Mega-Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover Replaces Skimmer, Refugium, Everything

[SantaMonica]

daytona: Freeta is right, just do a standard 5 gallon bucket size; it won't be too far off. You can also consider a knitting screen at a sewing or craft store... I just got one for $1. And since your tank looks like it's not set up yet, you can start the screen while you are cycling. This will give unlimited nutrients to get it going fast.

Freeta that is much much better flow; those overflows really did the job! One thing... on the third pic it looks like one of the lights is moved back... can you get it up against the screen like the other one? And as for readings, they won't change until you fill that screen up; should be in another week or so.

 

[aquariumdebacle]

You lost me at "replaces a skimmer!" NOTHING replaces a skimmer! IT is the ONLY filtration method that REMOVES material from the water column, once it is in the cup it is gone. ALL other filtration methods just move crap around until you get around to cleaning it!

 

[daytonaconnecti]

iam try ing to do a setup like this for this tank,need to know how many gal it is, its shape like a diamond, its 32in across at it widest part,25in front to back, and 24 3/4 tall, anyone have an idea, i was thinking close to 70 gal, i dont know,i need to get parts togeather, like screen size, pumps bucket or other, ect... View attachment 29217

View attachment 29218

thanks,the pics here are a few years old,the tank is has been going for that long as well, just wasnt sure on the gal size...

 

[daytonaconnecti]

is their a way to come off one of my two cl,to use as water over a screen?or is that asking to much from my cl...

 

[SantaMonica]

Aquariumdebacl: What skimmer manufacturer do you work for?

Daytona: Sure you can do that, as long as you are getting strong flow over all parts of the screen. A screen takes about 35 gph for every inch wide it is. It might just be easier to get a cheap rio pump and put it in the sump.

 

[freetareef]

lol!!! i was under the impression that most of the things in your water column were used as food for the corals and they wern't bad till they broke down and started the nitrogen cycle??

 

[SantaMonica]

Well depending on what you mean by "most things", you're correct. Poisons, allelopathics, etc don't count. And even the N and P aren't that bad as long as you keep them unmeasurable on hobby test kits (P mostly). So, generally, anything carbon in the tank is eaten by something, all the way down to bacteria which eat it and result in inorganic N and P. Skimmers, of course, don't remove this inorganic N and P. They would, however, help get poisons or allelopathics out.

 

[freetareef]

anything that is "protien" based or positively changed and would adhear to the mini water surface or "bubble"....

 

[daytonaconnecti]

Aquariumdebacl: What skimmer manufacturer do you work for?

Daytona: Sure you can do that, as long as you are getting strong flow over all parts of the screen. A screen takes about 35 gph for every inch wide it is. It might just be easier to get a cheap rio pump and put it in the sump.

i see so if i cant get this setup high enough to let gravity low water back into the tank, i will need two pumps to get it up from the floor back into the tank, could i get enough flow from just gravity and the right size pipe to go over the screen, and one pump to get the water back to the tank...

 

[reeftank1]

I was cleaning my tank today and decided to open the overflow to see "what" lives in there. I noticed a perfect space that has plenty of width to set up a screen with what looks to be about the same flow per inch as the photos are showing. Since I run drains in there only and the light from the MH already shines through the lid would this be a feasible place to grow turf?

Indirectly, I think I am already doing this because the back wall of the overflow has a good amount of algae growing on it over the past year. It seems that if it has a screen it could very well add enough surface area to do the turf internally.

What drawbacks could I run into? I don't use durso's just bulkheads.

 

[SantaMonica]

could i get enough flow from just gravity and the right size pipe to go over the screen

Yes, gravity alone will fill a 3/4" or 1" pipe. If you post a few pics, maybe I'll have some ideas.

 

[SantaMonica]

reeftank1, I've heard of people trying this, but not seen pics. I'd use some screen and put it in the flow there, so that you can take the screen out for cleaning. Big question is how much screen will have how much light, and how much of the flow can you get to go down the screen.

 

[SantaMonica]

Here is an example of a screen that I wish were done better. He's using the skimmer output and dropping it right down on the screen at an angle, so that most of it goes through the screen. I'd rather see the water spread out across the screen. Also, the light is too far away. Thus, he got very little growth in the first seven days:

 

[daytonaconnecti]

Yes, gravity alone will fill a 3/4" or 1" pipe. If you post a few pics, maybe I'll have some ideas.

well i havent started anything yet, just doing research, i was thinking that if i i have a pickup pipe down in the tank, with a 1/8 hole in it down the pipe so if something happens it would break the water feed down to the screen, and not flood.let gravity flow down to the screen, and use a pump to get it back to the tank...

 

[daytonaconnecti]

another idea i had was set this setup,using nothing buit gravity, to feed and return the water, no pumps..any thoughts, i have the room

 

[SantaMonica]

What setup? I see nothing.

Do you have a sump?

 

[daytonaconnecti]

no sump, skimmer only, aqua c, bb, lr and two fish, shrooms, running now for over a year, cl, two pumps one with a squid, View attachment 29234 View attachment 29235

 

[SantaMonica]

Ok so you must have your skimmer hanging on the back. Two solutions:

1. Just set a new pump on the bottom of your tank. This way you can remove it easily if needed. The pump will go to the waterfall pipe above the tank (on a shelf, hung from a post, etc.), and the bottom of the bucket will drain back into your tank.

2. Use a self-priming pump like an Eheim (which can pull water) to lift water out of the tank, and pump it into the waterfall pipe. From there is drains down into your tank as #1. And you can put the pump in the bottom of the bucket if you want to.

3. Put a "T" in one of your closed loops, and have it go to the waterfall pipe above the tank. The drain will be the same. Your CL pump will need to be pretty strong to feed both the pipe and the CL, though. And it will be hard to go back to your original setup if you need to. That's why #1 or 2 is better.

 

[daytonaconnecti]

thats cool i see.... so no way of using gravity to do a supply and return to the tank heres a quick bad drawing, View attachment 29236

 

[SantaMonica]

Yes you could do that. In this case, the bucket becomes your sump. Use a good quality pump that is capable of "running dry" (like an Eheim 1260), and put it at the bottom of the bucket. The pump will push water from the bottom of the bucket back into the tank, where it will overflow back to your waterfall pipe. Each time you turn the pump off, however, you'll need to get the overflow going again, by disconnecting the tube at the waterflow pipe and sucking the water out of the tank (so it starts flowing), and then connecting the tube back to the pipe.