Mass Drip system for 20 aquariums

[Cichlids]

I am going to be building a massive drip system for my friend who imports Discus and Black Diamond Stingrays from Malaysia. He needs a system to allow constant water changes because the Discus and Rays that come from Malaysia are not use to this hard water in Canada. I almost got all the parts need to build this system and I will post progress of this build.

[Cichlids]

This is what I am up against
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All he has left are the 4 Stingrays he is keeping for now. Otherwise all the aquariums are ready for this drip system setup.

[Cichlids]

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[Cichlids]

I got most of my parts ready to go. I had to go to a plan B because of the cost of Polyurethane line so I figured out a solution of running secondary manifolds instead of running over 500' of hose.

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I couldn't find a proper fitting for a 3/4" Tee for splicing into the main water supply all I could find was a 1/2" setup so I made one. I decided that I wanted to keep the price down so I decided to eliminate the use of crimped PEX fittings and went with a press on barb fitting. I ran it into a Tee fitting 3/4" FNPT and had the other fitting as a 3/4" barb fitting. The city water here wouldn't exceed 60 psi and that is before it goes through the main water pressure reducer. I will run a gear hose clamp with 3/4" line up to the main manifold before I begin to reduce the sizing.

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This is the gate valve to open a close off the drip system. I did a direct mount to the Watts water pressure regulator with a 3/4" union fitting and had the outlet with a 3/4" PEX fitting. I will have to adjust the pressure once I prime the system up to bring it down to around 20 psi.

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This is the smaller manifold I built to eliminate the need for so much hosing. The cost is cheaper and you can control the flow amount with a mini ball valve.

[Cichlids]

I was able to prep most of the fittings today and get the secondary manifold built. I am running a second manifold because it will save running a lot of hose and of course money.

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I got my oldest son to help me prep but he was more interested in stacking the fittings like a tower.

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These are going to be the reducers I had to build. I couldn't find anywhere that had a 1/2" PEX fitting to a 3/16" barb fitting so I had to run a bushing in between the two fittings. I sealed it with teflon tape and some pipe dope. Once it cures it will create a good seal and it may be overkill for pressure but this system will never see anything over City water pressure of up to 80 psi.

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I am running to mechanical gauges for this system before the main manifold. One will read the incoming pressure of the city water and the other one will read what the output regulated pressure is. These gauges are a back loaded and that way I can mount them onto the board I am making. Anything over 160 psi wouldn't work since we are dealing with low pressures. I did consider running a transducer in this system but figured I would keep it a little more simple with the mechanical gauges.

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These are 2 of the secondary manifolds based on how the aquariums are situated. The one manifold is for 4 aquariums while the other is for 12. You have to keep in mind you need to run a valve on the output side because hydraulics are just like electrical. It will take the path of least resistance and if it is all free flowing the farthest port will not receive as much flow as the closest one to the supply side. I'll have to play a bit with the mini ball valves until I can get the flow rate I want over a 24 hour period.

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I am going to revisit this to help reduce the amount of Tee fittings in the line with the 2 gauges I will be installing.

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I will also revisit this as well to make a main cut off from the main supply

[Neptune]

Awesome massive project! I love it! Did you drill and tap the manifold blocks yourself?

[Cichlids]

No I didn't I got them through a local supplier. It wouldn't be that hard to do just a lot of patients in drilling and tapping them out

[Cichlids]

I finished off setting up the main drip system manifold, it is an apollo manifold. They come in different port sizes from 12 up to 36 my local store only carried the 12 port so that is what I went with. The setup can be used for hot and cold water systems but I am going to use it for just cold and run a Tee so that it will be used on both sides. The main inlets are a 3/4" and the outlet ports are all run by a ball valve and 1/2" PEX fittings.

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There is no need for Teflon or pipe dope because they have a seal inside like a o-ring

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This secondary manifold is a little different due to the fact that I am trying to get use out of all 6 ports on the manifold and there is only 6 aquariums in that area.

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I did revisit the main connection from the supply line and put a quick shut off valve that was a ball valve before entering the panel I am going to make.

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I wanted to have less cuts in the lines so I connected all the Tees in this setup to the gate valve and pressure regulator. The incoming line has a Tee that will go to the first pressure gauge. The outlet side has 2 ports that will go to the main PEX manifold and the 1/2" barb fitting will be for the other pressure gauge.

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I hope to have this 4x8 sheet of birch plywood cut up tomorrow so I can create the panel for the plumbing side of this project. Only thing is that it is so cold right now and I will have to turn my garage heater on so I can cut up this sheet.

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[Cichlids]

I got the pieces down to the size I needed them to be 30"x 30" I ran into a bit of a snag since the table saw I was using only went to 25" so my helper and I went to a plan B

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I was able to cut length wise on the 4'x8' sheet I cut off two 9" pieces for the side and for the secondary manifolds. I ended up free hand cutting the 30" sheets I needed. I clamped down the sheet and used a piece for a guide on the circular saw.

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I got all the pieces to spec so now I will begin the assembly of the main drip system panel

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[Cichlids]

I picked up some extra hardware for the panel cabinet today I didn't get much more done but I should be able to get these installed soon. I got 4 to handle the weight and not cause stress on 2 hinges.

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[Cichlids]

Didn't get a whole lot done today but I got some of the frame mounts prepped for later on. I got a drill bit to countersink a hold to allow the european handles to sit flush with the panel/cabinet. The board is 3/4" thick and I drilled 1/2" to make it work I used the drill bit as my guide since it was a 1/2"

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Had to constantly remove excess wood build up to allow for the bit to keep drilling.

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Just had to make sure it sat flush so the side panel could fit

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Making sure there isn't any overhang with the hinge in place

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I put 4 hinges in place to make sure the weight could be held and had the heavier duty ones on the top and bottom with the medium duty ones on the inside. May be over kill but i'd rather be safe then sorry!

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[Cichlids]

I was quite busy today but I got a bit done for the main manifold. I started with the mounting the european hinges by bolting them down

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I made sure to predrill and counter sink all the holes so I didn't crack the aspen plywood

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I glued it as well as used wood screws to make sure this was tight and not flimsy

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I wanted to make sure the cabinet would open and close with no issues. The brackets can go to 100 degrees which allows it to move past the square angle of 90 degrees

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I then mounted the main panel plate

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and also made sure that it had no issues with the weight

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I then drilled holes for the manifold and just used cap screws with a lock washer and nut on the other side

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I called it a night after mounting the main manifold. Don't think I will get much done this weekend because I got to get caught up on my water changes!

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[Cichlids]

Was able to do some drilling today this is what I was able to get done

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I will have to rotor this out a bit since I can't fit a gauge bracket in their properly

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[Neptune]

I wish I had a project like that! Awesome!

[Cichlids]

Been busy the last few days so I have been running around and getting odds and ends as well as prepping the main drip system panel board. I had a bit of a set back but it hasn't really delayed me in trying to get this project done sooner rather than later.
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Put down some metal strips for these magnets
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holds quite well and I installed a handle to make opening and closing much more easier
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Now that I had the small stuff done I focused on the gauges and the back mount brackets.
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This is a great bracket the only thing is the gauges I had didn't have slots to allow the tangs to fit in place so I tested one that was broken anyways to see how much metal was in the area I was about to die grind down.
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I can see that there was enough metal to allow me to grind down to mount the bracket so I went ahead with the good gauge. This is what happened.
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I didn't cut through it but rather the bracket punched a hole through the gauge so it was back to the vendor to find the right gauge to fit the right application