DIY Drip System, what do you think?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
A lot easier to understand with the pictures.......

It looks like it will work fine, of course you never know till you actually build it. Nothing stands out as a blatant error. I'm looking forward to seeing this up and running.

Another option, depending on your drain, would be put that last pump going from the 55 to the fish tank on a timer. Run it for 10 minutes every hour or some other frequency that would be determined at a later date. That way the pump wouldn't be forcing water through a drip regulator 24/7 causing it to fail sooner than designed.

or

Put a return loop on that last pump (like a Y) so most of the water goes back into the 55 and only 1 or 2 GPH actually makes it to the tank. It would be a simple ball valve, easy to control if you wanted to add more GPH to your tank. This would put less head pressure on that pump and add to the mixing in the 55 for the same or possibly less electricity.
 
i really like the second idea thank you. i've got about a month left in country and then i will be home :-D my guess is 2 weeks after i'm home i'll atleast have everything together and hopefully test running.
 
And here I thought I over engineered things. Is there a reason for the UV filter on the storage tank? Good luck with the build.
 
Hmmm....

If you don't mind the noise I would have the pump outlet on the 240 ("Water in" in your diagram) above the water line of the 240. This will induce a lot of extra air and bubbles which will will condition the water much quicker... maybe even eliminating the need for the bubble stones. Any kind of interference object you added into the 240 for the water to splash off of would increase this oxygenation process. Heck, just put a submersible water fountain pump in the 240 to get a nice spray of water and lots of water aeration.

The EHT heaters are great for getting unsightly heaters out of a display tank... in your application I think you would be better served by a good old submersible heater in the 240. I have an EHT and love it but I can't run it on my bigger filters because is restricts the water flow too much. This would also allow you to use a submersible pump in the 240. Wasted heat from a submersible pump would go into the water instead of the surrounding air.

Can you locate the 50 gallon barrel above the level of your aquariums? This would allow you to feed the drip system via gravity instead of a constantly running a pump. You could then use an electrical float switch in the 50 to turn on a pump in the 240 to fill the 50... or even open and close two electric valves on the output to the main pump to redirect the pump output from the 240 into the 50 until the 50 is filled... then switch back.

To induce a cyclone in the 50 gallon round barrel maybe a paddle mixer would be more efficient than a pump. Basically just a couple of paddles submersed in the water going round and round.
140.jpg

140.jpg
 
^^^^ I agree with all of this! The heater is a very good point. I never used the inline heaters for the same reason, flow restriction. I just hide my heaters in my sump.
 
mungkee said:
And here I thought I over engineered things. Is there a reason for the UV filter on the storage tank? Good luck with the build.
Click to expand...

there's not a direct reason per say... it just seemed to make sense seeing as the 240 will be in my garage, i figured open container in garage, probably should have something to keep the water clean.. as for over engineering.. i'd say probably my biggest fault with this (as well as the rest of my tank plans) is that i've had waaay too long to think about them so i just keep adding one thing after another like.. "oh.. you know what would make it better!! this would be good too!"

Oughtsix said:
Hmmm....

If you don't mind the noise I would have the pump outlet on the 240 ("Water in" in your diagram) above the water line of the 240. This will induce a lot of extra air and bubbles which will will condition the water much quicker... maybe even eliminating the need for the bubble stones. Any kind of interference object you added into the 240 for the water to splash off of would increase this oxygenation process. Heck, just put a submersible water fountain pump in the 240 to get a nice spray of water and lots of water aeration.

The EHT heaters are great for getting unsightly heaters out of a display tank... in your application I think you would be better served by a good old submersible heater in the 240. I have an EHT and love it but I can't run it on my bigger filters because is restricts the water flow too much. This would also allow you to use a submersible pump in the 240. Wasted heat from a submersible pump would go into the water instead of the surrounding air.

Can you locate the 50 gallon barrel above the level of your aquariums? This would allow you to feed the drip system via gravity instead of a constantly running a pump. You could then use an electrical float switch in the 50 to turn on a pump in the 240 to fill the 50... or even open and close two electric valves on the output to the main pump to redirect the pump output from the 240 into the 50 until the 50 is filled... then switch back.

To induce a cyclone in the 50 gallon round barrel maybe a paddle mixer would be more efficient than a pump. Basically just a couple of paddles submersed in the water going round and round.
View attachment 691209
Click to expand...

the noise wont be an issue, this set up is going in my garage so it can be a bit loud and it wont bother anything so i definitely will put the water into the tank line above the water line to help condition it more. as for the heater i'd considered a submersible one, in all honesty the inline one just seemed a bit cooler :-P although i didnt know about the water restriction. the cyclone effect inside the 55 doesn't have to be large at all.. literally just enough to move the water so it mixes with the dechlorinator. the pump i have for the 240 (http://www.thepondoutlet.com/home/tpo/page_2992_237/quiet_one_pond_pumps_by_lifegard_aquatics.html) has the option of being submersible or external but if i place it inside of the tank, even if i still run the softline out of the tank and then to the inlet section wont that extremely diminsh my cyclone effect? i really want the water in the 240 spinning so that the water conditions as much as possible. looking over it, i might even go ahead and buy a larger pump than the one i have so that its getting just that much more turbulence.

i really like the ideas guys thanks very much :-D
 
Most of us are the "less is more" type of personality, so this advice we give you is geared more towards optimizing than anything else. IMO, if the pump is submersible then use it that way. The extra heat will be transferred to the water saving you on heating cost. Also a submersible pump uses less bulkhead fittings saving the cost of those fittings and possible leak points.

