hop2jr

Is there a way to filter out nitrates so you can recycle water from 29gal tank into 10gal reserve tank and filter clean back to main tank? Looking to make water changes smaller to get my nitrates down they pop up to 20 every 3 days cut back on feedins but still shoot up. 25% water changes are killing my water bill.Will adding a CO2 system for my DHG plant help lower it? adding more plants?have 1 now need better lighting though.

susitna-flower

Good question .... one that was answered very well last year by tim.....check out this thread.

www.fishlore.com/fishforum/diy-do-yourself/8862-another-project.html .

Over more than a year tim kept a completely overstocked huge aquarium healthy, and actually fish breeding like you wouldn't believe just by using his filter.....

The other filter system I have come across uses very slow water movement through an anaerobic bacteria system, then aeration to allow the nitrogen to escape. This is another option, but not as quick and affordable as tims...

hop2jr

That is a cool thread had an idea like that using a 10gal tank for just plants. The other idea I had was using a ROS water filter system drain dirty water into the 10gal tank thru the RO system and then into a clean water tank to pump back into the tank with the fish. Only problem is that RO systems take everything out including the minerals that my plants need. So it looks like 10gal tank with lots of plants and a bright light.

susitna-flower

Timg drew me a plan that used several plastic tubs in a rack made of wood. Each tub would overlap the one below, and water would syphon in from the tank, slowly spill over to the tub below, and have a very small pump to pump it back to the tank. The system would have a float valve on it to stop the syphon when or if the pump shut off. (this was due to my not being on constant power, but would be a good safety precaution for any tank system) The additional 100 gallons of water would effectively increase the # of fish you could keep in your tank. In addition, to the healthy air in your house. Each level would have plants growing, and the object is for the water flow to be slow enough the plants could process the nitrates out of the water.....

You are right you would have to set up artificial lights, and do something to remove humidity from your home with a set up like this....BUT it would also make for a much more enjoyable tank.