Big project

[HeavyChicken]

I am needing information. i'll make this brief. 3 3000G displays with a 1000G sump. changing 20% of water every month or 2 is not feasable. i will let you take this from there..... with more info form me as i learn more.

[HeavyChicken]

i know this is an ambitious first thread.. but bear with me on this. I am not being stupid, i am trying to find an alternative (better filtration, more volume,) something.

[spooda420]

so whats your question? water changes are necessary to some extent, are you looking for alternatives to spending $200 on a water change? try making your own salt.

[HeavyChicken]

i have always used Reef Crystal at 100$ for 160 gallons of treatment. which is fine but now we are talking 2000gallons of water change if this is necessary. i have never had a tank big enough to literally Mimic the ocean so i am wondering how often i will need to cycle new water.

[HeavyChicken]

also, since this has been an issue in other threads i will say this "MONEY IS NOT AN ISSUE FOR THE BUILD OR GETTING STARTED" long term expense is a little but pain in the *** 2000 gallon water changed are more my concern. at Epcot or other commercial aquariums do they change water? or is there some sort of filter system that can mimimize this occurance?

[Kurt03]

Im not sure about the water changes on that large of a system but surely you can get salt cheaper.

Reef Crystals 160 gallon mix $34.99
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113009

Last time i orderd 2 buckets and a few other small items shipping was $12 i think.

[bnlimit10]

Water changes will have to be made, however there are technologies that you can employ to minimize the frequency of said water changes.

The one thing you must keep in mind is that once you reach a certain threshold the technologies that most of us use are simply not manufuctured to handle the types of volumes that you are speaking off. I would suggest that you speak with someone running a public aquarium and get connections with people that handle professional aquariums.

Yes they do water changes, however many of these public aquariums are located near the ocean, with few exceptions, and basically what they do is they hire someone to take tanker trucks of fresh ocean water and bring it to them, thus minimizing the cost, not only of mixing water with salt mixes but also the expense of purchasing the water.

I remember when I lived in florida, I used to do this in a much smaller scale, every 6 months I would have a guy bring me 600 gallons of fresh sea water, and perform my water changes that way, I would keep some of the water in storage tanks and used it as I needed.

But again I would speak to companies that manufacure large scale equipment for public aquariums.

[ahoyhoy239]

yup here in sunny south florida ive seen trucks on the highway that deliver fresh seawater. i remember reading however that some public aquarium will either make their own salt or will purchase it by the pallet.

[nyvp]

Originally posted by ahoyhoy239
yup here in sunny south florida ive seen trucks on the highway that deliver fresh seawater. i remember reading however that some public aquarium will either make their own salt or will purchase it by the pallet.

Yes many of us in s fl have people deliver water for us. I change 250/g monthly for $50. He comes by puts one hose in to take out the water and another on other end to put it in takes all of 5 mins and is clean and easy.

BTW ahoyhoy do you know about the local club forum?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumd...s=&forumid=235

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I basically do the same out here on the west coast. But I go to the university close by and get my water for free. 15 bucks in gas round trip and I usuallt get about 250G of water. All it takes is my time.

If you live close by the ocean, this may be a viable option. If not, then time for some research.

There is a company in Fla I do beleive that makes a machine similar to a Kidney dialises machine for your salt water system. It is called Dialaseas I beleive or something to that effect. basically it passes the tank water thru their system and it strips it of everything. Then the system will add in salt and other elements as required before passing it back to the tank.

I'm not for sure if they have a system big enough for a 3000 G tank but it might be worth looking into. I do remember a RC member commented that he had one and liked it. However, for me anyways, it's a lot cheapier to do a 400 G water change every 2 weeks than it would be to purchase and use one of their systems.

Good luck.

[Fiziksgeek]

This is how they do it at the Georgia Aquarium...

[mattsfishes84]

Is it necessary to have all three displays on one sump? I was looking into 2 1500G displays for someone, and I thought the best way to go there would be individual filtration systems for each one. Also might cut down on problems spreading through 10,000G of water.

Matt

[Mahlhavoc]

More water = slower changes in perameters and an ability for larger bioload, but hell if I wanna do those water changes!!

[clekchau]

could you do something like a larger version of a litermeter III water exchanged module that takes out 70 gallons a day and puts back 70 a day, all the maintenance would be mixing the salt.

[HeavyChicken]

The reason for sing one sump is because More Volume=More allowable bio-load= less frequent water changes. I spoke with the gentleman who did the famous 1700 gallon shark tank that is all over the web and he had the tank running for over a year without ever doing a water change, his advice was overshoot the needed filtration and undershoot amount of livestock. Where can I get the Huge pallet of instant ocean, there has to be a cost benifit to buying in bulk as opposed to individual buckets. as far as livestock, i am thinging of one display being bonnetheads (and some large decorative fish) , another being a reef ( i will need help with lighting), and the last possibly being jellyfish?! but that is still undecided.

[Tigger240]

i think even bill wann couldnt get that pallet of salt from instant ocean, they wount sell them unless your an aquarium from what ive read / heard. he ended up buying two pallets of salt buckets.

[Tigger240]

250/g monthly for $50

250 gallons for 50 bucks and you dont have to do a thing???!!!!!! holy moly. thats a sweet deal.

[mattsfishes84]

Originally posted by HeavyChicken
The reason for sing one sump is because More Volume=More allowable bio-load= less frequent water changes. ...i am thinging of one display being bonnetheads (and some large decorative fish) , another being a reef ( i will need help with lighting), and the last possibly being jellyfish?! but that is still undecided.

Although I understand the concept behind the more volume of water yielding higher bioload debate, some thoughts for consideration against a single sump (using your possibilities for stocking the systems) include:

-trying to combine 3 entirely different ecosystems into one filtration source

-nitrates from the big fish display harming the corals and (possibly) jellyfish

-cost of keeping the calcium levels maintained at reef levels for ~10,000G vs. ~3500G.

-smaller water changes on each indivdual system as needed based on water quality. If the FO system didn't need one, but the reef did, you've just cut your water change volume by 2/3rds, but you wouldn't know if they were all combined.

Basically, you'd have to have one heak of a nitrate reactor and calcium reactor and skimmer (but you'll need that anyway) to keep the water quality optimum for each different ecosystem. Your costs in that would probably well pay for separating the sumps and having less headaches in the end.

Matt.

[HeavyChicken]

That is a good argument. and something to consider. i assumed that having 3 seperate systems would overall be a huge increase in cost, not nly in the begining but in electric in the long run(3 pumps, skimmers, ect)

[eljefe3]

I pump my water from the ocean and do a water change around every 3 months or so. If you don't live by the ocean, have a large water truck deliver it to you and keep it in a holding tank.