so for the last six months I've been in Afghanistan i have dedicated 95% of my free time in planning my new tank and plumbing system for my return home. after a lot of contemplation I've decided on my drip system and would like a bit of feedback. Initially the drip system will be feeding my 300 gallon FW tank and my 55 Gallon FW tank, and later on down the road it will also run to my 125 SW tank. I'm working on creating a diagram on Google sketch up for everything but for now I'll just write it out.
The system starts by putting a Y on the cold facet for my washing machine. one part will run to my machine, the other will run through an armadillo hose to my 240 gallon water reservoir tank attached by a heavy duty float valve (http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/WATTS-Float-Valve-Assembly-2ZDN7) that will fill and shut off as the water levels drops. inside the 240 gal there will be 2 large round air stones to aerate the water. outside of it connected via bulkheads will be a 300gph pump pulling water in from the right and pushing water out on the left (creating a continuous cyclone effect. i am attaching an in line heater (http://www.marinedepot.com/heaters_hydor_eth_inline_in-line-ap.html) on the out line and a UV sterilizer on the In.
At the base of the 240 gallon will be a bulk head fitted with PVC running to an adjacent 55 Gallon food grade barrel. the PVC will attach to a bulkhead float switch. the switch will have two points, (on and off) when the barrel gets down to 10 gallons it will open the valve and let water in from the 240 and when it reaches 50 gallons it will close the valve.
inside the 55 gallon there will be a small (probably a power head) pump in the corner to keep the water spiraling like it does in the 240, and a second float switch with a single point at the top of the barrel. every time the barrel hits the 50 gallon mark it will trigger the water doser to add in a water dechlorinator (which will get mixed in via the cyclone effect going on in the barrel)
at the bottom of the barrel is yet another bulkhead which will attach to an external pump (its external for a reason) this pump will push the water through lines to my tanks, where they will be attached to drip regulators and slowly drop water into my tanks. :-D. each tank has an overflow system that drains outside to my wife's garden.
thats the basis for the first step in my system. step two will be incorporating my SW tank. In order to do this the way i wanted i had to bargain with my wife (there were many promises involved but the biggest was no more fish tanks, i'm allowed 3 and thats it) so i could purchase a Dialyseas system :-D (http://www.seavisions.com/prod02.htm) (i'll be getting the new 2011 model) once i have the system (thank god for saving money on deployment) then i will replace the external pump on the 55 gallon drum with an RO/DI booster pump so it puts out at 60 PSI (thats why it had to be external) and i will tie in another line that will lead to my dialyseas system, which will then take care of the rest of the SW maintenance i need (ro/di, salt, calcium etc) with the waste line being plumbed into the "to the flower bed" overflow system.
Well that's the whole set up, please feel free to leave all thoughts the more info i have the better this will be. as soon as i can finish the diagram i will definitely put it up.
The system starts by putting a Y on the cold facet for my washing machine. one part will run to my machine, the other will run through an armadillo hose to my 240 gallon water reservoir tank attached by a heavy duty float valve (http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/WATTS-Float-Valve-Assembly-2ZDN7) that will fill and shut off as the water levels drops. inside the 240 gal there will be 2 large round air stones to aerate the water. outside of it connected via bulkheads will be a 300gph pump pulling water in from the right and pushing water out on the left (creating a continuous cyclone effect. i am attaching an in line heater (http://www.marinedepot.com/heaters_hydor_eth_inline_in-line-ap.html) on the out line and a UV sterilizer on the In.
At the base of the 240 gallon will be a bulk head fitted with PVC running to an adjacent 55 Gallon food grade barrel. the PVC will attach to a bulkhead float switch. the switch will have two points, (on and off) when the barrel gets down to 10 gallons it will open the valve and let water in from the 240 and when it reaches 50 gallons it will close the valve.
inside the 55 gallon there will be a small (probably a power head) pump in the corner to keep the water spiraling like it does in the 240, and a second float switch with a single point at the top of the barrel. every time the barrel hits the 50 gallon mark it will trigger the water doser to add in a water dechlorinator (which will get mixed in via the cyclone effect going on in the barrel)
at the bottom of the barrel is yet another bulkhead which will attach to an external pump (its external for a reason) this pump will push the water through lines to my tanks, where they will be attached to drip regulators and slowly drop water into my tanks. :-D. each tank has an overflow system that drains outside to my wife's garden.
thats the basis for the first step in my system. step two will be incorporating my SW tank. In order to do this the way i wanted i had to bargain with my wife (there were many promises involved but the biggest was no more fish tanks, i'm allowed 3 and thats it) so i could purchase a Dialyseas system :-D (http://www.seavisions.com/prod02.htm) (i'll be getting the new 2011 model) once i have the system (thank god for saving money on deployment) then i will replace the external pump on the 55 gallon drum with an RO/DI booster pump so it puts out at 60 PSI (thats why it had to be external) and i will tie in another line that will lead to my dialyseas system, which will then take care of the rest of the SW maintenance i need (ro/di, salt, calcium etc) with the waste line being plumbed into the "to the flower bed" overflow system.
Well that's the whole set up, please feel free to leave all thoughts the more info i have the better this will be. as soon as i can finish the diagram i will definitely put it up.
. One tank use unfiltered tap water for water changes and the other tank use prime or whatever you use no more than 10% a week. A simple sponge filter for filtration. Go a year on this test, remember your getting lots of free feeders! Keep track of the feeders and which tank is producing more, less, or the same amount of babies. I already know the results and no one will believe you anyway so keep the results to yourself. The sooner you do this test the sooner you’re going to save errr spend your money differently. When it comes to fish keeping I spend every dime 
