wacky idea! read this and tell me how stupid i am lol

[cjsrch]

everything ends up in the ocean right. well duh

i do 1 percnt waterchanges a day so i dont have much build up in tank of bad chemicals.

but we all seen guys who have no skimmer and dont take care of the tank. they are green

i was thinking about putting a skimmer in and feeding the skimmate directly to the phyto plankton . as the phyto tank overflows it will flow over into the tank and into a zoo plankton tank. after that go into the refu.

any comments on this crazy idea. i mean comeon. teh skimmate is high in the stuff phyto love


or what about not using a skimmer and just running tankwater VERY SLOWLY throu a phyto tank. ( high light and co2)


skimmate will be very wet . since it is addedback to the tank i kinda want it to be salty and have tank water in it

 

[Anonymous]

I think if you're going to do this idea (not that I endorse it) having a skimmer would help. It'll increase aerationof the water, which you will definitely need. Good luck.

 

[cjsrch]

ha know any reasons why you dont support it? remember i do about 1 percent a day waterchange .

 

[Len]

1% water change has virtually no impact on nutrient export.

 

[Anonymous]

Actually if you run the numbers a 1% per day or 10%per 10 days, 20% per 20 days etc etc, allows exactly the same buildup just before water changes. That assumes just the water change is in operation and the same a constant daily buildup. The values to drop lower after the water change but there is a correspondingly longer time between water changes which means the values just before the water change are the same.

I have never tried using skimmate for phyto but it seems to make sense. But then I just use plant life and no skimmer.

Not all tanks with no skimmer are green. The key is not whether or not a skimmer is taking care of the tank or water changes or whatever. Just the method of maintaining the tank.

 

[Anonymous]

1% of water change on what size tank? (im thinking Len is right no matter the size)

 

[Anonymous]

1% of water change on what size tank? (im thinking Len is right no matter the size)

1% is regardless of the size. that is the reason we use % not gallons.

what happens by following the formula above smaller water changes have smaller changes between the water changes. But the just before water change values converge to the same value.

For instance with a 1ppm per day build up a 1% water change will converge upon 1/.001+replacement water or 100ppm + replacement water just before the water change. Then drop down to 99ppm+replacement after that water change. And back up to 100ppm+replacement then next day.

10 day 10% change would build up to 10/.01 +replacement water or 100ppm+replacement water. Then drop down to 90ppm+replacement water after the water change. To add 10ppm before the next water change.


so: with a 1 ppm daily build up and water change is 1% times the number of days since the last change:

%change__before water change___after water change

_1_________100+water_____________99+water
_5_________100+water_____________95+water
10_________100+water_____________90+water
20_________100+water_____________80+water
50_________100+water_____________50+water

Just the way the math works out.

 

[Anonymous]

A daily 1% water change is much less efficient that, say a 50% change every 50 days because with each small change some of the previous water you changed is also changed again.

People have tried running tank water slowly through phyto tanks, but apparently phyto predators decimate the populations. UV has been used to treat the water before the phyto to fix this problem, and I guess it works. Look for "phytoplankton reactor" maybe in advanced aquarist...

 

[Anonymous]

People have tried running tank water slowly through phyto tanks, but apparently phyto predators decimate the populations. UV has been used to treat the water before the phyto to fix this problem, and I guess it works. Look for "phytoplankton reactor" maybe in advanced aquarist...

That's why the water flow "order" is important. If you are serious, read
Anthony Calfo's book Coral Propagation as it has a great description of the order for such a setup. Of course his forum on RC has all that info as well.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I can't find where I read it so maybe it was somewhere offline. I believe they experimented with both hydrogen peroxide and UV to treat the water before the reactor. Was that Calfo? I seem to recall it was in a Marine Fish and Reef annual, maybe...

I did find this:
http://www.korallenriff.de/reaktoren.html

mein Kolben ist heiß!

 

[Anonymous]

A daily 1% water change is much less efficient that, say a 50% change every 50 days because with each small change some of the previous water you changed is also changed again.

Depends on what the water change is used for. If I fed the tank, waited 15 minutes, then changed 1% of the water while siphoning out the uneaten food. Compare this to leaving the uneaten food on the bottom of the tank for 50 days then siphoning it out. It would be better for the 1% daily.

If I had high nitrates and wanted to reduce them, then a single large water change would be better. To figure out the frequency and amount you need to figure out why you are doing them.

 

[Anonymous]

Syphoning out uneaten food isn't what one generally means when they say water change.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I can't find where I read it so maybe it was somewhere offline. I believe they experimented with both hydrogen peroxide and UV to treat the water before the reactor. Was that Calfo? I seem to recall it was in a Marine Fish and Reef annual, maybe...

I did find this:
http://www.korallenriff.de/reaktoren.html

mein Kolben ist heiß!

That experiment I don't remember, but Calfo's book as I recall shows a model "feeding station", where phyto runs to rotifers to BBS to adult BBS so that preditors are always "downstream" of the prey/food item. He also mentions a plankton "reactor" setup where the phyto water goes through a UV sterilizer prior to the display or culture tank to cut down on the algae factor.

 

[cjsrch]

just to clear up i did 1 percent aday and when every i felt like it 50 percent ( 25 percent each day for 2 days) but this is hardly worth mentioning because of the fact that it was soooo occasional


1 percent aday can also replace trace elements. or atleast cut down the ammount your need to add

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/t_ ... ll_wc.html

 

[Anonymous]

I'm just curious, how are you doing the water changes? Is a dosing pump feeding newly mixed saltwater, and old water overflows into a drain? Or are you actually removing 1% of your water in a jug every day? I would think that would get very tiresome after a while.

 

[GSchiemer]

everything ends up in the ocean right. well duh

i do 1 percnt waterchanges a day so i dont have much build up in tank of bad chemicals.

but we all seen guys who have no skimmer and dont take care of the tank. they are green

i was thinking about putting a skimmer in and feeding the skimmate directly to the phyto plankton . as the phyto tank overflows it will flow over into the tank and into a zoo plankton tank. after that go into the refu.

any comments on this crazy idea. i mean comeon. teh skimmate is high in the stuff phyto love...

A 1% daily water change is not an efficient way to either replenish elements or reduce the build-up of harmful substances. Of course a lot depends upon what you're trying to accomplish, but I'm in the camp that recommends less frequent but much larger water exchanges.

Skimmate is NOT "high in the stuff phyto love;" therfore you're idea is not a good one. Phytoplankton generally require inorganic nutrients, such as ammonia, phosphate, iron, etc. Skimmate, OTOH, is high in organic nutrients, including phytoplankton, and is NOT a good substitute.

Greg

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a lot of work for little reward.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a lot of work for little reward.

As is all water changes.

 

[Anonymous]

Don't start that line of crap.