large tank water change idea??

[GregB]

Anyone wanna take a look at my idea? I'm no artist but...
I figured if I get a large acrylic tank 400 gallon or so I want to be able to do easy water changes without hauling 20-5 gallon buckets thru my house.. only to haul 20-5 gallon buckets back to fill it... and of course having the water tested and temp takin! I've come up with this idea .. pretty basic plumbing.. Only thing is its hard to use a 75-100 gallon acrylic tank just for a pretank but.. the water has got to be changed right .. might as well be easy!!!
Lemme know if I've missed anything...I show the "overflow drain" at the same height as the main tank but it should be a bit lower to prevent any kind of back up in the drain to outside from reaching the tank.. Oh ya and I didnt show a P-trap which I might need so the overflow at the main tank doesnt let smells in from outside.. or slugs haha. I plan on the pretank being in a small room outside the house , Insulated of course. I was also thinking of putting in a site tube from the pretank overflow so I can tell when the pretank is full.. I should be able to do a water change and refill with the turn of a few valves.
I live on 5 acres with a small corner of wetlands at the far end of property so ... easy to drain off fish tank without hurting anything.. like drainfield or neighbors lol..

So stop me now if ya see something wrong haha.. I still got time to redo b4 i build the house 8)!!! I'll do pictures when/If it comes to be.

 

[CHOMPERS]

I like how you think!!!! We must be related through less than half a million cousins. I will post my design for a one button tank change. If you can flush a toilet, you can use my design without fail.

I am heading to the florida keys, so I will work on getting it posted later.

 

[GregB]

Cool!!
I'll look forword to your design!
Have fun in the Keys!!!

 

[hotdog69]

buy a hose, or a couple and connect them, siphon the water out, and maybe water some plants, or a very large lawn. then you can just hook up the hose to the faucet and fill it up from there.
maybe buy a couple 100 gal rubbermaids and use a resovar to water plants slowly... basically- don't waste water!

 

[GregB]

Good idea ...I live in Washington (The Evergreen State) and it rains here quite a bit and not much reason to water the lawn or plants cept in mid summer 8) altho alot of ppl still do ... I also understand the hydrological cycle and if it comes from the ground it eventually goes back there too. The "waste" in the water use is the power it takes to get it from the well to the surface or depending on where ya live, the cost of treatment. Kinda funny most our power here comes from dams so flowing water powers the pump to get my water lol. I know still a cost there and I agree saving water is a great idea!!

Here where I live we run off of drainfields on each property so basicly the water you use in the house goes right outside and back to the ground where it is cleaned up by bacteria and filtered through the ground.
I've been a licensed drainfield installer,and I hold a WA. State license as a WDM1 (water distribution manager) and a CCS (cross connection control specialist)

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hyd/home.rxml ( just a quick site for anyone who doesnt understand how the water works on earth 8))
Basicly the earth is a closed system

I think filling up a tank from the faucet doesnt allow for the correct temp or the quality control. Unless ya do like a few posts ive seen here where they are using a timer and just adding a little bit over time ... It then doesnt change the temp much.. as long as yur tap water is of good quality and not treated. 8) I was trying to keep from running a hose thru my house to siphon the tank every week. I tend to get water everywhere!! lol

 

[GregB]

before anyone says anything about my pretank fill... It should be filling from the top with an air gap!! can't say I'm a CCS without makin that clear!! LOL 8)

I was concentrating more on the drainage system and not allowing anything to back up into the other drains or the tank. Nuttin like drinkin your fish water!

 

[drayday55]

sounds good. what i did on my 125 is i drilled a hole in my sump about 4 inches above the pumps lowest working level. then added a bulk head and used a 90* to go up with the pipe to just below the danger level in the sump. then i did 2 more 90*'s to make a u goin down and i drilled a hole through my drywall and stucco to out side. i have a r/o unit in my tank stand and tapped into the water line and ran all that behind the tank. then i drilled another little hole for more ice maker line to go outside to my 55 gallon trash can. when i want to do a water change i just turn on the r/o and let the can fill up. then i reconstitute the water and pump all of it in to my tank trying to stirr up the gravel with a big rio. then all the water runs out of the overflow and out of the sump to the grass outside. i also added a tee and 2 valves so i can slowly drip the main tank right off of the r/o unit . but i only do this when the water level goes down and only for 2 gallons or so. all this came about cuzz i flodded my house and i wanted to make sure it wouldent happen again/ hope this helps/ pm me if ya want pictures.

 

[repair]

If you are willing to go to that much trouble you should go all the way and hook up a drip system. Witht a drip you will only need to service the tank once every 3 or 4 months and the stocking level can be un real.

 

[Dr Joe]

Anyone wanna take a look at my idea? I'm no artist but...
I figured if I get a large acrylic tank 400 gallon or so I want to be able to do easy water changes without hauling 20-5 gallon buckets thru my house.. only to haul 20-5 gallon buckets back to fill it... and of course having the water tested and temp takin! I've come up with this idea .. pretty basic plumbing.. Only thing is its hard to use a 75-100 gallon acrylic tank just for a pretank but.. the water has got to be changed right .. might as well be easy!!!
Lemme know if I've missed anything...I show the "overflow drain" at the same height as the main tank but it should be a bit lower to prevent any kind of back up in the drain to outside from reaching the tank.. Oh ya and I didnt show a P-trap which I might need so the overflow at the main tank doesnt let smells in from outside.. or slugs haha. I plan on the pretank being in a small room outside the house , Insulated of course. I was also thinking of putting in a site tube from the pretank overflow so I can tell when the pretank is full.. I should be able to do a water change and refill with the turn of a few valves.
I live on 5 acres with a small corner of wetlands at the far end of property so ... easy to drain off fish tank without hurting anything.. like drainfield or neighbors lol..

So stop me now if ya see something wrong haha.. I still got time to redo b4 i build the house 8)!!! I'll do pictures when/If it comes to be.

I know what you mean about using a tank just to hold water, I couldn't bear it so I used 55g plastic drums (used, from Tropicana factory, had apple juice in them...took forever to get the smell out).

What's the round thing inline with the gravel vac? a bulb pump? ( you should copyright these graphics )