Auto Water change

[fishguy1978]

I have a cold water tap in my fish room and am going to purpose it for a auto water change system. I have the drip irrigation parts and 3/4in pvc pipe and fittings. The drip irrigation parts are 1/2in. I am wondering, should I use 1/2in to maintain pressure or 3/4in that for volume? I plan to run this to 13 of my tanks using a mix of 1/gph, 2/gph and 4/gph drip emitters. I have a basic irrigation controller that will allow me to set run times with the plan to run 1-2hrs of drip so that over the course of a month each tank will have 100% volume change.

 

[Tj203]

I have a cold water tap in my fish room and am going to purpose it for a auto water change system. I have the drip irrigation parts and 3/4in pvc pipe and fittings. The drip irrigation parts are 1/2in. I am wondering, should I use 1/2in to maintain pressure or 3/4in that for volume? I plan to run this to 13 of my tanks using a mix of 1/gph, 2/gph and 4/gph drip emitters. I have a basic irrigation controller that will allow me to set run times with the plan to run 1-2hrs of drip so that over the course of a month each tank will have 100% volume change.

1/4 ro tube is good for 30 gph 1/2 will be fine

 

[fishguy1978]

Has any one used the press to fit drip lines with out leakage?

 

[Tj203]

If you mean this then yes lol

 

[fishdance]

why don't you drip 24 hours / 7 days a week (continously) at a slower drip rate to give you the same water change volume you seek ? No irrigation controller needed so cheaper, simpler and more reliable.

Dripping slow gives you more dwell time in carbon filter, more even temperature over winter, less chance of leaks because the water pressure is much lower. You can switch to 4mm black flexible micro irrigation tube at low pressure so about 90% cheaper, almost invisible and much easier to install.

 

[Tj203]

why don't you drip 24 hours / 7 days a week (continously) at a slower drip rate to give you the same water change volume you seek ? No irrigation controller needed so cheaper, simpler and more reliable.

Dripping slow gives you more dwell time in carbon filter, more even temperature over winter, less chance of leaks because the water pressure is much lower. You can switch to 4mm black flexible micro irrigation tube at low pressure so about 90% cheaper, almost invisible and much easier to install.

Not sure if you are talking to me but thats what I did. I used the kit to hook up the ice maker in the refrigerator and just taped in to a pipe under the tank. Took me 10 min. Also mine is ran in the wall and in the sump so I don't see it.

 

[fishguy1978]

why don't you drip 24 hours / 7 days a week (continously) at a slower drip rate to give you the same water change volume you seek ? No irrigation controller needed so cheaper, simpler and more reliable.

Dripping slow gives you more dwell time in carbon filter, more even temperature over winter, less chance of leaks because the water pressure is much lower. You can switch to 4mm black flexible micro irrigation tube at low pressure so about 90% cheaper, almost invisible and much easier to install.

I already have the controller, don't use carbon, and by only dripping for an hour or two I don't have to worry about temp variation as much. Water supply only has chlorine so no need for carbon either.
260g and 220g will get 4/gph
120g will get 2/gph
55g and 29g will get 1/pgh
I can always up drip schedule if needed. I did get the micro irrigation tubing too. I have three 4 port drip heads that will thread onto 1/2in pvc adapters. I will have to build 3 circuits to disperse around the room. One will feed the 29g (8 total) rack, second will feed the 55g, 260g and the 220g and the third will feed the 120g. I may add the L. Tang cichlid tanks to the system but this will require closer monitoring of the ph if I continue to buffer or just ween them off of such a high ph. My tap water is 7.5-8.0.

 

[dogofwar]

You can use 1/2" or 3/4" - really doesn't mater. My fishroom is on an auto-water change system that is drip irrigation. I use 3/4" irrigation line as the main loop with branches plugged directly into the main line and flowing into the tanks. I have 60 or so tanks so I run it on different zones.

In a prior fishroom i tried to get scientific and use the emitters to know how much water was going into each tank. In the end, I just pulled them off and ran the system wide open into tanks - with 2-3 lines in bigger tanks and 1 to smaller ones. You want to change more than 100% of each tank per month. I do about 20-25% per day.

 

[fishdance]

as long as your satisfied then that's the best method for you.

Irrigation controllers do fail and their batteries get flat.

You get more mess/flood/water damage when a high pressure line leaks than a low pressure line.

Compensating drippers deliver a precise volume under a wide range of pressures. Amazingly accurate and makes life much easier.

* Use black tube, not clear as the algae & biofilm build up affects flow and clogs drippers.

* Keep all the drippers above water. You can visually see them working every time you walk past.

 

[fishguy1978]

Mag Drive 9.5 rated to perform:
GPH at 0': 975 GPH at 1': 780
GPH at 3': 740 GPH at 5': 685
GPH at 7': 610 GPH at 10': 450

I am pumping vertically just under 6ft and then horizontally 5ft. Between 8 29g aquariums this head pressure would turn over 3x/hr. I am using 3/4in drains for each tank. The top rack will drain directly into the lower rack tanks which will then drain into the 32g black tote sump. I will continue to run air stones or sponge filters in some of the tanks. I am considering just running the water change continuously on the rack.