Setting up drip system

[tony1313]

I need some advice and/or ideas. I pretty much have a plan on how I am going to set up my system other than the water supply. Can it be hooked up to cold water only? If so will my tank heaters be running 24/7? Or should it be hooked to hot and cold with some type of temp regulator? What is the most economical way?

tia,
Tony

[aggie_67]

Tony,

Not an expert but share with you what I know. My thought is if your target is a 50% WC then every hr you are adding 2.1% fresh water so your heater may work 10% (guess) extra as the fresh water coming in also has to be heated up to 85 deg. Compare to heating in an aging drum (using electric heater.) you will use less in the drip because the aging drum has a lot of extra heat loss keeping the drum at 85 deg. Cheapest would be using hot water from a gas hot water heater, my first attempt at a drip system did this (1/2 " tubing from the bath, I assumed that by the time it got to the tank the heat loss would bring it down to 85 or even if it was a little hotter, then the tank heater wouldn't have to work as hard. Discontinued test as it seemed that fish got more nervous on the drip. I don't know if it was my imagination but for now went back to batch changes. Will try drip again as I believe it is the only way to go.

[tony1313]

Thanks for the reply Gene,
I'm looking at adding 100% water per 24hrs to each of my tanks(not exactly sure what % w/c that equates to with the dilution of the drip & overflow). This time of year the cold tap is about 60 deg and in the winter I'm guessing around 40 deg. With the amount of water being added to the tanks I'm guessing the heaters would run constantly in the summer and have a hard time keeping up in the winter. That being said I would think not only my water bills but probably my electric bills will also go thru the roof. I'm hoping to get some advice from a few people that have already tried different ways and have found the most economical one. I’m not looking to eliminate w/c’s or run the system all the time. I’m just looking for a way to free up time or go out of town without putting the burden on someone else and worrying that something will go wrong.

[kalebjarrod]

if you are just looking to do unmaned water changes here is a idea.

get yourself a large barrel or holding tank at the top insert a "tank through" with a float valve on the inside of the tank and a solinoid with the electrical equipment on the outside.

just above the bottom of the tank place another "tank through" and another solinoid. you will also need airators and some form of heater (can be placed in the water as long as it is below the water line of the last solinoid)

now hook the top solinoid up to your water source(the float valve should prevent overfilling should a disaster start) and the bottom up to your tank. a simple garden water timer should tank care of the solienoids

now for your tanks. simply put a "tahnk through" at the desired water level and attach a solinod (with a lengh of PVC or equlialent ) and drain to an appropriate spot.

good thing with this is you can have good water cahnges all year round then up the temp a few degrees ajust you timers to to extra water changes and BOOM ITS BREEDING SEASON.

mind you

A. my winter don't get that cold so i don't know how this would go in icey conditions
B. we only have to deal with chorline! not chorimine

food for thought