Trying to make a simple drip system, does this work?

[Hmontoya93]

I was going to get a rainbird drip system connect it to my garden hose. Pump one gallon per hour in my sump. And a float switch in the sump with a pump right back out.

does this work, or is there a better way? I see some YouTube tutorials but I don’t understand them

 

[Flaring Afro]

You absolutely should not use two pumps in this way. Even the exact same model pump will run at slightly different rates when first turned on, and then you have to factor in algae growth on them. You want it to work like a sump where one pump brings water in, then exits with good old fashioned gravity with a drain. In your case, the drain at the sump where you want the water height.

That may mean you need to add drain piping closer to the tank, but it sounds like it would be worth it if you are performing 168 gallons of water changes a week.

 

[Hmontoya93]

You absolutely should not use two pumps in this way. Even the exact same model pump will run at slightly different rates when first turned on, and then you have to factor in algae growth on them. You want it to work like a sump where one pump brings water in, then exits with good old fashioned gravity with a drain. In your case, the drain at the sump where you want the water height.

That may mean you need to add drain piping closer to the tank, but it sounds like it would be worth it if you are performing 168 gallons of water changes a week.

So drill a hole in the sump and add piping to connect to the outside?, as the water level rises it will just flow through?

is water from an outside faucet ok or do I need to add a filter of some sort

 

[Zkris28]

I connected some fittings to a household plumbing line with a T and an adapter for RO line. I then added a pair of pressure reducers, then a pressure gauge and then at the end of the RO line I put a drip emitter for gardens.. With the RO fittings I can run this basically anywhere, and then I have a hole in the side of my sumps so that when water drips into the displays and overflow in the sump the sump then gets more full and runs through the PVC out into the yard.

I can get you some pictures if you would like visuals

 

[Hmontoya93]

I connected some fittings to a household plumbing line with a T and an adapter for RO line. I then added a pair of pressure reducers, then a pressure gauge and then at the end of the RO line I put a drip emitter for gardens.. With the RO fittings I can run this basically anywhere, and then I have a hole in the side of my sumps so that when water drips into the displays and overflow in the sump the sump then gets more full and runs through the PVC out into the yard.

I can get you some pictures if you would like visuals

I think this is exactly what I want to do! Pictures would be great

 

[Zkris28]

I think this is exactly what I want to do! Pictures would be great

A bag of 100 drip emitters from lowes is about 5 bucks.

 

[fishguy1978]

I run a drip system on 13 tanks using the cheap drip emitters. There’s a cold water garden hose tap in my fish room. The connection has a pressure regulator and then a multi head drip manifold. I ran drip line to each tank and drip either into the sump or into the tank. Each sump has a gravity drain overflow to a floor drain in the corner of the room.
Emitter come in a variety of drips per hour
Manifold 4 ports to ……
Regulator cheap and easy

 

[Hmontoya93]

I run a drip system on 13 tanks using the cheap drip emitters. There’s a cold water garden hose tap in my fish room. The connection has a pressure regulator and then a multi head drip manifold. I ran drip line to each tank and drip either into the sump or into the tank. Each sump has a gravity drain overflow to a floor drain in the corner of the room.
Emitter come in a variety of drips per hour
Manifold 4 ports to ……
Regulator cheap and easy

I run a drip system on 13 tanks using the cheap drip emitters. There’s a cold water garden hose tap in my fish room. The connection has a pressure regulator and then a multi head drip manifold. I ran drip line to each tank and drip either into the sump or into the tank. Each sump has a gravity drain overflow to a floor drain in the corner of the room.
Emitter come in a variety of drips per hour
Manifold 4 ports to ……
Regulator cheap and easy

Thank you, how is adding direct water on the fish?

Was thinking of adding this to the hose

 

[Zkris28]

I'm on well water that is water softened, no issues. My rays are happy and healthy. Just test and understand your water, if your on city water you can either dechlorinate using a pre-filter or you can oxygenate in barrels but that adds some more complexity

 

[fishguy1978]

My municipality only doses chlorine and my test strips don’t show any detectable levels from the tap. I’m only dripping a couple liters a day into the tanks as well.