Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)

[dahenley]

Peter,
I live in LUbbock Texas, and they dont use chlorine to treat the water. (i was raised in East texas where they do)
But here they use chloramie.
it is different then just chlorine and it will actually eat through your RO filters and membrane! to prevent this, you have to use chloramine filters. which consists of a prefilter (like any RO) but uses a Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC verses a standard carbon block) then it goes to a 2nd carbon filter (it has a different micron rating then standard filters) then it goest to the membrane.

the GAC breaks down the Chloramine to ammonia and chlorine i think.... (i think i read that somewhere) and the 3rd filter the carbon block removes the chlorine. and the membrane removes the ammonia.
otherwise, standard RO filters will start the break down but wont fully remove the chlorine and the chlorine will eat the membrane which will make the RO useless.....

the point behind all of this, do you know what your city/county uses for water treatment? (i know Canada isnt like the US, but you get the idea....)

 

[bbart12]

http://www.airwaterice.com/c=jmhjCyQQ8tglsaNkyqFdh5Y9u/product/PUMPDRIVENCOMPACT/300-gpd.html

I would go with something like this or at lease something with 20" filters. From the reading that I have done 20" hold more stuff than two 10" filters. Kind of like the fact that one 1" pipe flows more than 2 1/2" pipes.

I does say you can add DI. I would go with separate cation and anion over a mixed bed.

 

[dahenley]

Oh, and i use a BulkReefSupply 6 stage deluxe for my water..
i start off with over 1000 TDS, and after the membrane, i get around 20-30 depending on if the city is working on the water lines..
(i dont know about the RO units that you have, but they say to run the water through the RO for a few gallons before running it through your DI resin. this will flush any TDS that might pass through before the RO runs at max capacity. im just throwing that out there. (that will make the resin last longer...

 

[SaraB]

Thank you Tom, I appreciate that

I still utilize the in-line meter to know what my TDS is going in to and out of the DI Canister and use it as an indicator as to when my DI Resin is exhaused and time to change out. I'm sure Shawn knows how to properly install the in-line, but I'd still keep on double checking the numbers with a secondary hand-held unit.

 

[dahenley]

:eek1::eek1:

i beg to differ, that's not coralline, that's a purple plating Monti!
looks good peter!

 

[SaraB]

:eek1::eek1:

i beg to differ, that's not coralline, that's a purple plating Monti!
looks good peter!

Looks more like a plating type of coralline. I've had it in my tank before and it's not a monti ... just can't recall the name of the algae type.

Edit - I think it's called this: Lithothamnion Encrusting Coralline Algae

 

[cromedogg33]

Nineball,

I'm curious as to why you are having to change out the membrane. Filters are a dime a dozen and probably need replacing monthly with running 1000gallons through them. Are you noticing a bunch of waste water? In my experience a 4parts bad to 1 part good water comes through those units. One thing you may want to consider and it may have already been looked at is the water pressure going to the RO unit. You may be trying to pass to much water through the membrane if you are going through them that fast and not giving it enough time to do its work.

Just a thought.

 

[dave.m]

Has anyone ever tried the cold sterilization method using Poly Filters?

Dave.M

 

[andytripa]

Chingchai Thailand

Chingchai Thailand

Perfection, ChingChai is not a static thing it is an evolution. It must be constantly changing and improving to be perfect. Your tank is the embodiment of perfection my friend.

I hope you are watching our friend's tank in Romania. Andy and I are planning to come and drink a lot of wine in front of your tank.

Peter

Peter is 2AM. Should I pack? Chingchai is waiting for us. He agree to let us admire his tank. :bounce2:

Yes, I am following Andy's build thread.
You guys are welcome to see my tank. Just don't bring your luxurious cars.
I can't find decent parking space for them.

Don't worry Chingchai about the cars, a heliport would be good too. :beachbum:

....and some romanian wine. (It's on is way.)


