Wow that looks amazing!
ahah
kinda complicated but it would be really usefull!

 

Zapins,

I'm blown away.

I'm considering experimenting with a 180 gal. tank and constant drip system. The tank is full of BBA and I know it's because of organics. Conventional water changes every few days don't do anything.

I also saw a local monster fish keeper guy that has many huge fish in a 180 gal. tank. Looked totally crowded. Tank looked artifically clean. Like he bought the tank today and just filled it up with water 1 hour ago. But it's been running for 3 years and the silicone looks brand new on the inside. The huge fish are unbelievably healthy. Not a single small piece of anybody's fin was even split! We eat fish smaller than the monsters he had! They also eat 2-3 lbs of food a day! Continuous injection of Prime in the incoming water.

So! Have you seen any considerable benefits from the continuous water change compared to the old bucket & hose grampa approach?

--Nikolay

 

Thanks for the kind words.

Niko - I have seen some pretty huge benefits in my 55g tank so far. The first is that the water is very clear, as if I had been running a diatom filter or two or three constantly. The fish seem more lively since the incoming water has a lot more dissolved O2 in it. Circulation seems to have improved quite a lot since the incoming water moves water away from a stagnant corner and the plants have been growing wonderfully. I've got some rotala rotundifolia that has turned pink nearly all the way to the bottom - its never done that before for me and I'm only using 2x55w of PC light on the tank!

I am very happy with the WC system so far. It has only been running for about a week now and already the results are clear. Its true what they say - the more WC you do the better the tank!

I think this system is highly modifiable. It would be easy to set up an automatic dosing system with this kind of system or add a dechlorinating device to one of the tubes, or heck even add another sump and a few timers and get the tank to drain first and then fill up in one go (not constant water flow). A reverse osmosis machine could be added to one of the fresh water tubes and mixed with incoming water, all that is needed is just a couple of 3 way junctions and a few inline valves which are cheap as dirt.

I have been thinking about a cheap method for fertilizing a constant auto WC tank setup like I have. All that is needed would be another solenoid valve connected to a digital timer and a large container with fertilizers in it that is placed above the tank. The solenoid would allow fertilizers from the container to gravity feed down into the tank at regular intervals throughout the day and night to ensure very, very stable and consistent dosing (since the constant water changes would be removing excess). I think such an auto-fertilizing system wouldn't cost more then about 25-30 dollars total, since the timers are about 5$ and the solenoids are roughly 21$, tubing and a small valve are cheap/negligable. I'm going to give it a try and I'll post the results in another DIY thread. I've already got 2 solenoids coming in the mail. A peristaltic pump wouldn't be necessary at all for this, which lowers price considerably.

I plan to connect a 180g tank (with discus) to the auto WC system in addition to the 90g and 55g currently running on it. Once the auto water change system is complete adding additional tanks is EXTREMELY cheap. Basically the only things needed are another overflow - which is mainly made from cheap PVC pipe ($10 max), a length of corrugated drainage tube which is also cheap (20 feet for 9 bucks), and a 14$ float valve off ebay.

 

Great job zapins, and you didn't even flood the house! :clap2:

Seriously, apart from my fears of the worst happening, I am relieved, and kinda proud to see how you did such a great job.

Also, I am happy that neither you (nor I) will have to do another water change!

Now, about those other DIY jobs I have in mind for you....

 

Hey! It's weird that you are senior here, and I am junior!

But don't forget who's boss, lol.... despite what your dad says, it's ME

 

wow, this one actually make sense. I lik ethe second one alot, What you did it is the same idea for toilet!! but I can not figure out how the water going to flow with the air inside. I know the second part of the curve you got a hole for it but how about the first one that is part inside of the tank?

 

does the first run the water run by itself of you have to fill the first pipe with water?

 

Initially the overflow needs to be filled with water. See the 1st diagram for an idea. I just stick a plastic tube in the overflow and suck out the air with an aqualifter pump. Once it is set, it doesn't need to be tinkered with again unless the overflow dries out or bubbles build up in it and break the continuous water section. It is totally self functioning after initial set up.

 

I hate to sound like a A hole, but that system is a flood waiting to happen.

saddle valves and plastic lines ( more so when near heat ) are also floods waiting to happen.

 

Just a quick update on the system (over a year later). There have been no leaks from the saddle valves or plastic lines. Though if you make this system you definitely need to keep the tubes away from anything that is too hot to touch, especially furnace exhaust vents (hot water pipes seem ok for the most part as long as you can touch them with your hand). I had a small leak from one solenoid that seems to have been defective though which didn't cause much damage since it was only a few drops.

The main problem I've had with the system is that it flushes nutrients out of the tank very quickly. I also found that if you run the water too much (constantly 24/7) fish develop pop-eye from gasses dissolved in the water (similar to the bends divers get).

I had to dial back the time that I allowed the system to run each day. I now run the water change system for 15 minutes a day which is the lowest increment on my timer. I think running it even less then this or 2-3 times a week for a short time would be even better.

Since I posted this I added an RO unit and water storage tank to the existing system for my discus 180g tank. I suppose with a few plastic fittings I could mix RO water in with the other tanks I have if I wanted. I might post pictures of the RO system.

When I find time I'll wire up some peristaltic dosing pumps to the tanks to automatically take care of the fertilizers.

 

i have been running a very similar setup to yours in my tank. i made my drain out of 1/2" pvc however as to keep it small and ran 1/4" line to the tank to drip in. i figured the 1/2" will flow 4x as much water as the 1/4" can supply. my pickup for the drain though, i ran straight down towards the bottom of the tank which i may change to your up pipe design. the waste water is awesome for watering flowers and gardens.

a word of caution however, once you get enough air in the top of the drain loop that it shuts off the continuous flow to your vented side of the drain and then instead of the drain being the limiting factor of how high your water level is in your tank, the glass height takes over. but dont worry the water level will not go higher than the top of the glass, it just kinda trickles down the side of the tank then. if you have enough dissolved O2 or CO2 in your water to collect inside the drain it could do that. i had my setup for little over a year too and it finally did just that a few days ago. idk if having the pickup pointed up will help prevent that problem or not.

 

Zab - I'd love to see some pictures of your setup if you have them.

Also, as for the air bubble problem in the drainage loop, I solved this by drilling a small hole at the top of the drainage loop where the gas gets trapped and running a 1/4" tube to an aquilifter pump. The pump sucks out the air and keeps water in the top of the loop. It works very well. I'll see if I can take a picture of it soon.

 

i plan to do something similar when I get a home (not an apt)

i think it would be much simpler and safer to eliminate the float switches, relays, pumps etc. and...

1. drill an small overflow on the back (no worries about breaking siphon)
2. use a solenoid on the water inputs w/ a timer (like 2-3mins daily) slowly adjusted until its right
3. have water outflow just lead to a drain or flower bed etc
4. have automated fert system

 

True, true, but my tanks are in the basement and there are no drains that the water can flow down to, it must be pumped up and out of the house. If my tanks were on a top floor I would eliminate the collection bucket and a lot of the other stuff I have. Also drilling tanks is somewhat risky and somewhat limits their aquascapableness (tongue twister!).

Its funny you should mention the fert system, whenever I muster up the effort I'll get around to hooking up the peristaltic pumps and digital second timers I bought to the system. I'll post pics of that too when I finish it.

Please post pics of your system whenever you finish it!

 

the simplest fert system i have seen is a friend uses a horizontal autofeeder

he modified it slightly so that each compartment has a small hinged false bottom...and its a smaller tank (like 30 gals I think)

as it rotates, the bottom falls out and drops macros and trace daily...surprisingly, he doesnt have problems with humidity

 

That sounds interesting! I was thinking of something like that as well a few months ago but using one of those electric salt grinders. I figured that humidity would cause the dry ferts to clump and they would need grinding to be dosed correctly. I bought one for 7 bucks off ebay but I never got around to wiring it up. But if humidity isn't a problem then autofeeders would be a great choice. I've got some lying around as well, I might put them to the test.

I think dosing dry ferts is the best idea for fertilizer dosing since liquid dosing allows the chemicals to spoil with whatever bacteria or fungus happens to like to eat them.

Do you think you could get some pics of the modifications he made to the feeder?

 

What happens when a bit of plant or a snail gets in the overflow?

Jim

 

flood.

Thats why I've never liked the fill to have it overflow water change systems.

a much better option is have a stand pipe of a valve in your plumbing so the water will drain down to that point. then you refill. Its what I run on my discus tank. I have a stand pipe that is 12" below the water line on a valve. I just turn the valve, out goes the water.

 

No. Perhaps you should look back at the flood protection I added TAB.

If the overflow gets clogged then each tank has a float valve that is set to stop incoming water before it reaches the rim of the tank preventing a tank overflow.

Float valve on each tank:

 

Floats can and do fail.

Murphy is a SOB.

 

Yep, but then again everything fails. You might worry about the tank seams bursting and flooding the entire tank on the floor. Adding floats makes the system that much more safe in an imperfect world. Better then no floats.

Toilets use floats, and everyone has one or more in their house. Sure they rarely fail (on the order of once in a dozen years if not less due to the float valve) but they are fail safe enough to be common and not cause people massive flood damage.

If its good enough for the loo its good enough for the tanks I think

 

actually floats in toilets come out of adjustment/fail all the time. that and the flapper valve are the 2 biggest service calls I get for toilet repairs.

All I'm saying is if you can remove something mechanical, you are better off. Look at places like reef central for float swtich/valve failures. you will see dozens.

 

Well this is my first post on this forum but I have taken great interest in this setup and what you are doing with it.

My current automatic water changing system works, but unfortunately it is risky. Currently I actually have two electrodes that go into different positions on the tank, one at the top for filling, one part way down for draining. I have a power head that pumps water out to drain the tank and a dishwasher water valve that lets water in.

The system works by having a small amount of electricity to complete the circuit - way to low to hurt any fish, even in a full saltwater tank (mine is freshwater tho). So at a certain time each day the controller for draining the tank turns on and water is drained out until the circuit is broken (water goes lower than electrode). The timer turns off after a certain time which stops the draining (if it doesn't turn off though the water can only go as low as the power head, most I risk is burning up the power head).

A second timer turns on which opens the dishwasher valve and lets water in until it hits the top electrode and completes the circuit which cuts power to the dishwasher valve.

The problem with my setup of course is while the draining has a couple fail safes (electrodes, timer, and bottom of power head); my filling part of the cycle is only timer based and electrode. As I discovered the other day of course, the electrodes get covered with standard aquarium "grime" and, well, the circuit doesn't get completed. I ended up with maybe a quarter gallon on the floor before the timer kicked off.

Anyway - whole point of this post is I have been trying to implement the drain system as a backup in case my electrodes get covered again. I tried basing my first design exactly off the way you set yours up - though I am trying to keep it small so I have 3/4" pipe rather than 1.5" and they didn't have "u" connectors like they do in the bigger sizes so I had to make my own with elbows.

Anyway, I filled it up, and well, it didn't work. If I tilted it slightly to towards the drain side [part that would go out of the house] (this brought the "drain" out of the water) it would start draining. If I put a direct water source to it it would work fine. So I trimmed down my pipe that is on the inside of the U with the air release (anti-siphon) in case I had it too high. Now it doesn't work no matter what I do. I guess my question is, how close do you have to be on the height for the drain and the 3rd U?

 

Oh and another thing for you guys with Chlorine and Chloramine - I built my own filter to get rid of the chemicals for my incoming water source. I have Chloramine in my house - so it makes it that much more difficult.

If you want to build your own filter, here is what I did.
Materials:
4" diameter x 3' long piece of PVC
Connectors for water input and output
Drain cleanouts for both sides
Pink (heavy duty) teflon
Womens Nylons
Big box of Carbon (forget amount needed)
Big box of Ammo Chips (forget amount needed)

Fill the 1 nylon with carbon and put in pipe, try to get half the pipe filled with the carbon. (input side)
Fill the other nylon with the ammo chips and try to fill the rest of the pipe (output side)

Put a polishing filter on the output side of the pipe so it fits the entire connection (this way any excess particles that do make it won't clog anything, and cleaner water getting in)

Hook up and run .

The carbon removes the chlorine from the water and the ammo chips absorb the ammonia (left behind from Chloramine). Test the water as it comes out, make sure there is no Chlorine or Ammonia (for chloramine water).

My setup has lasted over a year, still no chlorine or ammonia. I even fill up milk jugs with the water cause it tastes pretty good compared to straight from the tap.

 

I can appreciate the desire for automation, while setting up my 90g I had the hose extending from the small bath shower head on the first floor to the tank continuously. Unsightly and a stumble hazard as well. I've since purchased a small hosereel from the HW store to tidy it up and make it easy to stow after use. SWMBO was complaining about the hosereel in the showerstall just before she left this morning. I'm going to add a quick disconnect fitting to make it easier to move to the basement.

I think a 50% standpipe drain would be pretty easy to hide in the tank and would eliminate the need for drain timers. Just a valve to open when needed. It will stop when the top of the pipe is reached. I'd still opt for a manual fill afterwards however via a dedicated 1/4" line. Stuff happens...

I'll do that in my next house for sure. Won't be automated but it would be much more convenient.

Jim