Automatic Water Level

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
CHOMPERS said:
Nice thinking. BTW, hostility was not intended. The other comments were not directed at you. There are inconsiderate jack holes that troll the DIY section looking to start some conflict. Of all things, one of them even has no demonstratable talents but persists coming to the DIY board and trying to stir "it" up.

Also creative thinking will get you farther in life than anything else. (Except maybe sleeping with the bosses wife. :naughty: of course that could get you a new job too.)

To develop your design further, think of what could go wrong (from the simplest to the worse case scenario.) What could you do to prevent the problems that could occur. (hint: how could you prevent an overflow, what could happen during a power outage.) Also what could be done to make it even more automatic (anything to removing the human element).
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THIS IS NOT A KRITIZIZM... :D

With the drip system and your system how do you treat the water for chlorine (etc,) before it gets to the fish. ( seriuos part of question )

You could use a syphon system but regulating that would be crazy. Metering pump hooked to a float switch so when water valve opens, it turns on for a preset time (oh yea need a timer) ... hhmmm... Rube Goldberg comes to mind ..atleast if I'm building it he would. :grinyes: :grinyes:
 
depending on the amount of chlorine and the rate of your drip system, most of the chlorine will dissiapte into the air before it harms anything.. also the more aggitation the faster it will dissappear
 
dodgefreak8 said:
depending on the amount of chlorine and the rate of your drip system, most of the chlorine will dissiapte into the air before it harms anything.. also the more aggitation the faster it will dissappear
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Agreed on the drip system ( sort of/depends on volume ). How about the flush system?
 
There is a much easier system that is used for automatic top offs of aquariums that is mainly marketed to reef aquarium owners who can have evaporation levels of as much as 5-10 percent the total water volume per day.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...oduct_Code=ULTRA-FLOATSW&Category_Code=Dosers

When the water level in your tank is lowered by a fraction of the inch the sensor attached senses that and turns on a pump in a different container which tops off the water in your tank. When the water level is back to normal it turns the pump off. The only down side is that a powerhead can cost a minimum of $20, the system cost $60 so in the end you are looking at $90-$100 worth of equipment, not really worth it in a tank where 5% of the volume might get evaportated in maybe a month.

An advantage of it though is that you can treat the water with what ever you want instead of running it out of a tap and no holes in the walls are neccacary, an ugly bucket, and some cables are though.
 
Dr Joe said:
THIS IS NOT A KRITIZIZM... :D
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Cool, you gots one of those new spelling/grammar chechers that comes standard wtih public edumacations these days! I gots me one two, and it wanst hard to find.

Now if I could only find an online translator to convert todays spelling to the stuff they taught back in the day...

Dr Joe said:
With the drip system and your system how do you treat the water for chlorine (etc,) before it gets to the fish. ( seriuos part of question )
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The idea of the drip system is that there is not enough chlorine introduced when it is mixed with the rest of the water. Drip rates are as low as one gallon per hour. In a 100 gallon tank, that should not add enough chlorine to cause harm in the fish. Hmmm, I wonder if there is any connection to the myth that goldfish have only a three second memory.

Dr Joe said:
... hhmmm... Rube Goldberg comes to mind ...
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and don't forget the system dropping a peanut into a tray, a squirrel picking it up, carrying it across the room to its den, repeating this action until the weight of the den tips a scale, flipping a switch...
 
dodgefreak8 said:
depending on the amount of chlorine and the rate of your drip system, most of the chlorine will dissiapte into the air before it harms anything.. also the more aggitation the faster it will dissappear
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Hey DF8, sorry to have missed your post. You beat me to the answer and I answered again. Different wording, but the same idea. When THE DOCTOR IS IN, I tend to focus on his posts. He usually thinks on a higher plane and I like the mental stimulation. I guess us nerds run in packs :D

I couldn't find that other thread but I found something that you might like. The number two car of 1973:

charger 1.jpg
 
Dr Joe said:
Agreed on the drip system ( sort of/depends on volume ). How about the flush system?
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I thought it was just to be humorous. It is where I got my inspiration. Not saying that is where I do my best thinking, but the idea. If you can flush a toilet with one push, why can't you do the same with a fish tank. The all to familiar WOOSH would be a little disturbing for the family though. As for chlorine, the water too would have to be aged or a de-chlor chemical added before filling. Well, before flushing anyway. I use Sodium Thiosulfate crystals so I have to add them before adding the water just to help them dissolve. The main problem with using a toilet tank mounted above the aquarium is that it will deliver the water faster than any humanly known overflow would handle the extra water. Four inch plumbing would probably handle the rush of water, but it would likely distract attention away from the fish...if they didn't get sucked in first.
 
CHOMPERS said:
Hey DF8, sorry to have missed your post. You beat me to the answer and I answered again. Different wording, but the same idea. When THE DOCTOR IS IN, I tend to focus on his posts. He usually thinks on a higher plane and I like the mental stimulation. I guess us nerds run in packs :D

I couldn't find that other thread but I found something that you might like. The number two car of 1973:
Click to expand...

What's this, 'The neighbors car'... huh..Huh? :drool:
 
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