Bruno Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Working on putting together everything I need for a small shrimp setup. My rack will not be close to a water source or drain, so I am trying to figure out what best to put water from my ro/di unit into, and how that will play into water changes and top offs. Any ideas? And when it comes to water changes and top offs, I know the water should 'drip' in... but how slowly? I figure I will need a tank or container that can sit on the top shelf of my rack, to allow water to either drip or siphon down to the shrimp tank, but what should that container look like? Looking at some of the setups on here, looks like some of you have float valves, but what is that controlling, and how is it turning it off? Right now I am thinking I either need some smaller 'portable' containers to collect the ro/di water in that can be moved from the water source up to the top of the rack - either the container somehow connects to a line to then 'drip' the water down, or I hook up a pump and some water line to move water from the ro/di collection to the top of the rack with a container that is setup for the water changes. I use something like that to do water changes in my fish tanks now - a pump connected to a long hose - I put the pump in the tank, the other end of the hose is connected to the tap adapter from my old python water changer and when I turn on the pump water moves from my tank to the sink and drains (I then turn the pump off, change the direction of the python adapter and fill my tanks back up). So maybe something similar to move water from ro/di collection to top of rack? Any suggestions on how to setup the rack itself? If you have a good system and don't mind posting pics or sending them in a dm I'd love the help. Thanks, B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKAshrimps Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I use a few standard tanks on the top level as my reservoir tanks and run my RO line directly to them when filling them up - the end of the line is equipped with a float valve on the tank. When the water level reaches a certain level it will stop the water from entering the tank and create some back pressure on the RO filter. Most RO filter should have a shutoff valve that close the valve to the RO membrane when there is back pressure. I run at least 2 reservoir tanks; 1 for pure RODI water for automatic top-ups and one with remineralized RO water for water changes - i run a water line from each reservoir tank to each level of the rack (i use different coloured tubing so I know which one is which) if there are multiple tanks per level, i use "T" connectors to run individual lines from the main line to each tank. So what you will get is two lines going into the tank; for the RO line i just the standard RO shutoff / ball valve (i.e John Guest). For the water change line i like to use the little micro ball valve used for airline as it allows me to have a finer control over the water flow. both line then gets combined into one using a "Y" or "T" connector and than that one line is connected to the float valve that is attached to the tank. When it is all done it looks something like this: Under normal operations (auto top-off) the RO water line is open and the water change line is closed. For water changes i close off the RO line before draining the water and than open up and adjust the flow of the water change line to drip water back in. I usually jsut let it run overnight and the next day I come back and turn off the water change line and turn the RO line back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 (edited) If you are running or think that you might end up running a rack with more than 2 aquariums, I'd totally recommend doing an ATO setup. It cuts down a lot of work and keeps your tanks at the same mineral levels, discounting what the shrimps and/or plants use up. I'm running a similar setup as SKA except I only have one reservoir for RO top off water. As it is now I can run ATO for up to 8 tanks, but adding more is as simple as adding another manifold. My reservoir is a 30 gallon that sits on the top shelf of my rack. I have a 1/2" schedule 40 PVC syphon to deliver water down to the tanks and terminated in two manifolds. Each tank has a float valve which shuts off when the water hits the right level. These valves where cheapest via ebay at the time when I got them. The little bag in this picture is just carbon for this new-ish tank. Since i don't have a remineralized water reservoir, I drip my water change water through an airline with a small valve. I adjust this to go about 1.5 drops per second or so for caridinia. I go a bit faster up to 2-3 drops per second if it is a neo tank, but I am not keeping any neos right now. The extra remineralized water reservoir is a great idea though. I may considering will be doing that in the future I think. Edited February 26, 2015 by cainechow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 If you're not setting up a full rack full of tanks, I wouldn't bother setting up a system. Personally I only drip when acclimating new shrimp. I have a half bare bottom tank as my main PRL tank and I dump in 5 gallons in 10 seconds when I do water changes. I have a low tech ATO right now but before that