is it possible...

porksnorkel

to reuse the same water over and over again? this is just theoretical really, but i'm wondering if u could have the water in ur aquariums and enough to change them...say 40% on the side being treated in between changes and never add any new water. i'm thinking a series of filters including a fluidized bed filter, several floss and sponge filters, carbon, bleach and maybe an r/o unit to finish off. seems to me that if mother nature can clean the water then surely we can. this may ne the way of things in the future as freshwater supplies run out.

any thoughts????

blueblue48

yes it may be possible with all the new technology but you must keep in mind evaporation. because in mother nature evaporation just puts the water back into the enviroment but we simply cant.

crazie.eddie

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porksnorkel

excellent point. after reading this it occured to me that a terrarium situated on top of the aqarium would be a beautiful thing to see and control the evaporation. it would be a fully sealed unit, except at the bottom where water could evaporate through holes and provide moisture for the terrarium plants. the terrarium would have to sit on some kind of sliding, or motorized lifting shelf, so u could do aquarium work w/out having to manually lift the terrarium off. aqaurium lights would be in the terrarium at the bottom under a plant shelf.

as for the filtration system...i'd like to see a drainage pipe at the side of the aquarium[drilled glass]. this pipe would drain water into a smaller tank...much like a sump except fully sealed. the water would first be filtered through a sponge then drain into the main area filled w/ bioballs. an air pump would pump oxygen through a series of airstones running the length of the sump. the water would sit here for a day while the nitrifying bacteria would do there thing. then i'd pump the water to a long trough w/ a series of cartridge filters that could easily be removed and rinsed. we would lose some water here to evaporation but not much. the water would then drain into another sealed tank, full of plants that eat nitrifying bacteria. here it would sit for 2 or 3 days. lastly the water gets pumped to an r/o unit and then into a sealed resevoir where it can be topped off and whatever nutriens needed can be added. then pumped back to the aquarium through an inline UV. [good call eddie...i forgot about the uV]

so what do u think? i wish i could do CAD drawings so i could give a visual. i'm excited about this and would like to give it a try somewhere down the road. if any of u guys or gals see a problem somewhere, by all means give ur input! constructive critisism is always welcome.

crazie.eddie

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porksnorkel

u would be able to open everything. when i say sealed , i mean w/ a rubber seal around the lid that closes mostly airtight. kinda like the seal on a fridge door.

Jaysn

Running it through an RO filter may not be the best idea, since I thought it took ~4 gallons of water to make 1 gallon of RO water?

fish_4_all

The unit could be completely seeld and still be bale to feed the fish is your manufactured a sealed delivery system for the food. Even with both a terrarium and aquarium a delivery system would be easier than all the filters needed. You would wtill need to add water because of the water you have to remove with the flilter media. If the systems is large enough, there should be no reason why you couldn't do it for years. Eventually your systems would fill up though because of inorganic solids buildup.

crazie.eddie

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porksnorkel

ahhh ok. i haven't used an r/o so i didn't know they wasted so much water. perhaps it won't be needed.