Andy :beer:

 

[Mikeygo1]

Peter, keep in mind that the better the prefilter the longer the life on your DI filter. Also keep in mind that all filter elements are not equal, you can get two 1 micron filters one could be a 1 micron at 60% efficiency and the other could be 1 micron at 99% efficiency. If you have low efficiency prefilters your DI membrane will need to be replaced prematurely.
I am using the Filter Guys 75 GPD, but they also have a 150GPD system.
www.thefilterguys.biz/ro_di_systems.htm

 

[Robb in Austin]

@Sara(My daughters name BTW!),

I think you may need to check your sarcasm filter, it might be broke(re: dahenley's comment; which btw, @da: GUNS UP!).

 

[mr.wilson]

If I get the job I am trying for, I will be in the Marshall Islands for at least a year. IF that happens, I plan on tank tour trip. From what I understand, one of the perks is you get really cheap weekend flights to Asia and Australia. I would love to see Ching's and Diablo's setups and then tour other tanks near those two.

And as an added benefit, It would pay more than I have ever made in my life.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Do they supply the bullets?

Bring back some Helfrichi fire gobies and flame angels.

 

[SaraB]

@Sara(My daughters name BTW!),

I think you may need to check your sarcasm filter, it might be broke(re: dahenley's comment; which btw, @da: GUNS UP!).

I'm extremely sarcastic myself and didn't catch that :wavehand:

 

[mr.wilson]

I will put in new sediment, carbon, membrane and DI (AGAIN) tomorrow. I just changed all of these in both filters September 18th. We only made 1,000 gallons of water between the two units.

The RO membrane in one unit is producing 95 TDS pre DI, 14 TDS post, while the other is producing 24 TDS pre DI, and 04 TDS post DI. The water exiting the RO should be 0-5 TDS and 0 after the DI knocks down the last remaining salts.

I have taken the unit apart more times than I care to mention. The unconventional design leads me to believe there is a bypass that is damaging the membranes or bypassing the membranes them selves. As a result, the DI has to work too hard to catch up. Instead of pulling 3 TDS down to zero, it's stumbling 95 down to 14.

I would prefer a system that uses clear canisters so you can see sediment cartridges change colour as they age, and DI resin change colour. Not much point in colour indicative resin if it's inside a black canister

It would also be nice to be able to measure RO water inline which this unit does not support. Right now I have one TDS probe on on DI exit and the other on unit #2 DI exit (product water).

With conventional units you can add additional or longer canisters/cartridges for longer duration between changes and more efficient operation. This black box design is limited to factory configuration. It doesn't even have a pressure gauge. It does have lots of lights and fake buttons on the front though

I like the Aqua-FX Octopus model because it produces the 200 GPD we get now but with a 1:1 product to waste ratio rather than the 1:5 we have now.

Here's the Octopus. I am hoping the TDS meter is Ac powered so I can check the product water at a glance. The DC powered inline TDS meters are great to have but they only work if you push the button Sometimes it can creep up on you, especially if the cartridge life is only six weeks!

 

[JohnDQI]

I have been out of this thread for some time, but Peter has asked me to post what everyone has been waiting to see for some time, actual footage of his tank. As you will see it is posted in YouTube, in HD, in three parts...it's long and detailed. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-0Hfjb4AAE

 

[dayne]

Hi Peter how are the Tort frags doing

 

[mr.wilson]

Hi Peter how are the Tort frags doing

Going strong. Thanks again for the tank warming present!

 

[JohnDQI]

Here is Part two:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97oUTmf-SLg

 

[JohnDQI]

And Part Three...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaE8j9_Xrr4

 

[SaraB]

I will put in new sediment, carbon, membrane and DI (AGAIN) tomorrow. I just changed all of these in both filters September 18th. We only made 1,000 gallons of water between the two units.

The sediment filter is the cheapest filter in the line-up and the cost goes up down the line. I change out my 2 sediments one extra time in between changing out the carbons and then maybe one more time before the DI is changed out if I catch it in time. I have well water with 420 TDS fresh from the holding tank, so I can't speak for what those with city water do with their systems.

I also think you need to procure a fine looking cabinet to store this new RO/DI unit in because it will no longer be looking sexy enough for the fishroom