How I never do water changes on the Grotto, the 300 gallons wild discus tank
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- čas přidán 24. 07. 2024
- Ok, the “never do water change” might be a little bit misleading, since water change is still needed, it's just that I never have to do it myself。
Let me know if you have any question regarding the process and the components of the auto water change system.
For more videos on info on the Grotto, check out my other videos and also be sure to follow for more :)
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Thank you, looks simple and very effective! Hope to do one like you one day
Thks! Yep, keep it simple and u have less of a chance to fail :)
I've never seen anyone build the way you do , they might be my 2 favorite aquariums on YT . Keep doing whatever you think is best and I wish you all the sanity and success in 2024 to your whole family
Oh thanks so much! My best wish to u and urs as well :D
You are so right - I hate water changes too so I automate mine for my stock ponds - I also did auto change when I had Aquariums.
Ya! Automation is the best :D
Happy 🎉 New Years 😊!!! Great Job 👏
Happy new yr! Thanks! 😆🙌
That system must save you a lot of time. Thanks for sharing.
Oh absolutely! Keep the fish happy too :)
😲 by the power of Grayskull..! That’s impressive
Thks!
Please also do a video on auto water change for canister filter.
Sure
Thanks for sharing! May I ask how do you remineralize the water that comes in since it is RO? I assume it wouldn’t be too good for the fish if it’s pure water. Thanks!
RO can’t remove all the minerals, it’s not RODI, so no remineralize needed :)
@@TMKAquarist so what does the GH, KH and TDS of your water end up being after it goes through the RO? My tap water is already so soft it ends up with a TDS of around 8 after just the RO. Also curious how you fertilize with this type of system.
Awesome display mate i've got a similar setup but mines a constant water change system. Basically has a drain and a constant feed of water through an ro aka twin carbon block filter..... gotta say I will never set up a discus tank any other way haven't touched it for 3 months now. I was still doing water changes with it but now i'm confident with it and just let it go discus and other fish happy as breeding constantly even got shrimp and baby corys so yes to the nay sayers you can keep other species with discus ....anyway mate awesome set up and amazing display it's the only way to truely sit back and enjoy this hobby
Ya for sure! What’s the rate that u r draining and refilling? That’s interesting, I wonder if it would be more of a dilution in the long term though 🤔 it’s so cool to find out how everyone’s own way of doing things 😆🙌
approx 75 litres a day 500l system essentially its same as what your doing except its constant and is gravity feed so drain and constant drip with a float valve for redundancy. Been running the system almost a year now but last 3 months as a test i've just let it go the idea was to replicate a stream or river. My discus are domestic imports so i realise that they are tank reared, but in the major farms this is common as is large daily changes. So basically that was the idea behind it was to replicate the constant removal of old water like a river in essence yes your diluting I also feed 3 times a day hence the larger turn over, but essentially its much the same just a different way and not electronic. Its a great topic and somewhat controversial in the hobby but it works, but once again i love your set up ....im not that techy either and hate apps. Lastly encase your wondering a big g'day from australia i love your tank and content also a big fan of the king of diy who unfortunately i missed when he was here recently, keep the great content and inspiration coming. @@TMKAquarist
@@simonmetham3846 Thk u Thk u! Ya that makes sense 😄🙌
sorry mate one last question your plants are thriving do you run co2 or just dosing with ferts and lastly do you vac the base at all out of curiosity sorry for the barrage of questions but these systems aren't overly common in the discus world especially oz.
@@TMKAquarist
@@simonmetham3846 no co2, no fert, and no vac 😆🙌
Great idea to keep sump outside the house. What is the lowest temperature during the winter?Thanks
It’s gets to low 50f here in Southern California
Well it does make sense now, here in Irl temp are going down some times to -10 celsius, I don’t know how efficient will be to keep the sump outside…
Awesome system…. How do you control the RO to stop when the level is right. Also how do u remineralize the small amount of RO that’s coming in.
So the solenoid I mentioned in the video is how the refill stops. Once the water is at the sensor level, the solenoid shuts the water off.
@@TMKAquarist possible to show some more information on the solenoid and sensor setup you use to refill
@@benattokaran I’ll make a follow up video on it :)
Thanks for sharing your system. Just curious. Where did you get your wild discus from and how much per fish? I’ve priced them from Wattleys from Gabe in Florida and they can be $250 each or more. Yikes!!!
