Auto drip system...how too? Im losin my mind with 26 tanks

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Ya it takes some planning but is well worth it. Unfortunately its always easier to do at the start of a build rather then after its already setup. My setup is just washing filter socks and nothing else other then cleaning the acrylic from algae growth. When you setup a system post pics

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wednesday13, I will suggest drilling the tanks you can, it really is very easy to do. We are just setting up a small fish room with 18 tanks and we used a portable drill press and decided to use 1" bulkhead fittings on all the tanks so we got the 1-3/4" glass hole saw. The first tank we took our time but the remaining tanks took less than 2 minutes per tank to drill them.

It's definitely easier to install the drain piping prior to the tanks or racks but it is doable. We used 3" PVC for the main drain and 1-1/2" from the tanks to the main drain loop. We actually sort of copied the layout that Stephan from Swisstropicals did in his fish room.

We are also using HMF style sponge filters with a central air loop around the room to power the filters. You might want to consider eliminating the use of power filters for your smaller tanks and using air driven sponge filters to save on electrical costs.

We still need to add the auto drip system once the rest of the tanks are in and we work out some clearance issues for the drip system piping.
 
Finally picked up a saddle valve, 1/4" plastic fridge tubing, and have been doing some more research. Recent power outages have also swayed me to get this done quicker. Im starting with all the drains first and heres a pic of an overhead sump i just replaced due to the old one leaking. Good news is i put in a somewhat "unconventional" drain for a drip system on a 650. My question is how to limit/match the drain flow on an overhead setup like this. The drain pipe has a ball valve on it but is there any other way to limit/match the water coming out other than trial and error with the ball valve? I do not think there is enough siphon pressure to just simply put another drip emitter on the end of the drain line. Any ideas are much appreciated. My 2 largest setups run on overheads like this and will both need to have a similiar drain.

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This is the overhead sump with ball valve drain that needs to be regulated the same as the incoming drip. There is a constant 3-4" of water in it as its used for a setteling chamber. The drain pipe is on the left.

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Blaah just realised if theres a power outage, then theres no drain....back to the drawing board i guess. This idea could potentially overflow the tank if the power was out for several hours or a full day. I really dont want to drill a hole and use a bulkhead on pondliner for a "waterlevel" drain. I just dont trust it holding up or even making a seal.

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PVC overflows are pretty reliable and not too hard to make. If you don't want to drill then I would suggest this route. I had my 150 setup with a sump and a 2500 gph pump running completely through these PVC overflows. I had 4 of them running on the same tank from 1-1/2" PVC to ensure I have enough capacity for the flow and it ran for over 2 years with no overflow issues including several power outages. The flow would seem crazy other than I was running a reverse undergravel system which kept the currents to a manageable level for the heavy load of fish. I also had a couple of stacked 20's linked by a 3/4" PVC overflow and a small pump for about the same time period with no issues. The key things is to make sure the screen does not get plugged and that you don't lose siphon. For the low flow you are looking at, a 3/4" one would easily handle the capacity and would not easily plug do to the low flow. For my overflows, I had an air check valve at the top and once a week I would put a small piece of air tube on the end and suck out any air that happened to get in there. It was very little, but there always was some.

Just some thoughts on how to do this...
 
I have two 420 gallon tanks with automatic water changes. I drilled the back of my tanks at a water level that is where i want the surface water to be. it has screens that pop into the overflow bulkheads so it does not get clogged as the water drains after feeding. too add water I used plastic Pipping from a sloop sink that I put in my garage everything is feed from there and drains into a washing machine stand pipe the valves that guy showed you are much better than the ones I have.Mine are plastic shut off valves and are hard to get a slow drip. I change about 100 gallons a day. In the summer time I run only cold water because my house is not aircondition but in the winter I have a mixing valve that you can set to the temperature you want,another thing that you need to address is water conditioner depending on your water quality from the tap. the mixing valve you can get at a plumbing supply company.I had a friend that was a plumber do all the copper work.
 
Thanks for the additional advice guys...i may opt for the pvc overflow on this 650 and just use an aqualifter pump to prevent any loss of siphon. Itd be alot easier to drill it but i just dont trust any bulkheads through pondliner, thats asking for trouble down the road. Ill get there one day lol...26 different tanks on a drip is my end goal. Im trying to get the harder "unconventional" ones done first and go from there. Luckily i have about 7-12 with standard style sumps that will be a breeze.

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1/2 gph too much drip for a 55 gal? Didnt plan on dripping tanks this small and these are the smallest gph emitters i have.

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wednesday13 said:
1/2 gph too much drip for a 55 gal? Didnt plan on dripping tanks this small and these are the smallest gph emitters i have.

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Click to expand...

You're good. I do 1 GPH on my 55's they are grow out tanks

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