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rdavidw

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About rdavidw

  • Birthday 09/27/1968

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    http://www.watersavings.com

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    Urbana, MD

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  1. Thanks DaJMasta! I do occasionally get some spots slime algae and run some GFO to knock it out. I only do a 50 gallon water change every three months. I think I will try it out, not very expensive and it will save my re-mineralization stage by isolating it to the drinking water side.
  2. Greetings and thank you in advance for your advice. I am pondering adding a BRS resin kit - https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/triple-di-saver-kit-with-resin-and-tds-meter-bulk-reef-supply-bundle.html Are there benefits to a resin kit beyond reducing the TDS further? If I am getting around 3 TDS consistently from just my RO system would it still make sense to get a DI resin kit? I have a Watts Zero Waste RO system that has been heavily modified. I am on well water and my incoming TDS is around 148. I am running a pair of membranes in parallel and use a normally open solenoid valve to bypass the flow restrictors on the brine line. When the pressure switch hits 50 psi the pump turns off and the inlet solenoid closes and the bypass solenoid opens and drains into a floor drain, de-pressurizing the membranes. When the system powers back up the bypass closes and the brine line is pumped back into the house water further upstream. It only waste about a cup of water down the drain each time the system cuts off and its all automatic. Works great, with the bypass flush I am getting very little TDS creep. I am getting about 2 or 3 TDS at start up and it climbs to about 7-9 TDS and will then gradually fall to 1 TDS. I have a pair of 25 gallon pressure storage tanks that are plumbed together. I use the RO water for a top-up reservoir and 50 gallon water change reservoir for a 150 gallon reef tank. I also use the system for a home brewery and have a drinking water line throughout the house. I have a re-mineralization stage before the storage tanks on a 1/4" line, everything after that is on 3/8" tubing. After the storage tanks I have a polishing carbon stage and a 25 watt UV. If adding a DI kit would be a noticeable improvement for my reef tank, I am guessing that I would not want to have it on the high flow 3/8" line after the storage tanks. I am also guessing that I don't want to use the DI resin kit on my drinking and brewing water? I could make one of my two 25 gallon storage tanks just for the reef tank so it would go RO --> DI stages --> storage tank # 1 --> reef tank. The other line from the RO would go re-mineralization stage, --> storage tank #2 --> polishing stage --> UV --> brew kettle and drinking water. Thanks!
  3. Anyone know what this is? It started off almost black then turned to a cream color.
  4. Agreed on the Aqua UV classic. Rock solid unit. I had a cheap early model UV from another company that had a twist tube that was some type of plastic. The water flow got clogged and then the heat from the UV bulb burned and melted the plastic twist tube and then the salt water cracked the bulb. Luckily the fuse blew and there was no fire. Have been running a 40 watt Aqua UV for about ten years now and replace the bulb each year. Over that decade I had to replace one transformer and one quarts sleeve (I broke it changing a bulb). That is not bad. About two years ago I decided to remove it from my system on someone's recommendation. The tank lost it's shimmery super clear look and I hooked it back up after about a month.
  5. Here are some photos of how the tank is maturing.
  6. The only thing that was off topic was talking about the reef tank. I am not part of a local club. I may join this Frederick MD based club at some point: Frederick's Original Ale Makers That may be a bit of a drive for you. Check out: Freestate Homebrew Club Guild I make 12 gallon batches of wine about four times a year. I have been using Eclipse Kits but am looking into a group share on a bladder press. I used to work at a winery about 30 years ago. The nice thing about the kits is the pH is spot on, which can be tricky going straight from grapes. It's also hard to get just the right amount of bees and flies caught in the press. Cheers!
  7. Chuck, the frags I got look amazing! Could you help me out with what is this: It's beautiful. Right now I have the frag set in between some rocks near the bottom of my tank to keep it out of the strong current. Should I move it up to get more light and what is the best way to secure it in my tank? Do you recommend some JB Water Weld or super glue? Thanks again and beautiful tank.
  8. Here is more of my setup on Home Brew Talk: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/new-home-basement-bar.663517/#post-8573529 I have a pair of these 1/2 hp chillers: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-1-2-HP-CHILLER-AQUARIUM-WATER-SALT-WATER-CORAL-REEF-HYDROPONICS/153194537913?hash=item23ab1b23b9:m:mD_fBU7eO2r-i9yvPBYThqA One is on my reef tank and the other is on my brewing fermenter setup. It hard to see in the photo but the chiller is on the lower shelf. There are three pumps in a glycol bath in a cooler behind the fermenters. Each pump is on a separate controller. One is set to 28F and powers on the chiller and the chiller pump. The other two each maintain a fermenter with a stainless coil in each. They are two stage controllers with heating pads under them. Works great. I can cold crash both of them down to 37F easily. I also use it for my yeast starters. The thing on the left in the photo is a stainless pot with a stir plate mounted under it and a cooper coil in it. I put the 2L starter in it and set the temp and that is it. Goes from a boil to pitch temp in about 12 min and then holds that temp. My lager beers are always the first ones to kick when entertaining but I still make lots of ales. The lagers take longer to make and its kind of a hassle to manually do the dozen or so temp step ups and downs. Surprisingly, it's been a game changer for my non-lager high gravity beers. I pitch at the cold range of the yeast to slow it down and keep the yeast from getting too sloppy and slowly ramp up the temp until the style yeast has gone as far as it can. I then pitch and re-pitch a champagne yeast. I have gotten some 12% barley wines to come out very crisp and clean with this glycol setup. I don't use stainless fermenters. Just cheap and easy Speidel 30L. I have four, two on the glycol and two off. Stainless is a little easier to clean but harder to insulate. I have five 6 gallon Better Bottles and a glass carboy I use to filter with a vacuum sealer. This is my HERMS set up: The fourth kettle on the right is a steamer for crabs and lobster bakes. Not part of the brew setup but just as important. My only burner is a single 3500 Watt induction burner. I pump my sparge water from the BK with a stainless coil in it to my HLT with no coil. I'm sure that sentence will make complete sense to everyone here on WAMAS. Cheers to thriving yeast in your fermenters and thriving bacteria in your reef tank.
  9. I was able to edit the original post and re-upload the photos. Don't know why they were down.
  10. Sounds like fun! Will also trade beer for cheap frags.
  11. Nice setup YHSublime! Man, I got a soft spot in my hart (and probably my liver) for mead. Just opened a 2009 bottle. I know I guy who uses his skimmate as a fertilizer to grow weed and swears it somehow makes it magical. Weed is not my thing and I don"t think skimmate would work well for brewing. We have all seen some beautiful thriving reef tanks run on some very modest equipment, and, more often the inverse. I find homebrewing is the same way. Can't buy experience and a solid process but well designed quality equipment sure helps. I have heard good things about the Grainfather. Did you get the expanded grain bin that can do a almost 20lb grain bill? I am still doing 5 gallon beer batches and brew two or three times a month. I do 12 gallon wine batches. We entertain quite a bit. I keep 12 five gallon kegs full - six on tap (two taps are nitro), two in cold storage and four at room temp. So nice to run into another reefer here on the home brew talk site. Cheers!
  12. Don't want to get too far off topic, but the beer and the urinal do complement the tank well. I make 5 gallon batches at a time, from water grain and hops. I also make wine. On the six taps, I typically keep a mead, an apple wine, two dark beers, a lager and a big IPA. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/new-home-basement-bar.663517/ The two hobbies play well together. Both are part art and part science and you can get great results using mostly one or the other. I started with a salt tank back around 1990 and started making beer and wine a few years after that. I had a part time job just out of collage working in a winery.
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