Depending on the size and quality, $250 could be a rip off or a good deal even, without seeing the fish, it’ll be hard to make a judgement. But ya, wild discus is very expensive. Think about the labor of catching them, packing them, and shipping them all the way from Brazil lol
Because of you, I will tear down my house because of the aquarium😅. This will be the end of manual renewal of the aquarium water.😅
Woot woot 🙌
What about the remineralization for healthy GH and KH levels?
It’s ro, not rodi, so it doesn’t stripe all the minerals, and the remaining minerals is fine for South America fish.
Beautiful wild discus! So, do you ever clean/vacuum the bottom of the tank? How do you get the debris out of the system?
That's one thing I'm struggling with. I have a 180g rainbowfish-only tank on a continuous drip water change system. Water gets dripped into a reservoir connected to the sump and overflows to a basement drainage. Though I don't do manual "water changes", once in a while, I have to vacuum the fish poop out of the tank bottom. I've been thinking about ways to remove the debris without manual work, talking about maximizing laziness :) I don't think I'll ever be able to keep another tank without an auto water change system. What level of nitrate do you keep in the tank? And temp? Your fish look healthy and happy.
Hi, thanks! So the drip system is ok, but there is a potential of build up over time, since drip is really just a dilution. But then if u have more water to fish ratio, then it could potentially be fine for a long time. For the bottom debris, u can have a strong current and a bottom inlet for the filtration that can efficiently capture them, and hire some corys to clean ur substrate for u. The nitrate in this tank is nearly zero, temp is 83f
Bottom inlet? @@TMKAquarist
Do you mind to explain what do you mean bottom inlet?Thanks a mill
@@rajadey4919 ya, having an inlet to a canister on the very bottom of the tank
@@jozephjozeph6746 an inlet to a canister on the bottom of the tank :)
Do you do water changes with just R/o water? Or do you add anything to the r/o?
Lastly, what is the tds of the grotto?
I’m busy planning a similar setup for discus… 1025 litres and I cannot imagine doing manual water changes on it 😂
Ya straight RO. Mine has around 70 TDS in the tank, and my RO from the filter is around 30. The TDS level that RO produces depends on ur local water. Ya doing manual water change is such a chore
@@TMKAquarist Thank you🙏🏼 My RO comes out ar around 27. I’m just wondering how the tds in the main tank stays up with..
Thanks for the response! I love your work, it’s a huge inspiration:)
@@duktrilfromsouthafrica thks for the kind words!
The RETURN PUMP is turned OFF during this small water change ( 15 - 20 gallon ) procedure?
No, it stays on
@@TMKAquarist In this automotive process of changing water in the return chamber of the sump..how do you maintain the Kh ( dKH ) parameter of the pure RO water which you are using since anything below 2dKH will enable PH swings and eventual crash. RO water in it's pure form has little to no Kh and without the buffering capacity to retain a stable Ph level. Ph swings are near fatal to discus and a 3dKH of 50 ppm is very much required for a stable Kh parameter and a stabilized Ph level.
@@rajadey4919 ro depends on ur local water, it can’t stripe that much minerals, it’s not rodi. So even pure ro, it’ll only bring ph down to 6.5 to 6.7 with my local water.
@@TMKAquarist Ok. Thank you and If it's possible for a automated water changes through canister filter..please upload a video.
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What's your power bill like 😂
Not too bad, got solar panels ;)
I thoroughly enjoy your videos and like your approach to everything you do. Grotto, Living Wall style, etc. but actually saying "No More Water Changes" is not so true... you perform water changes every day, just not manual water changes. I do envy you, though.
Yep for sure! I realized that when I was editing haha, in my mind I was thinking abt the action of doing water change manually ;P so I mentioned it in the description 😛
@TMKAquarist Hey, it gets people to watch. In the end, this is no lazy man's hobby, though it shows you are far from that. I enjoy everything you do.
@@michaelharris1779 I 100% agree! 🙌 thank u!
Not complex !?? 🤦🏻♂️ this setup definition of beyond complex
Finally discovered what’s underneath that mesmerizing, hypnotic tip of the iceberg aka Grotto 😢
Haha I guess I’m comparing it to reef tanks. It was complicated for me when I first started tinkering with the setup, but I’ve just gotten used to it by now I guess, so it doesn’t seem complicated to me anymore
@@TMKAquarist oh yes! Am just few years into this hobby and when I see such live creations it’s just so much to process and seems impossible for me to ever be in such a position ever, really!
You are gifted and blessed no doubt 🙌🏼
Have to get a pilots license first then license to drive the system 😂. I'm happy watering my lawn with water change.
I do not enjoy doing water changes
🫡🤝