Nitrates and water changes

[AbbeysDad]

In my setup, I trickle water through the filter - a stream about 1/4 the size of a pencil or about 1/2 to 1 gallon per hour. This ensures that there is enough residence time for the nitrate to be extracted by the resin.
You may be able to go faster, you'll just have to find your way. However, slower is always better.

 

[seangee]

No way my taps could maintain a temperature for an hour. What about collecting the first bucket for a kettle and adjusting as you go? Personally I'm quite relaxed about 2-3 deg C changes, the Corys especially love it - so if i'm changing <25% I don't bother. I don't use the hot tap for the fish (or drinking) as I have no idea what's in the tank

I'm assuming (but will check) that if I bring the jerry cans into the house the day before they'll be close to room temp so I can just put them straight in. Obviously not a problem in summer but we still have a few months to go...

 

[Wills]

We dont have a tank with out boiler luckily enough otherwise I would be totally with you. Given its going to take the best part of an hour to fill up all 4 I might just get some little heaters for the buckets. Running our boiler wont be too bad, we live in a very old house and the heating is usually on full time on weekends which is when I would sort the tank out.

Following what @Byron was saying in this thread or an other about the effects of Nitrate on humans (especially pregnant women) we are considering getting a permanent filter for our kitchen as that is pretty shocking really so that will be good for filling up a kettle in the future as well. If I cant work out where to store something I want to get a giant bucket or bin that I can just fill up rather than my smaller 4 buckets.

When I get the filter Im going to run some tests to work out what works best and at what rate I need to do it. I tried earlier to get my water running to a pencil width but it starts off wider at the top so wasnt sure what sort of speed I was looking at. I figured if I get a 5 liter container and mark on liters and then measure the time it takes I should be abel to work out where to put the tap when using the filter for the tank.

Wills

 

[AbbeysDad]

I'm planning to just connect the filter to my kitchen tap, do you think the Pozanni filter will just adjust the pressure from the tap? Or will it just go through as fast as I let it? I am creating a system to run 4 pipes off the end of the filter into 4 large buckets - how long would you anticipate 160 liters would take to run through? At the moment on a bit of a relay system I probably do 4-5 buckets filled in 20 mins.

I'm not sure you understand how the filter works. As the water passes slowly over and through the resin, the resin absorbs the nitrate from the water. There has to be sufficient residence time in order for this to happenIf the water passes too quickly, the nitrate(s) will remain in the water. You will need a slow flow rate (nearly a trickle) through the filter in order for it to effectively extract the nitrate(s) so there's no way you can have 4 outputs off the end of the filter.

As for temperature, the filter will hook up to a cold water supply.
For the water change, I use a sterlite bin (actually one is nested inside another for extra strength). I set this up along side the aquarium the night before and use a spare heater to get the water to 75-78F. I use an Eco 396 pump to drain the tank through a hose to the sink (or outside) and pump the water from the bin back into the tank.
On the other hand, one could presume only a 50% water change. With pre-filtered water at room temperature of about 70F, I think you could safely add room temperature water which would lower your tank water temperature slightly, but likely not be an issue for the stock - may even be stimulating like a cool rain in nature.

 

[Wills]

I think I do.... Pozanni says 3-10 liters per minute so thats the pace I want to get out of the tap right?

With the four buckets I was planning to put a 4 way hose pipe splitter, the type used for garden irrigation systems and then connect four hoses into the four buckets - so after the filter it will come through 1 pipe, then split into 4. It will just mean I can leave the water filtering rather than staying with it. Unfortunately I cant store water next to the tank due to where the tank is in relation to the tap. Reading through the reviews I think my plan is inline with what other people are doing with success already?

Wills

 

[AbbeysDad]

I think I do.... Pozanni says 3-10 liters per minute so thats the pace I want to get out of the tap right?

Based on my experience with these resins, I think that flow rate might be fast...perhaps not for a glass or a kettle, but for sustained throughput. (remember that the filter will contain nearly a gallon of water, so when you begin a new session, the initial output is water that has been in the filter for some time). I just don't think there's gonna be enough residence time for faster, continuous flow rates. So test your results and you will find an appropriate through-put that delivers consistent nitrate free water.
good luck.

 

[Wills]

Ok - I was actually refered to this on a facebook group by someone that uses the tap version so I will ask them their process. I also spoke to Pozzani on the phone and their advice seemed to be that it just runs through? My assumption is that if you say put the tap on full flow the filter will restrict how much water actually goes through, or if its too much, spurt out the tap side.

Thanks Wills

 

[seangee]

Won't finalise my procedure till I've got all the bits and see how it works out but here's my thinking:

1. Filter the night before (maybe over 2 nights) so I can trickle it through, at 50ppm I think I need to give it every chance
2. Continue using a bucket and siphon to remove water
3. I found a cheap anti-glug cap on Amazon which will apparently release the water at a steady 5l /min so use a wooden frame and upend one jerry can at a time over the tank
   1. I'm not getting any younger so that may be replaced by a mini pump (in which case the bucket can be replaced by a hose to the window)
   2. My typical change is 40 - 80l so I don't actually have to fill the jerry cans (4 on order)
4. Keep using Seachem Prime and put it into the jerry cans just before topping up the tank.

Time will tell.
Just realised the tank backs onto the garage wall where I'm planning to store the jerry cans and where the 12v trickle charger for my bike lives. A mini pump and hole in the wall may well feature in my near future

 

[Wills]

Still in the midst of working it out but in the comments section of the reviews - a few people state that at 2.5 liters a minute it goes from 40ppm to 0 so at that rate my 160 liters per water change Im looking at just over an hour - so long as I can reliably get the water to filter in that time.

Or am I totally missing the point?

 

[seangee]

Nope - that's exactly what I would expect.

 

[Wills]

Cool I just spent 20 mins with my tap and a measuring jug - it is very easy to get it set to 3 ltr per min but 2.5 is a bit tricky as its a lever tap and it sticks at certain points. I might try 3 ltr per min and test the water as thats one of the sticking points lol. However - if at the start of filling up my buckets I can test it with a measuring jug and time it - you can tell early on what rate you are at, eg 1200ml vs 1500ml in 30 secs is easy to tell.

Ive found a big 160 ltr bin I can get for £65 but I may need to wait a while as I have spent quite a lot on the tank and fish the past few weeks and the wife is starting to notice.... haha!

 

[seangee]

Well its arrived. No jerry cans yet so I've just done a 25% change and will do that daily until they are here.Happy to confirm that at a touch over 2l /min it does indeed drop the tap water nitrates from 50ppm to 0, without changing anything else.

Seems nicely made, fairly compact and never leaked a drop. I'm tempted to buy another with a carbon block cartridge and make a little bracket for the study wall and use the hosepipe to fill

 

[seangee]

Update: Now down to around 3ppm in the tank. This is not enough to change the colour on the tetra strips so I have a quick and easy way to monitor what is coming out of the filter. Should drop to 0 after a few more changes as I have enough floating plants to keep it constant between changes. Too early to tell what affect it has on the plants but they are out of sight in the hood and only there for balance so I am not overly fussed.

FWIW that little anti-glug jerry can pourer is brilliant (dirt cheap on Amazon). My little frame is really just 2 pieces of wood. Balance the jerry can on top, open the tap fully and it takes about 5 minutes to empty 25l into the tank, which is not fast enough to disturb the sand. From start to finish it took just over half an hour to do a 60l water change, including cleaning the substrate and filtering the water for the next change