Filterless tank - drip system?

T

toffee

AC Members
Oct 30, 2005
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I read an article on another forum (Click here to see that article) that it would be possible to have a good size tank without using any filter at all. Instead, a constant drip of fresh tapwater and an overflow/drain takes care of the bio filtration.

What do you guys think?

I calculated the cost of water per month is about $2 (that is 2g/hr, 24 x 7) and save a lot of time doing water change etc., The down side is no mechanical filtration. Save of power too, since no pump.
 
If you had a water source that did not have any chloramine then it may be possible. I would think you would want a planted tank and it would be a similation of nature. you would have to figure out at what rate you would want to run the water to keep your water at a acceptable balance. It is an interesting concept but not practicle with the city water and the chemicals they put in it (and we try to get out of it with our chemicals).
 
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The real trick with this approach is indeed having access to a non-chlorinated water source with a suitable 'natural' pH, suitably low levels of minerals and bacteria etc. at a true total cost which is actually as low as you think it is. Since I have a water well rather than city water, I briefly considered this option. However, I found that my well water still required carbon filtration to knock down the mineral content - which gets expensive in a hurry when you're attempting to filter a 'continuous stream' of new water versus refiltering the 'same' water. I also calculated that between the increased electricity costs and increased maintenance costs of running my well pump more often, it would be far cheaper over a period of several years to simply run an aquarium filter and pump.
 
It is possible to autofeed water into tropical tanks without issues, but current is still highly desirable. The fly in that ointment is that the setup to detoxify the tap water costs as much or more than do conventional filters and is non-trivial DIY which requires rountine testing as well. The article cited has no test ports shown, which is not the best practice at all, nor is it standard for this type of setup. In any tank setup, what you don't know can hurt you. I have done it, and it worked well, but the tanks invoved still had filtration, both bio and mechanical. The water quality was excellent however, despite high bioload fish.

With the addition of a few valves and a couple of test ports, the setup shown would be much improved and should be long-term practical.
 
You can go filterless in a well planted tank, and the only water you would need to add would be during the weekly water change, but you would still want a powerhead for current.
 
RTR said:
It is possible to autofeed water into tropical tanks without issues, but current is still highly desirable. The fly in that ointment is that the setup to detoxify the tap water costs as much or more than do conventional filters and is non-trivial DIY which requires rountine testing as well. The article cited has no test ports shown, which is not the best practice at all, nor is it standard for this type of setup. In any tank setup, what you don't know can hurt you. I have done it, and it worked well, but the tanks invoved still had filtration, both bio and mechanical. The water quality was excellent however, despite high bioload fish.

With the addition of a few valves and a couple of test ports, the setup shown would be much improved and should be long-term practical.
Click to expand...

This is what I am thinking of doing, please tell me if it is making any sense:

1. I have a 180g tank, so I am thinking of doing a 1g/hr.
2. Water will be filter first with This GE whole house filter
r13784v-1.jpg
3. Then with this GE smart water filter
r13754v-1.jpg
4. A timer and landscaping valve

Am I missing anything?
 
I already had whole-house filtration by two-high particulate fiters backe up by carbon filters (wasted on whole-house, so not used much), so for the tanks I needed only two single cartridge carbon blocks with isolation valves before and after each, with a sample port between the two filters and one after the second filter but before its post-filter isolation valve.

Test tap for chlorine/chloramine, test after first (upstream) filter for breakthrough. When breakthrough comes, toss the first filter, move the second into the first housing and put the new filter in the downstream housing. That way you always have your largest safety in the final position. I had only chlorine at the time and the units lasted more than 6 months in the first position. I have not used the unit here where I can have periodic chloramine (especially in the summer when some shallower wells are used), so have no figures on that lifespan. So long as the flow was not over 5 gals/hour I had a bit over 50% saftey margin on clearance (at about 8GPH I'd start seeing breakthrough from the flow rate).

I do not know the specifics of the filters you cite, assume that the first is a general clean-up/particulate filter (definite need there) but for the last two I used just carbon.

I ran about 4 GPH, timed. You have to set and juggle your own timing by temp control and change rates needed/desired with the ability to shift flow a bit, and timing freely.
 
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I've been looking into this and gathering the parts. Really you need just a particle and a carbon whole house filter setup. Can usually piece together the components at a hardware store for around $50.

From another forum when I asked about setting up a system for my 300G.

"At 2x volume per day (with old and new water mixing) it would actually take something like 12 days to safely say that 99% of the old water has really been replaced (according to Escobal's calculations).

Basically, once you've added 24x tank volume in water, you get a 100% water change. So in a 300, you could drip 7200 gallons a month and get a complete water change. "

I'm actually going with my current filtration and adding a drip system to add freshwater all the time at about 3 Gallons a day. I will continue to vacume the substrate every other week so I will ultimately end up with the same volume of water changes over time, but the tank will have a constant source of freshwater.

Joe
 
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