Michigan Cichlid Association
General Category => DIY => Topic started by: Ron on April 20, 2012, 06:10:49 PM
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Does anyone on here have a setup like this? I'd suspect a few do ...
How did you do it?
Cost?
Improvements you've since realized that would have made it even better?
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i've got an automatic drip system, based on one i found on cichlid-forum. it works great for me, but i have well water, so no need to treat, and you need to have a floor drain. i tapped off a cold water line with one of the things you use for a water supply line for a refrigerator, then used brass tees to run a supply line to each of the four tanks i have -- 2x180's, 1x110, and 1x55g growout. i use a .5gph drip emiter on each line, dripping into the tank. the 3 largest tanks use 40l's for sumps, which i drilled up near the top of the tank and put in bulkheads. the water drips into the main tank and overflows at the rate of the drip emiter out of the sump. i have pvc running behind the tanks, with flex tubing from the bulkheads to the pvc, which runs to the floor drain. the 55g doesn't have an overflow/sump, so i drilled the tank, put in a bulk head and it overflows thru the bulkhead into the pvc drain.
i paid about $15 for a glass hole saw, probably about $15 for the bulkheads, and maybe another $15 for the self-tap and brass tees and emiters.
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Thanks for the input. :)
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How long does it take to add a gallon of water? Could you show pictures of your plumbing?
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.5gph = 1 gallon every two hours ;)
I'd like to see pics, too!
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i've got an automatic drip system, based on one i found on cichlid-forum. it works great for me, but i have well water, so no need to treat, and you need to have a floor drain. i tapped off a cold water line with one of the things you use for a water supply line for a refrigerator, then used brass tees to run a supply line to each of the four tanks i have -- 2x180's, 1x110, and 1x55g growout. i use a .5gph drip emiter on each line, dripping into the tank. the 3 largest tanks use 40l's for sumps, which i drilled up near the top of the tank and put in bulkheads. the water drips into the main tank and overflows at the rate of the drip emiter out of the sump. i have pvc running behind the tanks, with flex tubing from the bulkheads to the pvc, which runs to the floor drain. the 55g doesn't have an overflow/sump, so i drilled the tank, put in a bulk head and it overflows thru the bulkhead into the pvc drain.
i paid about $15 for a glass hole saw, probably about $15 for the bulkheads, and maybe another $15 for the self-tap and brass tees and emiters.
I've seen the setup. It seems pretty slick.
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Hmmm, great idea except I don't have a floor drain. :( Hmmm.....maybe overflow into a tub and have a pump activated by a float to pump it out...
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I Have been running the drip emitter system on my turtle tank for the last couple years, and it makes maintenance a snap. I just have to clean out the filtration once a month or so and scrub down his tank now and then. I run the drain line into a floor drain as well, but I have had the same thought that turtleman had. I don't think it would be too hard to create an artificial sump with a bucket that you could drop a basement sump pump into to shoot water into the drain of your choice. I know when I set mine up the recommended pressure for the drip emitters was lower than what my home supplied, so I had to buy a regulator to get it down the the recommended pressure. How much running at a different pressure effects it, I don't know, I figured I'd rather be safe than sorry and the regulator only cost $10-15.
I've seen drip lines, emitters, and such at hardware stores, but most of the emitters were 1gph+. If I remember correctly when I bought my 1/2 gph emitters they ended up at around 26 cents, so I bought ten. When I setup my system I just put a garden hose Y on a cold water line off a slop sink in the laundry room and ran 1/8" pex tubing for my feed and drain lines. I've had problems with my drain not working correctly, so I would say it would be wise to run a larger drain line so that it's less restrictive. I had to run a good distance, so I went for the cheap and easy route and used most of a 100' roll of pex.
If anyone can track down Jimbob, he had the best auto water change system I've personally seen. It consisted of a lot of 300 gallon rubbermaid stock tanks, sprinkler valves, and probably a lot I missed. He had his tanks all drilled, but they were only drilled as drains, and were all run on separate filtration. His system would simply flush the tanks with aged water from the 300 gallon rubbermaids at the push of a button. I remember him stating that they were not automated so that there would be no unnecessary water changes, and/or floods.
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Hmmm, great idea except I don't have a floor drain. :( Hmmm.....maybe overflow into a tub and have a pump activated by a float to pump it out...
This would be pretty easy to tap into a Sink or Tub Drain.... I guess dpending on whether or not you have a Basement Crawlspace or Slab.
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Thanks Marty for answering my retarded question. Some days I wonder about myself.
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Hmmm, great idea except I don't have a floor drain. :( Hmmm.....maybe overflow into a tub and have a pump activated by a float to pump it out...
This would be pretty easy to tap into a Sink or Tub Drain.... I guess dpending on whether or not you have a Basement Crawlspace or Slab.
I have a partial basement and the rest is a slab. I do have some windows available though...I'll figure something out eventually.
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I will show pics soon but we are setting up a 24tank 45-55's gallons all are going to be on .5 gph drip emitters with a central drain set up to a floor drain... in the room will also have a couple 100 gallon pounds... We have 2 racks built and the tanks... getting the drill bit and the bulk heads this week.. So might have the water system up and running early next week and the draining system... so then it might be trial runs in the next 2 weeks...
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I will show pics soon ...
Cool! It sounds like you've got a really neat project going on.
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Hmmm, great idea except I don't have a floor drain. :( Hmmm.....maybe overflow into a tub and have a pump activated by a float to pump it out...
This would be pretty easy to tap into a Sink or Tub Drain.... I guess dpending on whether or not you have a Basement Crawlspace or Slab.
I have a partial basement and the rest is a slab. I do have some windows available though...I'll figure something out eventually.
You could drain everything into one large tub like a 300 gallon tub and then use a sump pump to push the water up and into a drain you would like to attach to. This way you could drain you whole room in to one main area and have a single cost pump push the water up... if i was to set it up I would set up a cylinder shut off if the sump pump was to fail and shut the water off... I have seen a few you tube videos that had these set up on there systems..