TAL's Zero Water Exchange Test Thread

TAL

TAL

Large Fish
#81
Sep 7, 2008
588
0
0
#81
Another great thing about not doing water changes...

Let's say its the weekend and you would be due for a water change...but the night before you stayed up too late, played way too much Wii "Dancing with the Stars" and you are also sore from shoveling wayy too much snow in the past couple of weeks.....not having to do a water change and stay on the couch is very nice...

Just sayin'...

Also, I will release my test chart and diary of the system at the 6 months mark which is only 16 weeks away!!!

The system wil continue to run after that... its kinda like that voyager mission that ran way past all the planets of our solar system..you know..kinda in a way it is...

BTW...go to Chili's and order the Chocolate Molten Cake. It is AWESOME!!!


ETA: Scroll back to page 8 for my comments from a few moments ago...
 

Chris_A

Chris_A

Large Fish
#82
Oct 14, 2008
615
0
0
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
#82
TAL said:
pH 6.6 - pH has been dropping slowly for a month
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So this unto it's self could be the beginning of a bad sign. There is something called acidosis. Interesting to see what happens to it in a few more weeks. Also this can be part of "old tanks syndome".

TAL said:
Also...there has ben talk about hormone build-up in the water in a system like this that affects growth of the fish so keep in mind my fry have been released into the tank and we shall see how they do.
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This one is a little tougher to quantify... Some fish seem more or less effected than others. I've seen a 14" koi with a humped back come out of a 20 gallon but I've also seen stunted koi come out of a 130... just as an example. Plus I've never seen a way of actually measuring the levels of the hormone short of lab work and I have no idea if there's any guidline on what level would be an issue (I think that's because of the above example). Even if they do stunt, it might be quite some time before you even realize it without having a comparison. LFS sizes are not a good comparison BTW. At the LFS I worked at we started dealing with a gentleman who used two 300gal and 600gal stock tank with every second day water changes for his sword grow out (he was on a well ;) ). We would get them in at about 2" and they were still too young to sex... My guess would be that growth rate is *closer* (but possibly accelerated a LITTLE due to food availability) to wild growth. Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago... I always LOVED talking with him and seeing his stock...

Happy New Year to you too! *celebrate

Chris
 

TAL

TAL

Large Fish
#83
Sep 7, 2008
588
0
0
#83
Latest test results are:

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 2.5
pH 6.8 m ---- slightly up from last reading

So the water params stayed the same except for a slight increase in the pH number which we are watching with curiosity.

Note..... the pH in this tank pre HiQ was usually a bit below 7.0 so 6.8 is ok with me.... I was concerned the pH would continue to drop towards the sub 6.0 mark.
 

TAL

TAL

Large Fish
#84
Sep 7, 2008
588
0
0
#84
One other thing. I'm kinda sick today. Nothing horrible but I did 'throw'.....uck but that was last night. I'm starting feel better and the diziness has faded.

Thank goodness with all the things I have to do wether I am sick or not that I do not have to change fish tank water right now.
 

Whiskers

Whiskers

Large Fish
#85
Feb 29, 2008
425
1
18
central Michigan USA
#85
just a thought for the towers having a gap between them and the glass. maybe some sort of rubber strip could be attached to the tower sides to close up the gap. this would keep the towers from being a permant fixture in the tank. if, as i read, the two part epoxy can be used underwater, you wouldn't have to drain the tank and disrupt the testing. Well anyway just my two cents.
 

TAL

TAL

Large Fish
#86
Sep 7, 2008
588
0
0
#86
whether.....

but anyways whiskers.... i agree.....i wouldn't want to drain thew tank or make the towers permanent either.

stay warm my central michigan friend
 

Matt Nace

Matt Nace

Superstar Fish
#89
Oct 22, 2002
1,470
1
38
Pennsylvania
#89
Just a Bump. Hope Tal your doing well and you post again. If anyone knows anything about this thread and why it is not updated..let me know.

The thread is intresting and I had hoped to see how it worked.
 

brian1973

brian1973

Superstar Fish
#90
Jan 20, 2008
2,001
3
38
Corpus Christi, Texas
#90
Matt Nace said:
Just a Bump. Hope Tal your doing well and you post again. If anyone knows anything about this thread and why it is not updated..let me know.

The thread is intresting and I had hoped to see how it worked.
Click to expand...
According to his profile he hasnt been around since Jan 11th... personally I think TAL was going to have this work regardless, the journal promised definately didnt measure up to what was delivered.. hopefully he shows back up then maybe I will have to remove my foot from my mouth...lol.
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#93
May 16, 2003
8,589
10
38
42
Colorado
#93
Pretty sure thats not a completely fair assumption. For most reports up till Tal went awol the system was working great in an established tank. I kind of feel like my thread ran it's course which is why it hasn't been updated.
 

bmoraski

bmoraski

Large Fish
#94
Mar 9, 2009
604
2
18
Upstate NY
#94
I would love to get an update.
my biggest concern is that ive read if you dont change your water you can get Old Tank Syndrome. and when the ph started going down i thought as Chris, this could be a bad sign.
 

TAL

TAL

Large Fish
#96
Sep 7, 2008
588
0
0
#96
Oooooo here's my thread.....

Btw. That system makes keeping fish easy.

I'm actually thinking about redoing the tank - ya know - decorations and all. Which got me thinking about this lovely place. Anyways....considering I do little more than feed and stare at the fish this system really has done well.

The only thing I would change would be to silicone the towers to the corners to keep fish from getting stuck in the gaps.
 

TAL

TAL

Large Fish
#97
Sep 7, 2008
588
0
0
#97
Brian 1973...where arrrrrreeeee youuuuuuuuuuuuu.

Anyone have any questions about #'s, fish deaths, water changes????
 

TAL

TAL

Large Fish
#98
Sep 7, 2008
588
0
0
#98
So..I;ve made a deicsion.

ANyone who read this whole thing or remembers me coming on here knows I was a total noob to fish keeping.

I've loved having the system and it has worked great for me. But now it is time to see the other side. I'm redoing the tank and I am going without the system. Now given how much I like it, this should be interesting. Now I get to try fishkeeping without it and then compare back and see how much it did for me and if I can live without it.

We'll see where this goes.

Has anyone seen any other comparable systems that eliminate nitrates?
 

brian1973

brian1973

Superstar Fish
#100
Jan 20, 2008
2,001
3
38
Corpus Christi, Texas
#100
well well well.. look whos back, I havent been on here for months either, I have been really busy. Good to see you back though.

How many fish died?
what were your water parameters averaging through out this period?
how often did you do a water change (if any)?
 

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