A bubbler would also work in that 240 tank but not as fun I guess. Most of the chlorine would out gas in a couple hours in the 240 with an open top, bubbler, and heater. Then move the water to the 55 and dose it also with a bubbler, then trickle the water into the tank.

Still a fun project and that's why we do the stuff we do............... Post up some pics when you start building this!

 
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4587+20171&pcatid=20171

p-70495-48812-fish-supply.jpg = vortex inducer!

Yep, I understand "just seemed a bit cooler"!!!! You are talking my language! I think submersible will serve you better. EHT's come in a 1/2" and 5/8" versions and work great on smaller canister filters with 1/2" or 5/8" tubing and cause little restriction if any. On large canister filters they restrict the flow down to a max of 5/8".

New Enthusiast said:
if i place it inside of the tank, even if i still run the softline out of the tank and then to the inlet section wont that extremely diminsh my cyclone effect?
Click to expand...

I don't understand why it would. A cyclone for mixing dechlorinator in the 50 makes sense. I don't understand why you would need much of a cyclone for water conditioning the 240. Pumping the water from the bottom of the tank and spraying it into the air (i.e. fountain) seems like it would be the best way to off gas chlorine and induce O2. But I am no expert at this!

Maybe a smaller 5 or 10 gallon container next to the ceiling in the garage might make more sense and allow you to use gravity feed to your tanks? Why not dose the declorinator in the 240 instead of the 50 (or 5 or 10)?

p-70495-48812-fish-supply.jpg
 
Oughtsix said:
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4587+20171&pcatid=20171

View attachment 691527 = vortex inducer!

Yep, I understand "just seemed a bit cooler"!!!! You are talking my language! I think submersible will serve you better. EHT's come in a 1/2" and 5/8" versions and work great on smaller canister filters with 1/2" or 5/8" tubing and cause little restriction if any. On large canister filters they restrict the flow down to a max of 5/8".



I don't understand why it would. A cyclone for mixing dechlorinator in the 50 makes sense. I don't understand why you would need much of a cyclone for water conditioning the 240. Pumping the water from the bottom of the tank and spraying it into the air (i.e. fountain) seems like it would be the best way to off gas chlorine and induce O2. But I am no expert at this!

Maybe a smaller 5 or 10 gallon container next to the ceiling in the garage might make more sense and allow you to use gravity feed to your tanks? Why not dose the declorinator in the 240 instead of the 50 (or 5 or 10)?
Click to expand...

hehe its funny but sometimes cooler is the deciding factor :-P
thank you very much for the link to that pump! by using that i can take the pump i have with the adjustable flow and use it as the outflow pump from the 55 to the tanks, and control things a bit more :-D

as for not dosing the 240 that just seemed like a large amount of water to be dosing at once, i feel a bit more confident working with a smaller amount of water, which is why i added the second chamber at all.. because easily the entire setup can be done via just the 240.

Egon said:
Most of us are the "less is more" type of personality, so this advice we give you is geared more towards optimizing than anything else. IMO, if the pump is submersible then use it that way. The extra heat will be transferred to the water saving you on heating cost. Also a submersible pump uses less bulkhead fittings saving the cost of those fittings and possible leak points.

A bubbler would also work in that 240 tank but not as fun I guess. Most of the chlorine would out gas in a couple hours in the 240 with an open top, bubbler, and heater. Then move the water to the 55 and dose it also with a bubbler, then trickle the water into the tank.

Still a fun project and that's why we do the stuff we do............... Post up some pics when you start building this!

Click to expand...

sweet. thank you. i have a question.. what is a bubbler? like my name suggests i truly am new to monster fish keeping. i've only been in the hobby for about a year, and although i do refer to myself as an enthusiast i definitely am unaware of everything out there. true to this .. i also was unaware that you could "gas off" chlorine.. i was under the impression you could only get rid of it via filters or treatment.. interesting.. O.o
 
A bubbler is an air pump with an air line going to some kind of diffuser that makes tones of tiny bubbles. Place the bubbler at the bottom of the tank and the bubbles will rapidly rise to the surface mixing the water as it goes. The more bubbles the more violent mixing is going to happen. The surface agitation helps exchange gasses into and out of the water. Check out sponge filters for more information.

Chlorine leaves (gasses off) water very easy. There's a few tricks to make it happen faster. This is why my trickle system works on plain old tap water. There's a few qualities of water that you can make work in your favor.
1) Cold water holds more dissolved gas than hot water.
2) Hot water holds more dissolved minerals than cold water.
I tap off my house cold water line for this reason. I add less minerals to my fish tank and also when the cold water hits the warm fish tank's water the chlorine immediately gasses off. At least it doesn’t hurt my fish, I’m certain of this. Also the hot water leaving my tank takes with it lots of dissolved solids (poo) out to the yard. The grass is definitely greener where I put the fish water :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom