Josh Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Hi All OK, it seems I am going to set up tanks again. This time I am designing a water change system that I am hoping to be testing buy the week end. Its a bit tricky to explain, I will try and draw a diagram and then put up some pictures of the build as it goes. Hopefully it will be a simple turn a valve and drain the tanks system. I might even go for a solenoid valve to add a 'WOW' factor to it. I have built a 'BAZ' rack to hold a three foot tank and two 18 inch cubes. The rack will hold two levels of tanks with a shelf/storage area under it. I also built plumbed in my air loop from 20mm pvc. PICS to follow. This a sketch that I nutted out while "working" today. It basically shows what i want to do for my tanks. When the room is built each level of tanks will have a single tap to drain tanks. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 will be watching this one keenly Josh - very interested on a different note and just out of interest, what's your occupation when you are 'working' ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share Posted July 20, 2011 I am a surveyor for a local Construction company over here. Its been raining over here and I have nothing to do Here the first photo, I ducked out of work early to get the plumbing stuff. $50 total to plumb two tanks for now. Each additional tank will cost $5.50 in bends and pipe. Its not glued yet, because I need to fit it properly to the tanks when they are on the rack Water from the tanks comes in from the right hand side. The drop in the 20mm PVC is to keep a water lock when the tanks get drained.The first TEE on the 25mm pipe is the level the tanks will (should) drain to when the valve is opened. The two 90 bends on the top is at the level that the water will be at when the tanks are full. Any tanks that are over filled should drain over the two bends and straight down the pipe to the floor drainage. Once the Valve is closed and I refill the tank, the water should fill back to the overflow level and prime the system for the next water change. All the plumbing is hidden either behind the tanks, or on the end of the rack. Only the valve will be visible from the front. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam_J Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 will be watching this one keenly Josh - very interested on a different note and just out of interest, what's your occupation when you are 'working' ? i was going to say a billionair play-boy , wasnt i wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattrox Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Looks great. When filling, won't the 1st tank fill faster than the 2nd and so on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 The filling system will be seperate to this and I havent sorted that bit out yet. The seperate tanks will fill at different speeds and this a problem I need to sort out. The tank can overflow back through the this system, but that will just waste more water and seems pointless. I am thinking float valves depending on cost and the size of the valves. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattrox Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 If you used a looped system that would even out the pressure a bit and have more even filling. Especially if the diameter of the filling pipe was less than the pipe used in the loop. I have been puzzling this over for a while now (a more automated water changing system). But your self draining system is the most practical I have seen that I could adapt to my fish room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 I have found some reasonably priced float valves that are small enough to be kept inside the tank. I think I will be go the float valve route for my refilling. Now I only to find a float switch that sences when the water has drained and turn on the water pump and fill the tanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 I have test fitted the top tanks with the system and taken some photos to show you all. I still have to pull it all apart and paint the rack and tanks before I fit it. I have also fitted the air loop to the rack, but have to wait for my float valve so I can add the rest of the water change system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattrox Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 looking good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mawfish Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Hi just small questions will there be a sieve or bulkhead of some sort to stop fry & small fish being sucked into the pipe? I don't see any holes drilled so are the tanks going to be stand alone with sponges or such for filtration so I assume that there will still need to be some sort of manual cleaning to remove mulm ( fish craP ) from the tank also with water return if you used a pressure pump for refilling with your float valves ( assuming that your using aged water not just from tap) that would help with tank filling I am not trying to bag your ideas in any way just asking as I am also looking at ways to make things work better & much easier will steal your ideas if they work better. As I am planning to try to implement some auto ways to do things easier over my next 5 week holiday from Xmas to early Feb. Most of my tanks are on systems so with what your doing I am thinking I could just have a float valve in the sump & let the system do the work of refilling my tanks , I am just trying to work out where to put a IBC without it being outside to many tanks not enough room sounds familiar , I don't suppose it would be to hard to work out hole depth in the tanks to do a controlled amount of water per change also, say Ibc or 200 ltre drum then pressure pump with float valve so turns off when drum or Ibc is empty to refill am liking the idea a lot Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 Hi Mark All these tanks will have undergravel filters. There will be some tank maintanence to be done, I cant see anyway around that. This system will still require some manual work, but hopefully I can limit it to turning a valve and then flicking a switch. This can be done while enjoying my fish more instead if just being stuck out there feeding fish or doing water changes. I will have something over the end of the pipe, probably something simple like fly screen held on with a cable tie. ATM the drainage system is setup to drain 1/3 of the tanks volume. I now have it all set-up and running. The air system is running and the Hi-blow 40lph is pumping massive amounts of air into it. I have two air lines bleeding air off. The drain works, spent the afternoon testing it. Much better then being at work. It drains at about 20l per minute for the top two tanks. That means it drains the two tanks in approx 3 minutes, not to bad, but when I add more tanks it will slow down. I do have it reducing down to a 12mm hose ATM only because this rack is going in house for fry grow out and I need to be able to drain it outside teh house. That could be restricting flow. I must say it was a biatch to prime the system the first time. I got an air lock in one tank and couldnt work out how to remove it. I ended up just sticking some air line up the pipe and sucking out the air. It took me 40mins to work that out, I kinda felt a little stupid when I worked it out, a simple fix and i was looking for a more complicated fix! I might upload a video tommorrow if I get time. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mawfish Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Hi Mark All these tanks will have undergravel filters. There will be some tank maintanence to be done, I cant see anyway around that. This system will still require some manual work, but hopefully I can limit it to turning a valve and then flicking a switch. This can be done while enjoying my fish more instead if just being stuck out there feeding fish or doing water changes. I will have something over the end of the pipe, probably something simple like fly screen held on with a cable tie. ATM the drainage system is setup to drain 1/3 of the tanks volume. I now have it all set-up and running. The air system is running and the Hi-blow 40lph is pumping massive amounts of air into it. I have two air lines bleeding air off. The drain works, spent the afternoon testing it. Much better then being at work. It drains at about 20l per minute for the top two tanks. That means it drains the two tanks in approx 3 minutes, not to bad, but when I add more tanks it will slow down. I do have it reducing down to a 12mm hose ATM only because this rack is going in house for fry grow out and I need to be able to drain it outside teh house. That could be restricting flow. I must say it was a biatch to prime the system the first time. I got an air lock in one tank and couldnt work out how to remove it. I ended up just sticking some air line up the pipe and sucking out the air. It took me 40mins to work that out, I kinda felt a little stupid when I worked it out, a simple fix and i was looking for a more complicated fix! I might upload a video tommorrow if I get time. Josh Hi Josh Thanks for answering & I also wondered how the initial prime up of the pipes would go Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 That looks like something Dr Who would be firing his sonic screwdriver at [/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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