Aquatechguy

05/25/2022

Some time ago I stumbled upon Dr Novak videos about anoxic filtration. Couple months ago it inspired me and I decided to reset my 240gal tank and install plenum and no3 reactor.
The effort and work finally paid off. I have my tank now running on auto-pilot so even after 10 days vacation with tank unsupervised, my nitrates are below 5ppm. They used to raise to 40 or so in the same period previously.

I encourage everyone to look into anoxic filtration options and perhaps get something learned from my short video about installing 12 sq.ft plenum in my tank. It's really worth it.

My tank water parameters after 10 days with no wc are solid:
pH 7.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate

Special thanks to Dr Kevin Novak, PhD for inspiring videos about alternate filtering options and anoxic filtration tools and methods.This build was inspired ...

04/20/2022

Today we start building plenum for 6 foot 240gal tank. More in update soon here and YT.

04/18/2020

How to make healthy beef heart mix.

02/02/2020

Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, is a form of carbon to have small pores that increase the surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions. Widely used to condition water including use in fish tank filters, it should always come in small granules or small pellets form because this ensures large adsorption surface for harmful chemicals. Large carbon briquettes some diy projects use in aquarium filters is not good idea because same volume of granulated carbon provide two to three order of magnitude larger adsorption surface vs. brickets, increasing filters efficiency dramatically.

11/28/2019

Frequent water changes in you fishtank does not have to mean lot's of wasted water. If you have a garden sprinkler system or swimming pool, you can recycle tank water effectively saving on utility bill at the same time. Plants will appreciate nitrates present in tank water while chlorine in pool will neutralize any bacteria keeping your pool clean and safe when properly maintained.

11/28/2019

A $15 thermostat add-on (upper right) improves the automatic water change system to level water temperature in both tanks before transferring it to main tank. The main system controller recognizes thermostat presence and displays heating action accordingly (lower left). User can leave it unattended and water transfer will begin automatically once temperature is leveled.

07/11/2019

Test extended to observe how long it takes for chlorine level drop to safe levels. After 4 days (96 hrs) our tap water sample (w/initial chlorine level of 3ppm) shows drop to 0.10ppm, which is double the value considered to be safe for fish. Enough for partial water change (

07/07/2019

Myth #1. "Sitting tap water for 24 hours removes chlorine".
No, it doesn't. Picture below shows measuring chlorine level at the beginning of test right after taking from tap (3.00ppm) and after 24h, the chlorine level remains high (1ppm+) where safe level is 0.05ppm or less. Don't stress your fish, properly condition your tap before doing wc.

05/21/2019

This weekend, we will be drilling internal overflow box using underwater Nemo power drill in fully stocked 200gal+ aquarium. Stay tuned!

05/20/2019

05/11/2019

Platinum R240 tank+hood+stand set by ATM: post delivery inspection, adaptation for freshwater use and seal testing. It's solid tank made in US, comes with matching stand and canopy equipped with touchpanel, thermometer probe, clock & timer to control built in canopy multicolor LED lights. Tank comes bottom drilled for center 2in drain and two 1in return/emg bulkheads. The internal jewel box type overflow is ready to serve saltwater tank but here I used it to conceal drain and return pipes from two out of three canister filters. See comments under photos. Thanks for looking.

05/10/2019

FX series canister filter wc discharge connected to drain solenoid valve enables automatic water changes w/minimum supervision.
https://youtu.be/g1EaXuhyDhc