drip/overflow wc system?

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nerdyrcdriver

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Sep 1, 2011
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[video=youtube;NrJ3eAE4qQE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrJ3eAE4qQE&feature=g-u-u[/video]

The video is kind of long. But what he does is hook a plant drip irrigation system up to his pump for his well and set it to 1gph and let it drip into the tank. Then when it got high it would overflow into an overflow or sump and then into a drain. But then he claims no need for water changes ever again. That makes sense, but he still needs a way to clean up the waste right? How do people with large tanks (like monster tanks) clean the waste out?
 

garyfla

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Apr 23, 2010
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Hi
I usually hear these systems called "open" IF you have a good water source they are probably the best for both fresh and SW . If not you can add a "Purge" rather than a "drip" In this case the water comes in all at once in a large volume
You can add a "false bottom" to the setup and the incoming water is forced UNDER the gravel which suspends a lot of the debris. This is picked up by a regular filter. I used a reservoir to treat change water usually in a "tandem" setup with another aquarium as the reservoir . this allowed the water to stabilize to temp as well as allow tests ,chemical additions..
In a 150 FW I aimed at 10 gallons per day twice a day . While it didn't eliminate the need to "vacuum " it cut it WAY down lol Didn't do a thing for the glass either. I think it's a nice tweek to the "drip" system .
If you have ideal water you could make this MUCH better!!! gary
 

rufioman

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Aug 16, 2010
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I saw one of these...he called it a waterfall system. It was a 20g on top, then a 40b, and emptied into a 75g. Really interesting way to do it. He had inline heaters for temp and a fatty sump.
 

SubRosa

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Jul 3, 2009
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I installed a similar system for a local Discus breeder a few years back. Her room was set up for central filtration on most of the tanks, and the sump was right next to the drain cleanout, so I simply drilled the sump for a drain and tied it into the house drain. Water was supplied by a manifold that encircled the ceiling. The manifold had hydroponic drip emitters and was fed by water which passed through a tempering valve to achieve the proper temp and through a filter to remove chlorine. Flow was controlled by a sprinkler timer which was programmed to run to have each emitter deliver about 5 gals per day. By connecting the proper # of emitters to each tank I got a system that did a 20% daily change fully automatically.
 

nerdyrcdriver

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So it is a good way to do it if you dont mind still having to vac up the waste or find a way to suspend it in the water to be sucked up by a filter or overflowed. So combine this with RUGF (reverse under gravel filter) and you are set for very little maintenance. I dont think that rufg would be good for the tank in the video since it is rays, but a normal tank would be ok.

He said install a carbon filter in line with the system if you are using chlorinated water. What is an example of one that would actually go inline?
 

SubRosa

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They come in different sizes, but if you're familiar with what an RO unit looks like, it's basically one of the canisters that hold the mechanical cartridge and the carbon.
 
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