Water Change System- From Storage or From Tap with Chloramine

[BoykinsNDucks]

 

I'm going back and forth on two different water change systems and how to automate them.

My tap water has chloramines. Which adds an additional layer of expense (carbon block filters) and uncertainty. I'm not sure how long the carbon block filters will last and there is no warning system for if it has been used up. What if I simply forget to change them out. Am I making a big deal over nothing?

So with that component added in. I am wondering if it would be easier and cheaper to automate the filling of a water storage tank and adding an auto doser to drop in prime/safe. And then use a pump to deliver water to the aquariums. Another pro to this setup is I could probably do without a hot water heater out...as the water could come up to temp in the storage container since I will heat the room.

 

I'll be dealing with about 20 aquariums totaling 1,000 gallons. 

 

Thoughts?

And as a monkey wrench. The property has an old well. I could investigate getting the well running, but it would cost a pretty penny. I'd estimate 2-3,000 by the time I bought equipment and had water lines trenched up to my shop (400-500' or so).

[Guppysnail]

I would opt for storage. Safer and peace of mind would be my reason. 

[Fish Folk]

On 7/9/2021 at 10:15 AM, BoykinsNDucks said:

 

I'm going back and forth on two different water change systems and how to automate them.

My tap water has chloramines. Which adds an additional layer of expense (carbon block filters) and uncertainty. I'm not sure how long the carbon block filters will last and there is no warning system for if it has been used up. What if I simply forget to change them out. Am I making a big deal over nothing?

So with that component added in. I am wondering if it would be easier and cheaper to automate the filling of a water storage tank and adding an auto doser to drop in prime/safe. And then use a pump to deliver water to the aquariums. Another pro to this setup is I could probably do without a hot water heater out...as the water could come up to temp in the storage container since I will heat the room.

 

I'll be dealing with about 20 aquariums totaling 1,000 gallons. 

 

Thoughts?

And as a monkey wrench. The property has an old well. I could investigate getting the well running, but it would cost a pretty penny. I'd estimate 2-3,000 by the time I bought equipment and had water lines trenched up to my shop (400-500' or so).

I’m a total novice with water change systems, so just piping up here. What if you filled a barrel or water buffalo from the tap, treated with some dechlorinator, then pumped from there through your system?

[BoykinsNDucks]

On 7/9/2021 at 11:14 AM, Fish Folk said:

I’m a total novice with water change systems, so just piping up here. What if you filled a barrel or water buffalo from the tap, treated with some dechlorinator, then pumped from there through your system?

Water buffalo...that cracked me up.

Thats exactly the alternative to having the water change come straight from tap (like how Cory's is). But I need to figure out how to automate filling the water storage, dosing prime, preventing it from running dry, and prevent it from just topping itself up instead of emptying/filling completely. 

[Fish Folk]

[BoykinsNDucks]

Oooh, I thought you were saying water butt and auto correct struck. That is exactly what I would use. I have always called them IBC Totes.

[BriannesFishFam]

I have well water, very soft, neutral/ slightly acidic ph, no ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, chlorine, or chloramines. So personally I pump into a bucket and pour into the tank, buffer the water if needed (guppies, plecos, shrimp, mystery snails) But I heard prime is the best conditioner if you pump straight into your tank or into bucket then into the tank, either way is fairly easy. I have also heard of the Water Buffalo. I have also seen this water supply container used in many fishkeeping facilities. I personally have never used it so I'm not the best person to take advice from, but if I had treated city water I would definatley go with that system. Best of luck and keep us posted please!

 

Bri

[ARMYVET]

This is exactly the problem I cam currently dealing with in designing my fish room.   I am in south Florida and we have 3ppm (or more at times) of Chloramines in our city water.  I have researched this to almost no end and it can be done...with enough carbon blocks to remove the chlorine(need multiple because of contact time needed) which leaves ammonia behind...there are two ways to remove the ammonia...one is R/O which you then need to put into a storage container to reconstitute to use in your aquarium or two is thru the used of DI resin(multiple cannisters same reason as before) which while very effective will cost you a butt load of money over the long haul.  

I am currently looking into using my well to supply the water.  It has zero chlorine, zero ammonia, zero nitrites, zero nitrates zero phosphates, has a TDS of 190 , Gh of 9, Kh of 8 and the ph is 7.8-8. Which is perfect of all of the fish I am looking to keep.  The only problem is the water comes out stained from tannins and iron.  It leaves a ton of orange all over my house from the sprinklers🙄

SO if I do not care about the color of the water my well is a great option.  Other wise its a holding tank and filter with carbon to remove the color. 

 

If somebody....ANYBODY has any better ideas...and can figure it out better than what I have....PLEASE LET ME IN ON IT IM BEGGING YOU!

[BoykinsNDucks]

@ARMYVET

 

Yes, you and I are in the same boat. I don't even know what my well water would be like..I guess I am going to check into what I am dealing with this weekend. Maybe I can trench the line myself and save money. But then I would have to get power to the well, and that would be more trenching and expense....Its just so far from my house..

 

I'm not TOO concerned about the leftover ammonia. I have dealt with chloramine before, and I never had issues as long as I kept my water changes modest. The fish did not do well with big percentages, but 30-50% was fine. But I generally keep low stocked tanks.

 

My main problem is I want the following:

1) A auto option that basically is  drip system on a timer so I can set and forget when my interest is low.

2) A manual option where I can close off a few valves and drain and fill individual tanks manually.

 

One system that I  like is using Diaphragm to move water through 1/4" tubing. Jadren aquatics on youtube does it that way and the system looks like it would be reliable. But I have to figure out out to get both a drip and fill out of it. If I drain a 40 breeder by half, a drip system would take forever to fill it.

I know there are several auto dosers now geared towards Aquascapers and Reef folks. I think those could easily work for adding prime...I need to see about mixing up a solution of Safe, that would be cheaper than prime.

[ARMYVET]

@BoykinsNDucksWhere are you located?  

 

Luckily for me my well is literally on the other side of the wall to my future fish room...to bring in the well water would be as simple as drilling a 1 inch hole thru the wall...go to a manifold...add in some electrical solenoids and I am pretty sure I could have a viable system.  I would need a controller to be able to turn on and off the well pump and then the solenoids would open and close to change sections.  Say if I want to do partial changes twice a week......controller turns on pump comes for a certain length of time for each zone (controlled by the solenoids) each tank has its own line with valve that you set to your desired flow rate (say 1 gal per min) then each zone adds 20-30% of the tanks water volume, so you change out a certain amount of water....Not really changing as what your really doing is diluting it but the same results. 

With the right controller and solenoids it all could be done via wifi from anywhere I have a connection to my phone.