Dripp system help

[runawaypencil]

Alright me and a friend are looking to start our drip system.
What were looking to start with is 18x 55gallon standard size. 3 levels 6tanks per level.    Each tank is going to have a single hole drilled for draining.  Were going to do the constant 1g per hour.  What I'm looking for is tips and possibly online vendors to use.   There are two main ways I'm looking at to use 
1.  to run main lines down each level and have drip lines taped into the main pvc.  similar to what most people to on the central air line systems. This way would force to have lots of tapping and extra lines running and what not...

2 run a single flexible drip lines with 1 GPH NC Mini-Flo Inline Drippers over each tank which would allow alot less taping and alot less  expenses (could even hang it from the level above.)  but would be harder to to turn off a drip outlet on a tank if it wasn't in use but still pretty simple (just pull out the dripper and put in a simple male to male  coupler)

If any one knows of any sites that walk through their set ups real good or have set ups and are open to have us stop by would be great.   

[Ron]

... but would be harder to to turn off a drip outlet on a tank if it wasn't in use but still pretty simple (just pull out the dripper and put in a simple male to male  coupler)

I don't quite follow. The dripper is still dripping due to gravity after shutting off the system right? How do you pull it and put in a plug without the remaining water coming out and making a mess?

FWIW, my first thought to solve the issue would be individual check valves just before each dripper, thus if the pressure drops too low they prevent water from flowing through them. Now exactly where to buy this for fish use I'm not sure - I just thought of it because I used them to solve the same problem on a chemical sprayer I built earlier this year.

[Arturtle]

From my understanding drippers need to have a certain pressure to work correctly, so they shouldn't drip in the event of power failure or system shut off. 

If you're looking for a guide to how to setup a drip system, your best bet would be either check out some of the bigger sites like MFK, or simply look for a good gardening article on how to setup drip irrigation.  They were never designed with the intent to be used in aquaria, just some resourceful aquarists brain storming at the hardware store. 

My biggest suggestion if you want to setup up the system in the way you describe is to first make sure you have the correct water pressure rated for your drippers, you can get a simple pressure gauge from a hardware store.  Secondly, make sure that all of you fittings are glued, tapped, or using barbed fittings with something to secure them.  The reason I say this is because this system is going to under constant pressure, and what seems to be working may eventually work it's way apart.  Ask me how I know.

I bought my 1/2 gph drippers online because I couldn't find anything low enough local.  With using 1 gph on a 55 gallon you're going to change 24 gallons a day, and 168 gallons a week.  You could probably get by with a lot less.  An easy way to remedy that would be to use an electric ball valve and a lamp timer, maybe only run the system for 5-6 hours a day, etc.  Just some things to consider.

[dbosman]

http://www.dripirrigation.com/ has everything.

For anyone considering, but not ready yet, pick up the drip lines and emitters at the big box stores after summer. I got 100 feet of line and a whole box of emitters of various flows for about $10.00. At that price I don't mind storing them for someday/maybe.