from the tank or powered filter etc. bens water is clean fresh from a RO filter and then goes into the tank, clean fresh water wont make foam in the water. as feed the fish spirulina it act like soap cause the foam. the way to get rid if that is the inlet very close or possible little in the tank water. the sponge filter will clean the dirt, left over spirulina in the water to make the tank clean . as what ben is doing now he finds no problems but better for the fish....... ben

[rtraher]

Hi Ben, how is the aerated overflow working? Does it tend to draw all the sediment to it and then out the overflow? That is a pretty good concept if it works well. Cheers, Russel

[Benny]

that didnt make any sense piranha :S

[Ben]

Russel, i am extremely happy with the flow through tank workings!

The fine particle get flushed out and the larger heavier particle/debris stay between the 2 pipes.
Flushing it out it very easy, just by lifting the smaller pipe the debris goes straight down the wastage pipe.
By adding the sponge filter it has kept the tank a bit cleaner and the water looked almost polished!

Piranha-discus, i get what you mean mate, the beef heart mix i make is very high in proteins, when mixed with water in the tank this produces the foam where there is incoming water.

Ben

[Dave76]

Hi Ben

Any chance of some close ups of your outflow setup?

Cheers

Dave

[Ben]

here are the pictures Dave.

cheers
Ben

[Dave76]

Thanks Ben

Have you got the internal thin pipe so you can just remove it easily have you - I'm a bit confused where you mention

'Flushing it out it very easy, just by lifting the smaller pipe the debris goes straight down the wastage pipe. '

I use a similar setup on some of my rack setups, where the 'waste' water goes through a serives of filters, and was curious who you remove the larger waste.

Cheers

Dave

[Ben]

After 2 weeks of operation i changed the sediment cartridge and the carbon cartridge.

Ben

[Mulisha]

It's a good thing you have the sediment cartridge on that tank it seems to have been doing it's job.

Do the baby discus seem alot more happy now u use that sediment cartridge on the tank and how old and what size are those juvies ben?

Thanks and awersome work hows ur vegie garden going ? :D

[Ben]

Thanks Rick.

They seem happy but noticed that the blue diamonds in the flow through tank have a slightly lower respiratory movements than those in the normal tank.

They are around 5-6 cm
And 9 weeks 2 days old.

The vegies.....um.....growing very well!

Cheers
Ben

[Ben]

After a couple of weeks running, the flow through tank is working very well!
I highy recommend this system to those with young discus.

I took a picture tonite of the Blue diamonds in the flow through tank, sorry about the dirty glass!


Ben

[Mulisha]

They look awersome BEN very outstanding.

When the water goes into your is RO water.. won't all the minerals be stripped from the water leaving you rain water :?:

If so what would/do you add to the water to put them back so the fishys stay happy?

I gota first gota get everything spot on with water quality first :lol: :lol:

PS: Have you found your discus stresed at all when the tank starts to empty and fill back up with the current comming from that fill up pipe?

Keep Us Posted :P

[Ben]

Hi Rick,

The water that goes through a filter for this tank is a 2 stage filter and not a reverse osmosis unit.

The water is cleaned of sediment and 98% of any chemical baddies but not the minerals.

The water slowly goes into the tank so there is no stress what so ever, less than doing a standard water change.

I am very pleased with the whole workings of this system and in the near future i will set up another tank like this one.

cheers
Ben

[rtraher]

Hi Ben,

How are the fish going in the flow through set-up? Have you noticed different growth rates between the flow through and non-flow through?

Cheers,
Russel

[Ben]

Hi Russel,

At present all young fish have been sold and this tank has been shut down for the moment.
It worked wonders and i would estimate that i had a %10+ better growth rate than that of the standard tank, doing water changes twice per day.

Cheers
Ben

[cody]

Have you thought of using a de-ionising filter?