aspear;2564952; said:
Tilapia Buttikoferi;2565859; said:so what if he spelled it wrong?? hes pharoah, hes the man! he helps everyone around here.. who have u helped? lol
nice paint illustration it should work i think
just kidding!
Pluming a fish room
- Thread starter Pharaoh
- Start date
just kidding!
dr_sudz;2582670; said:
The second drawing copies the idea of a closed loop air setup that some use on their fishroom. The principle is that the water flows into both ends and the water level remains the same for each tank as it flows out.
Putting valves on each spot would make it difficult to get flow to the top without sacrificing on the bottom.
Well, I figured out that option #2 doesn't work all that well. I got all of the plumbing finished and it sucks. The flow is great to the outside tanks, but the flow to the top and inner tanks just doesn't get it done. I am going to have to put in a bunch of ball valves in order to dial in all of the flow rates to each tank.
That sucks. I finding it's like tuning a guitar to get all the flows correct with multiple valves, but once it's set it's cool. Have any pictures?Pharaoh;2613688; said:
I just found the thread. Sorry I couldn't help out sooner. I was about to mention the ball valves, because that is what I ended up doing. The lowerPharaoh;2613688; said:
row(s) of tanks especially need valves because the water needs to be pushed upward to the higher tanks. Each tank is going to need its own valve.
To adjust them, start with the lower row and have them closed down the same amount. The next row should be closed down less, and the top row should all be wide open. Then with the pump on, find a good flow rate for the bottom tanks, then the middle row. Don't worry about the top tanks just yet. You want to play with each row until they are pretty much equal to the flow of the top row. When the flow rates are equal, then you can even out the flow in the top tanks.
Well, theoretically, the flow should be all the same. It is an odd design, but it is basically a closed loop style. The pressure should be equal, but it isn't. All of the outputs are on a bar at the very top level. The pump pushes the water up and it "overflows" to all of the tanks. Hard to explain, but I do know that ball valves are in order. I can turn up the pressure to get water to all of the tanks, but then a few of them start to overflow.
My advice is to run a single oversized line to a header above the tanks. From there, nipple off with either 1" or 3/4" lines to your tanks with a ball valve for each drop. This would allow you to balance or isolate the flow to each tank, for maximum flow efficiency. It would also allow you increase or direct all the flow you want to an individual tank, say, for fill up, or after a major cleaning.
Make sure your drains are adequately sized and vented for the flow through the tank. I think one size up from the feeder line is a minimum.
The cost is higher when you include the ball valves but the added utility makes it well worth it IMHO.
Make sure your drains are adequately sized and vented for the flow through the tank. I think one size up from the feeder line is a minimum.
The cost is higher when you include the ball valves but the added utility makes it well worth it IMHO.
Potts050;2614919; said:
that is basically what I did, but I just added in a loop for is to help equalize the pressure. It didn't work as well as I though it would.
Well, the system is working....sort of. I think I need to go back to the drawing board on this setup. The good news is that I am getting flow to the tanks that I needed to. I have a couple tanks that are still not getting flow. I am going to redo it and reduce the amount of flow-restricting bends that are in it. This should solve some of the pressure issues.
