How do you heat your holding water?

[Smokey]

Gentlemen and Ladies: yes their is a much better way to heat and maintain water temperature. No electricty needed.

AND ever home has one!!!

Smokey

[Jason]

I made a solar powered water pump set-up for a lady here, really easy and cheap.

12 volt water pump-pulled it out of my motorhome
solar panel from canadian tire
boat battery, and a few other odds and ends.

I imagine if you lived someplace warm and sunny, use the same type of set-up, instead of powering a water fountain like the one I made, use the pump to push water through a black poly pipe solar collecter, add a heat exchange coil, temperature sensor, couple solenoids, it could easily heat up a few water barrels.

[Rod]

Hi guys

The heating system i used was a stainless steel heating element from a hot water urn and this is plugged into a thermostat that is normally used in the horticultural industry for heating flower beds. These have a range right up to 40c and the model i used can handle 10amp (2400watts in aussie electricity). The pic below shows the thermostat and the heating element connected to the sump of a central filter. All up cost is about $150, but when i was running a central filter that could handle 5000l with ease.

Another tip if you intend to run a few tanks is to have an electrician wire into a different power tarrif for the heating circuit. In my case i get my heating power for 35% of the cost of normal electricity, only snag is i loose power on that circuit for 3 hours each day. That won't be a problem as long as the room they are in is well insulated to keep the heat in. I guess living in a warm climate helps too.

Sorry the pic doesn't show the heating unit so well, i'll take some pics of the components and post something in the DIY section next week.

Rod

BTW bass, if you probs finding a cheap heater i.m. me and i'll send you down one at the right price. Should be able to do it for under $40.

[Rod]

Geeezzzz, forgot the piccy ;D

[Jason]

Rod to the rescue!

anyone ever try to recover heat from your waste water?

[daninthesand]

Hi Jason.

Recovering heat form waste water is something i've contemplated a few times. When I finally finish my drip sytem, I plan to collect all the overflow water from the tanks into a collecting barrel. In that barrel will be a long coil of the 1/4 pvc tubing I will use to run the cold feed water to the drippers. I plan to adjust the length of the tubing in the barrel to get the most heat out of the waste water as I can.

I have experimented with this on a rudimentary level and it seems to work rather well. The best part is that no pumps, solenoids or electricity are needed.
When (and if lol!) i get this going I'll send pix.

Daniel

[limige]

a freind of mine suggested using an old hot water heater, for the whole fishroom!

run a closed loop system and use thermostats and seliniods to open the flow of hot water to the storage tank or fish tanks, just use some tubing as heating elements.

i'm keeping the idea in the back of my head but i'm reluctant. it would save a ton of money in the long run but would be a pain to setup.

[nalah]

Bass - havent read entire thread yet,but where on earth do you shop. a 300W via aqua heater is ONLY $20.00. most expensive brand 300W is still only around $75.00.

look at these two companies .i havent checked their prices yet.
www.aquaticlifeaquariums.com.au
www.aquaria.com.au
and then there's Trans Aquarium in Canley Vale.. talk to Amy.her via aquas are20.00.
also,ALWAYS have a quick look on www.ebay.com.au pet section.

[lesley]

Smokey,

OK I'll bite!!

:??? ??? ??? ???

[Smokey]

Actually, Limige has already mentioned it. lol

It is very simply setup. And you use your conventual hot water heater.

It is the same technology used in heating floors. Warm water..

The bacis method is ... tap into the hot water outlet pipe .. as small adapter, from any hardware store.
Using the new toxic free water potable hose ... run a line into the sump, storage barrel. or even into the aquarium .

I f the hot water tanks is in the basement and your tanks are on the floor above ... a pump is not necessary. The natural convection of the hot water will circulate the warm water.

The most expensive part will be the digital contol box. You set the desired temperature, set the probe in the water to be heated ... and wala ... constant warm tanks.

since the hot water heater is always on , why not use it.

and no water is wasted. A full loop returns the water to the hot water heater. If the hot water heater and your tanks are on the same floor ... a small, inexpensive pump will be needed.

The cost, in Canada, is about $400.00, total. This setup may be a little to much for a single small tank. It is great when mutil tanks and sumps and storage barrels are in use. No more electic heaters needd.

Smokey

[nalah]

LOL Smokey - when you say WALLA! do you perhaps mean
[glow=blue,2,300]Voila[/glow]

[Smokey]

NOPE, I mean YEA HA !!!

[Bass]

Great info everyone!

Ok, I built my trolley system last weekend. First attempt was a failure - Turns out that my power-head hasn’t got the guts to keep water-flow up once the pressure in the bin drops to a point.
So, I’ve changed my idea to a simple little permanent set-up, with concealed hoses running behind the tank.

Here’s a quick little sketch I did tonight, so nobody need suffer my attempt at explaining.
Could anyone tell me what sort of pump I would need and what kind of hose?
The hose lengths will be ~3m/10ft from bin to pump and 1.5m/5ft from valve to tank.


Ps. Please, no questions about the Sheep. All I can say at present is that allegations of the Government granting me in excess of 15 million dollars, based on these plans, are grossly understated..

[Smokey]

O.K. for what it is worth - you will need a pump that will produce an adequate flow rate at a specified head height.
Some pumps claim 200 gph - this is at 0[zero] head heigth. Look for a pump which will produce 200 gph [ or whatever] at 10 feet head height. or better.

I like the submeragable pumps , supreme brand, to mention one. they are tough and reliable. MPO. A model 500 would do fine. They already have the threaded in/outputs.
Hose size - I went out and bought a very good 100% - 3/4 inch, 50 foot, rubber lawn hose - $50.00[w0w] ; or just pick up some food grade hose from your local hdware store.

Suggestion - throw in a tee / and a valve, between the pump and three way ... and you would be able to syphom water from the tanks ... for a water change.

Nice setup, Bass

Smokey

[April]

LOL Bass. i love the sheep growout tank. can you send me a baa baa black sheep?
i use a magdrive pondpump. they work great. you need to make sure it will pump at least 7 feet up. they have different sizes. if you can get them there...
and if you can...better find a store with alot cheaper prices than the one your finding 150.00 heaters from. :