Daniel

Yes, I use a Tunze Osmolator.

Looks good. What are you keeping your Ca/Alk at?

Thanks for the input Mike. This is seeming less practical, but I have been basing my desire to do this on the fact that there is a commercial product that does exactly what I've described. I wouldn't plumb the waste water directly into my hot water tank, but instead into the hot water line under my sink (but maybe that is essentially the same as plumbing directly to the hot water tank since this is a closed system?) I'll contact Watts (the company with the system that has "Zero Waste") and see what they have to say. Their systems only produce enough RO for a 4 gallon pressurized tank, not a large storage vat. Daniel

250

$90 OBO?

My snails are happy, but just to be clear for others who may encounter similar problems-- what do you suspect to have been the cause of the snail deaths? Do you think it was the rusty metal hose connector? Or do you attribute their deaths more as a result of underfeeding? I'm willing to bet it was the metal, but you know the situation better.

I use the putty when attaching frags that are already on LR rubble to my existing LR. However, as others have mentioned, the putty can be a pain since it takes awhile to harden. Whenever possible, try placing your frag directly onto the LR using the superglue gel. You don't want to use putty to attach the coral to the rock due the heat released during it's curing process which may damage your corals. Daniel

I did this when I had my mag pump, but I found that the filter padding was never rigid enough-- the weight of the pump would eventually squeeze the filter material down into a very thin, dense sheet and the sound/vibration would be back. Something more foamy like a mouse pad would have been my choice.

Pat, let us know your experience with Gulf Coast Eco-System. Maybe if things turn out well we can have Mark look into making them a sponsor too. Daniel

Where are you setting up your system? Mine is my backyard, plumbed into a garden hose that has to travel 10 feet up to my patio (probably a lot of why my pressure is low).

59 min, 70 average, 92 max at the curb. The guy I spoke to said a lot of why my pressure is reading so low is because of the terrain in my area. Dang.

Wow, I wish mine were a little higher. My pressure gauge shows 50psi on all the various spots I've tested in my home. I always thought above 65psi was bad for your pipes? 50psi isn't bad considering it's what Filmtec recommends, but if I do the second RO membrane add-on, I'll need higher pressure. I guess it probably doesn't help that I live on a hill? Also, found this website: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/watercon/prvfaq.htm

Would going to a local pet store and asking for their hair algae work? Or were you looking for already established turf (the red harder stuff)? I almost have my algae scrubber complete...yay.

Okay, so my understanding is that municipal water has a mixture of different things. Chlorine, heavy metals (maybe?), and sediment are all removed by the pre-filters, so most of what the RO membrane has to remove are dissolved solids such as calcium carbonates and sodium. My RO membrane produces one filtered gallon for every 5+ gallons of "concentrate." In terms of chemistry, it doesn't seem like the concentration is increasing by THAT much, considering the 7+ gallons of concentrate water. Furthermore, I would be diluting my "concentrate" with the 125+ (I have two tanks) gallons of hot water in my house. As far as the code goes, some stuff from that link I posted suggested that two check valves to prevent back flow would address the legality of this-- "International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) requires the water from the outlet of the flow restrictor be routed through two check valves before flowing to the hot water supply line. These check valves ensure the hot water will never reach the membrane on the reverse osmosis system due to a surge or back pressure in the hot water system." I think my only real concern is whether this stuff, primarily the calcium carbonate, will lead to build-up in my pipes. However, I think the quantities are sufficiently small that the impact will be minimal. Plus, if I run my RO system when the hot water is being used (shower, washing clothes, dish washing, etc) the concentrated water would spend less time settling in my pipes. I have no problem watering the lawn, but 35+ gallons from 5 gallons of usable water is a lot more than I need/want to put into the ground. Worst case, since I'll have to buy a booster pump to do this, I can just install the add-on kit that Mitch mentioned.

Up for sale is a Coralife Super Skimmer 220. Bought this with my tank a couple of months ago, but it's time to sell. I've done a few mods to the skimmer which gave me about 18oz of very dark skimmate every 3 days-- my new skimmer still doesn't do that The mods done can all be reversed, but here they are: 1) fishing line on the needlewheel 2) relocated the skimmer's output to my fuge (via new pvc ducting) 3) added a small air pump (quiet, efficient, and effective) to boost the venturi I'll also include some enkamat if you'd like to try your hand at a mesh-wheel impeller. Asking $100.

$260? I know someone needs a great quality pump.

Second for the light fixture.

Let me know what you have. Thanks, Daniel

Well, I recently sold mine for one heck of a deal (for the buyer... not me)... I've seen a few on ReefCentral from time to time...

I saw a Powder Brown at Aqua Dome today.

Looks similar to the ARC sponsor Reef Cleaners (there's a group order that ends this Wednesday-- with nice discounts-- currently going on) Daniel

Found this article: Zero Waste: A Look Into the Future

That's a nice looking frag rack too...whose the manufacturer?

Sold. Thanks for looking.

I guess my main reason for posting is that I'm wondering if this stray voltage is enough to knock my pumps offline. As I described from my nonscientific observations, it seems like this is possible. As a result, is this an abnormal observation and should I replace my pumps, or is this something that is common with most ungrounded equipment?