Drip System Rate

[haxjester]

I'm about to head off to Lowes to pick up the material to build a drip system so I won't have to do water changes anymore. I was told by someone to set it to change out half of my water every 24hrs. It's a 180g tank, with wet/dry sump with about 20g in it. So if I time it to 1 cup every minute, which will be 3.75gph, which will be around 90g per 24hrs.....will that be too much of a water change? Is a 50% WC every day too much? Should it be set lower?

 

[dmopar74]

start with 1gph and test your nitrates every few days. you can add or lower your rate based on your desired nitrate level.

 

[Jgray152]

0.5 GPH Drip Emitter will change roughly 47% of your tank in 7 days.
1.0 GPH Drip Emitter will change roughly 93% of your tank in 7 days.

 

[2fast2slow]

wow, but might be in for a very high water bill with 50% every day.

 

[Pharaoh]

I agree with the above. 3.75gph seems a bit high. But it's your water bill. LOL

 

[rallysman]

Start low, test, and work your way up if necessary. Every tank is different and if you dont have a huge bio load there is no reason to change that much water.

It'll take a few months of tweaking but it's worth it in the end. I haven't done a water change on one of my tanks for over 2 years. I decided to test the water last month and the nitrates are @ 10ppm LOL.

 

[JakeH]

Where does the old water go? Is one overflow plumbed out into the yard or something?

 

[yogurt_21]

^depends on what you want I guess, if you had enough volume to change you could plum it into a rain barel and use that plus a sump pump to water the yard.

 

[haxjester]

Thanks for all the advise.

I'll have it set to 1gph. 24 gallons a day should do it. I found a calculator for drip systems here: http://www.angelfish.net/DripSystemcalc.php which says it should be the equivalent of doing a ~50% WC every week.

Right now it's actually turned off because I noticed at the very slow flow of water, the 3/8" OD line doesn't drain because the pressure isn't strong enough. I'll have to make a small change to the outlet of the overflow to correct this, and I think I know what to do to fix it.

It drains into a floor drain in my basement, the same place that my washer drains into.

I'll post pics as soon as uploads are re-enabled.

 

[haxjester]

OK able to upload pics now.

I'm not as sure as I was about how to solve the issue about the drain line stopping because of bubbles in the line. The system works well, but not at lower flow rates, and this is what I'm trying to fix.

In the GREEN circle in the 3rd pic, the "T" is 1 1/2", then to a 1/2" adapter, then the adapter for the 3/8" OD line that runs about 20' to the drain.

When the drip system is set to anything to below ~2-3gph, bubbles build up in the 3/8" line which then causes it to stop and the sump just fills up.

I was thinking that if i extend it out an about an inch with 1/2" PVC from the 1/2" adapter, then a 45° and then the adapter for the 3/8" OD line that the slight angle should give it enough pressure to continue moving, but still keep it high enough to gravity feed to the drain. But this would also lower the water level in my sump. But I could raise the overflow with a piece of wood to fix that.

Does this sound like it would solve it? Any other ideas on how to fix this? Any input is appreciated.

Oh and I want to use the 3/8" OD for the drain line because this line crosses a high traffic doorway and can be covered with a rug.


Here's the pics: