Geosapper questions

Fluxion · #1 08/17/2006, 08:00 PM

Mr. Sapp,

I have bee considering building a Geosapper for my tank. I have a few questions for you.

On thing I am worried about is the salinity creeping up over time. I know I can just add some more RO/DI water once a week or so to adjust the salinity. I was just wondering how big of a deal this really is. Does the salinity need to be adjusted once a week or would once a month be ok? I know in your article on the Geosapper you mentioned removing the same volume of water from the tank that you add to the Phyto section. I have an auto top off on my system and removing water will cause it to be replaced with RO/DI water lowering the salinity.

I don't have a fishroom so if I build one I would like it to go under my stand. I only have about 24" above my sump. I have plenty of room on one end of my sump but it wouldn't be able to siphon into the sump. Has anybody run one of these with a Peristaltic pump? Could it be possible?

If I modified the design to use a peristaltic pump to push the food through the Geosapper and controlled it with a Reefkeeper II or other controller, would the rotifers or brine shrimp expire in the tubing?

Should I dump the output of the Geosapper into the return section of the sump or the refugium? Will the return pump kill the rotifers and brine shrimp?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Dwayne · #2 08/17/2006, 09:09 PM

Fluxion,

Thanks for taking the time to read the article and post your questions.

Quote:

On thing I am worried about is the salinity creeping up over time. I know I can just add some more RO/DI water once a week or so to adjust the salinity. I was just wondering how big of a deal this really is. Does the salinity need to be adjusted once a week or would once a month be ok? I know in your article on the Geosapper you mentioned removing the same volume of water from the tank that you add to the Phyto section. I have an auto top off on my system and removing water will cause it to be replaced with RO/DI water lowering the salinity.

The frequency in which you adjust the salinity, IMO, will be more of personal preference and how much tolerance you feel your tank can withstand. Of course this is in direct relationship to amount of water added by the Geosapper and the amount removed to compensate. The size of the tank is very important. Smaller tanks require a more aggressive or constant monitoring than larger tanks, this is due to nothing more than sheer volume. I would recommend taking a cautious approach and monitoring closely until you know how your tank will respond to the added salt water.

Quote:

I don't have a fishroom so if I build one I would like it to go under my stand. I only have about 24" above my sump. I have plenty of room on one end of my sump but it wouldn't be able to siphon into the sump. Has anybody run one of these with a Peristaltic pump? Could it be possible?

If I modified the design to use a peristaltic pump to push the food through the Geosapper and controlled it with a Reefkeeper II or other controller, would the rotifers or brine shrimp expire in the tubing?

Should I dump the output of the Geosapper into the return section of the sump or the refugium? Will the return pump kill the rotifers and brine shrimp?

This would be interesting and I'd like to hear about your trials. Since the Geosapper surges intermittently, the peristaltic pump would need to be timed accordingly. This should be doable. Given the small timeframe of water in the tubing, I see no harm to the food. Provided the pump doesn't squish them in the process.

You could output the Geosapper to a small reservoir and use the peristaltic pump to continuously dump into the tank. Just an idea.

Please let us know how this goes for you.

Dwayne

Fluxion · #3 08/18/2006, 09:45 AM

Dwayne, Thanks for your reply. I am definately going to build one of these. I just didn't want to hang it on the wall next to my tanl. I would have to raise the Geosapper to over 6' to get it to siphon into my tank. I have ordered the tubing and other parts and I will start consruction hopefully next week. I am still brainstorming on the pump Ideas. I was thinking of dumping the output into a closed loop of sorts that would run continuously with the input of the love food after the pump so it is pushed up into the tank. This would still give the surges of food. My only problem with this is after the Geosapper surges the closed loop would suck air into the system, that won't look good.

I'll probably hang a cabinet on the wall near my tank and place the Geosapper inside.

Bryan

harpo 1966 · #4 08/26/2006, 10:29 AM

I just spent the last 30 munites reading all of the history. Thanks for taking the time to share your great ideas. On previous posts it was mentioned that this unit is for sale. Could you either point me in the right direction to purchase or where to get detailed plans to build my self.

Thanks

Harpo1966

Dwayne · #5 08/26/2006, 01:21 PM

I'm not aware of anyone that is commercially selling the units. Not to say someone somewhere isn't, I'm just not aware of it.

The closest thing to detailed plans I have are the ones included in the article. I came up with the 'rough' design on a napkin and Geo brought it to life.