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zeteki · 12-02-2006, 02:24 PM

Yes, but on a smaller scale. I'm looking at a system for multiple rack systems. Each rack has 12 aquariums each holding 5 gallons of water and there are 5 racks. So here's the plan for the whole system:

I think of each rack as a 75-gallon system (there will be a 15 gallon sump on each rack) with it's own closed filtration system. Each aquarium in the system has a standpipe that drains overflow water down a common pipe, through a bag made of filter fabric and into the sump. The sump is divided, with the water first passing over bio balls before entering the second section of the sump, which is basically open water. It's then pumped out of the sump into a canister filter with activated carbon and a 50-micron filter. From there it goes into a series of more refined filters (probably 2 stages here) with the smallest filter being 5 micron. I'll probably have to put a few filters in parallel to get enough volume through. I haven't done the calculations yet. Once the water passes through the filters it's passed back up and returned to the tanks.

The filtration system I described above is repeated for each rack of aquariums, while the R/O system services all 5 racks. The R/O unit should have an output of ~150gpd that fills a reserve tank. This water will be reconstituted in some mysterious fashion and pumped out to all of the tanks in the room and sprayed down on the tanks from misters. 60 minutes of misting per day will result in about 1.6 gallons being added to each aquarium. This would rapidly flood the sump if I hadn't been clever enough to design and overflow into the sump that goes directly to a drain. So that means that the water in the system should be completely replaced approximately every 4 days.

Voila! The frogs get misted and the water gets filtered and changed all without me doing much of anything. The only part I've not quite figured out is how to add in the water conditioner while maintaining my state of extreme laziness.

I've been looking at dosing pumps online but from what I can tell they don't have variable flow rates and are designed to work with relatively small quantities of whatever fluid one is adding to the system. Am I understanding them correctly? Of course, my understanding of dosing pumps is about as clear as my understanding of kalkwasser reactors, since I haven't found anything that really explains how either work in practice.

12-02-2006, 02:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
zeteki Tunicate Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 2 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Automation of R/O Reconstitution Yes, but on a smaller scale. I'm looking at a system for multiple rack systems. Each rack has 12 aquariums each holding 5 gallons of water and there are 5 racks. So here's the plan for the whole system: I think of each rack as a 75-gallon system (there will be a 15 gallon sump on each rack) with it's own closed filtration system. Each aquarium in the system has a standpipe that drains overflow water down a common pipe, through a bag made of filter fabric and into the sump. The sump is divided, with the water first passing over bio balls before entering the second section of the sump, which is basically open water. It's then pumped out of the sump into a canister filter with activated carbon and a 50-micron filter. From there it goes into a series of more refined filters (probably 2 stages here) with the smallest filter being 5 micron. I'll probably have to put a few filters in parallel to get enough volume through. I haven't done the calculations yet. Once the water passes through the filters it's passed back up and returned to the tanks. The filtration system I described above is repeated for each rack of aquariums, while the R/O system services all 5 racks. The R/O unit should have an output of ~150gpd that fills a reserve tank. This water will be reconstituted in some mysterious fashion and pumped out to all of the tanks in the room and sprayed down on the tanks from misters. 60 minutes of misting per day will result in about 1.6 gallons being added to each aquarium. This would rapidly flood the sump if I hadn't been clever enough to design and overflow into the sump that goes directly to a drain. So that means that the water in the system should be completely replaced approximately every 4 days. Voila! The frogs get misted and the water gets filtered and changed all without me doing much of anything. The only part I've not quite figured out is how to add in the water conditioner while maintaining my state of extreme laziness. I've been looking at dosing pumps online but from what I can tell they don't have variable flow rates and are designed to work with relatively small quantities of whatever fluid one is adding to the system. Am I understanding them correctly? Of course, my understanding of dosing pumps is about as clear as my understanding of kalkwasser reactors, since I haven't found anything that really explains how either work in practice.