I would just dump in 1 L to 1 gallon or RO/DI when I noticed the water level was low. I am moving to all display tanks and trying to keep them as clean looking as possible so no float valves for me. It'll be more work but with only 6 - 8 planned, it' should be manageable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Ron you are much more hard working than me! I think I'm just a lazy guy How big are your tanks Ron? 15 gallons or more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 (edited) Ron you are much more hard working than me! I think I'm just a lazy guy How big are your tanks Ron? 15 gallons or more? So far I have 1 ADA 60-H (45), which is 32 gallon and a custom 35 gallon. I have another 60-H (45) and two 75-P (40 gallon) tanks to set up now and maybe another two 75-P tanks on the way Edited February 26, 2015 by Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 That explains the dumping 1 gallon of RO. In aquariums that big, it is only 4% of the total volume taking into account substrate. I'm only running 10 gallon aquariums and a gallon is more like 15% of total water volume and would be a bit more risky. Nice stability bonus for the larger aquariums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 If you're not setting up a full rack full of tanks, I wouldn't bother setting up a system. Personally I only drip when acclimating new shrimp. I have a half bare bottom tank as my main PRL tank and I dump in 5 gallons in 10 seconds when I do water changes. I was wondering about that. I can see the need for going slow when acclimating, but if ph and temp and TDS etc are all similar, I wasn't sure if there was any reason to add water slowly during a water change. So if I reminerized my water it would be ok to pump it in, maybe with a valve to slow the flow a little? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 That explains the dumping 1 gallon of RO. In aquariums that big, it is only 4% of the total volume taking into account substrate. I'm only running 10 gallon aquariums and a gallon is more like 15% of total water volume and would be a bit more risky. Nice stability bonus for the larger aquariums. I dump up to 6 gallons at a time. Easy to prep a full 5 gallon pail with remineralizers. Definite advantage of larger tanks, my water changes are usually 5 gallons and sometimes 6 if my tank happens to be low from evaporation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 If you're not setting up a full rack full of tanks, I wouldn't bother setting up a system. Personally I only drip when acclimating new shrimp. I have a half bare bottom tank as my main PRL tank and I dump in 5 gallons in 10 seconds when I do water changes. I was wondering about that. I can see the need for going slow when acclimating, but if ph and temp and TDS etc are all similar, I wasn't sure if there was any reason to add water slowly during a water change. So if I reminerized my water it would be ok to pump it in, maybe with a valve to slow the flow a little? If your new water has similar parameters as your tank water, I see no reason you can't pump it in. I've never had a problem with it in the past but it's your decision at your own risk. My remineralized water has a fairly low pH and my UGF system buffers it quick. Oh and I don't heat it to tank temp either...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpsmasher Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 In mainly do it for convenience.. Water changes are so easy when you when you just set it and forget it. For tanks outside my rack I still like using airline hose or my large water buffering bucket to do them as I don't like to disturb the substrate much (most of outside tank are fairly shallow). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted February 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 What does the reservoir at the top of the rack look like? Do you have a bulkhead in it with the tubing hooked up, or do you start a siphon with the airline hose? I am looking at 2 options for me - 1) get a small pump and valve and run a hose from my reservoir to the tank and fill it up that way - slowly but faster then drip. I'll have to watch to not overfill. Or 2) setup a tank above, pump the water there first and then setup a float valve and fill that way - less chance of overfilling with this, and I can go slower as I dont have to sit and watch it. I like option 2, just not sure how to get a siphone started - or do I drill a hole and attach pvc or hoses to the tank and let gravity do its thing. How are your reservoir tanks setup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 There we go. I run a syphon that I start with that airline tubing. To get it going, I have to close the ball valve downstream, otherwise you just suck air :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKAshrimps Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 i just remove the end of the tubing from the "Y" float valve and use my siphon starting bulb on it. Get the flow going than turn the ball valve off, plug it back in to the float valve and turn it back on. once in a while it loses its siphon but most of the time it keeps it if you turn it off shut-off / ball valve when you are suppose to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.