sidney
09-02-2006, 10:22 PM
I thought I'd add my 2 cents to the "automatic water changer" subject.
I have a 135 acrylic tank with a 50-gallon sump containing two DIY wet/dry filters. The sump is actually a rigid plastic truck bed container I got at Lowe's. The tank itself is in a back bedroom in my house, and is plumbed through the wall; the sump, water changer, and everything else are on what used to be a side porch but is now a fully enclosed, heated small room with a tile floor.
For the water changer I got a plastic 31-gallon rectangular container and installed two valves about three inches from the bottom: one cheap barrel tap (for when I've removed a substantial amount from the tank, like vacuuming the bottom) and a needle valve with a barbed adapter. (I got the barrel tap, needle valve, and adapter from www.usplastics.com. A great source for all kinds of things, with very helpful customer service. My only complaint is that they include religious tracts when they ship your order. I just wanted plumbing fittings, no Jesus stuff.)
This water reservoir sits above the sump on a framework of 2x4s. It's filled via a float valve designed for livestock water troughs. I can set the needle valve to run at whatever gph I want, although figuring this out initially was quite tedious--I just started it dripping into a bucket and set a timer for half an hour, then went back and checked how much had run out, then marked the valve. I put the valves a few inches from the bottom of the container in order to keep any sediment in the water out of the needle valve.
I have an airstone and heater in the reservoir. Lucky for me, my municipal water treatment plant uses ozone, plus a small amount of chlorine--no chloramine--so I don't need to add any dechlorinator unless I use a lot of water at once.
I put a half-inch bulkhead through the side of the sump, at the level where I wanted the water level to be, connected to a hose that runs out the doggie door into the yard.
There's a hose running from the needle valve into the sump, to the general area of the pump intake. This is so my fresh water gets sucked up into the aquarium tank, and doesn't just run out the sump overflow into the yard.
All told it cost me about $50. My only concern is that the float valve does contain some metal hardware, which if left alone will eventually rust. I coated them with epoxy and figure I'll just keep an eye on them and if they start rusting too bad, I'll move that float valve to the dogs' water bucket and buy another one. It was only about $7.
I would post pictures but I have this aquarium hobby that keeps me ever from having enough disposable income to buy a digital camera. If I can borrow a camera from work I'll take some pix.
I have a 135 acrylic tank with a 50-gallon sump containing two DIY wet/dry filters. The sump is actually a rigid plastic truck bed container I got at Lowe's. The tank itself is in a back bedroom in my house, and is plumbed through the wall; the sump, water changer, and everything else are on what used to be a side porch but is now a fully enclosed, heated small room with a tile floor.
For the water changer I got a plastic 31-gallon rectangular container and installed two valves about three inches from the bottom: one cheap barrel tap (for when I've removed a substantial amount from the tank, like vacuuming the bottom) and a needle valve with a barbed adapter. (I got the barrel tap, needle valve, and adapter from www.usplastics.com. A great source for all kinds of things, with very helpful customer service. My only complaint is that they include religious tracts when they ship your order. I just wanted plumbing fittings, no Jesus stuff.)
This water reservoir sits above the sump on a framework of 2x4s. It's filled via a float valve designed for livestock water troughs. I can set the needle valve to run at whatever gph I want, although figuring this out initially was quite tedious--I just started it dripping into a bucket and set a timer for half an hour, then went back and checked how much had run out, then marked the valve. I put the valves a few inches from the bottom of the container in order to keep any sediment in the water out of the needle valve.
I have an airstone and heater in the reservoir. Lucky for me, my municipal water treatment plant uses ozone, plus a small amount of chlorine--no chloramine--so I don't need to add any dechlorinator unless I use a lot of water at once.
I put a half-inch bulkhead through the side of the sump, at the level where I wanted the water level to be, connected to a hose that runs out the doggie door into the yard.
There's a hose running from the needle valve into the sump, to the general area of the pump intake. This is so my fresh water gets sucked up into the aquarium tank, and doesn't just run out the sump overflow into the yard.
All told it cost me about $50. My only concern is that the float valve does contain some metal hardware, which if left alone will eventually rust. I coated them with epoxy and figure I'll just keep an eye on them and if they start rusting too bad, I'll move that float valve to the dogs' water bucket and buy another one. It was only about $7.
I would post pictures but I have this aquarium hobby that keeps me ever from having enough disposable income to buy a digital camera. If I can borrow a camera from work I'll take some pix.