Water Storage Barrel

[marlon010]

With the help of this forum, I have come up with a water storage/aging/heating barrel that works great for those of us with 1 or 2 discus tanks and who are limited on space.

Picture 1: Tubing and auto-shutoff valve for the barrel fill. (tie this into a cold water source and over the course of X amount of hours, you will have a full barrel)

Picture 2: Float valve inside of the barrel

Picture 3: Hydor Inline Heater. There is a Quite One 3000 pump submersed inside the barrel.

Picture 4: Try to follow me...Water is pumped up out of the barrel, up through the heater, back into the barrel (nonstop) back out the top of the barrel to the top plumbing. Looking at the picture from the top view, lets name the valves A,B,C, & D...in order from top ball valve A to bottom spigot valve D.

Scenarios:

-AGE/HEAT/STORE: Open valve A and close valve B...you get recirculating water back into the barrel. Inside the barrel...following past valve A...is a spray bar that sprays the water back into the barrel.

-AQUARIUM FILL: Close valve A...open valve B...close valve C and open valve D to fill your aquarium...using a food grade water hose or the trusty python!!!

Now...once done filling aquarium, what do you do with all of that water in the python hose?

-EMPTY HOSE: Open valve A...close valve B (this begins the recirculating process all over again) open valve C and since valve D is already open, while you wrap your hose up, it drains back through valve C.


I am not finished with this project, but decide to post it for more ideas for us little guys!!! Suggestions are welcomed.

I'll post pictures of the finished product once completed. I plan on installing some sort of hanger for the python and cleaning up the wires and power strip a bit. I havent tried out the fill method yet...but it seems to make sense!!!

Thanks in advance everyone.

[nc0gnet0]

Looks good, but I think you may have made it more complicated than it needs to be, and a bit of a power hog to accomplish what you want to do.


I have something simular, with two 55 gallon plastic drums tied together with a bulkhead. The feed is actually RO water with an automatic shutoff. I use an airstone in each barrel, and while your spraybar will work just fine, the pump to drive it will consume considerably more electricity.

And while your inline heater concept is again beautifly thought out and plumbed, you will find it much more cost efficient to go with a bigger heater that heats the water faster. I use a 1500 watt portable electric RV heater. This I feed from the submerable pump in the second barrel to the heater and then back into the first barrel. It takes about one to 1 1/2 hours for me to bring the temperature of 100 gallons of water from 65 degrees to 85 degrees, and I have both the pump and the heater plugged into a 20 dollar ebay thermostat that shuts both down when I reach my target temp (if I get delayed it will also turn them back on).


Most storage barrels are in people cool basements, and smaller heaters are not only trying to heat the water, but fighting a constant battle of heat dissipation over a longer duration of time, so, in the long run they use much more power than a bigger heater. And this is also magnified by the fact that your pump wil be running much longer as well.

[marlon010]

Thanks for the advice. I guess I was only thinking about my set-up. My storage tank is actually in a closet in a utility closet wih my hot water heater...about 10 feet from where my aquarium will be. Didn;t think that the heater would consume a lot of energy...but I guess it would be working as long as cold water was being added.

Any more thoughts anyone?

[zamboniMan]

Thanks for the advice. I guess I was only thinking about my set-up. My storage tank is actually in a closet in a utility closet wih my hot water heater...about 10 feet from where my aquarium will be. Didn;t think that the heater would consume a lot of energy...but I guess it would be working as long as cold water was being added.

Any more thoughts anyone?

Just add hot water instead of cold water then the heater isn't bringing the temp up just maintained. It will use less energy because your using water already heated for the house and not trying to bring it up to temp with a smaller heater.

Josh

[David Rose]

Just add hot water instead of cold water then the heater isn't bringing the temp up just maintained. It will use less energy because your using water already heated for the house and not trying to bring it up to temp with a smaller heater.

Josh


Hi Josh,

How would you accomplish this if your using RO water to fill the barrel? Doesn't seem easily accomplished.

Thanks
David

[David Rose]

I use a 1500 watt portable electric RV heater. This I feed from the submerable pump in the second barrel to the heater and then back into the first barrel. It takes about one to 1 1/2 hours for me to bring the temperature of 100 gallons of water from 65 degrees to 85 degrees, and I have both the pump and the heater plugged into a 20 dollar ebay thermostat that shuts both down when I reach my target temp (if I get delayed it will also turn them back on).


Hi Rick,

Very interesting...could you provide pictures and links to the heater and thermostats you purchased? Perhaps I missed your thread if you posted your project? Would very much like to see how you put yours together and the RV heater sounds interesting as well.

Thanks,
David

[matthewh2]

I reckon great ideas on both of them, i have been racking my brain on how to accomplish something like this, but am worried about ageing to much, i guess the amount of water we go through to keep our discus happy and healthy each day to week then this really isn't a problem.
a friend of mine has three barrels two outside, first barrel filling with RO and next barrel stage to age it and then is pumped in to his fish room final barrel where it is at a constant 85f which then is fed into a brain with a float and automatically keeps tanks at optimum levels, sounds easy but he also has alot of plumbing doing it, it feeds around 25 tanks, as each pair lay and have fry he then can bypass that tank, is quite genius what he has done, my only concern is by doing that is if fish get an infection or parasites etc, will eventually make it throught to the whole lot and can put all at risk. imo

[marlon010]

Can Picture 1 just be tied into a regular water line like used with a fridge icemaker?

[nc0gnet0]

Dave,

I thing of function it is indeed, a thing of beauty it is not! :D How about a drawing?........:p

[zamboniMan]

Hi Josh,

How would you accomplish this if your using RO water to fill the barrel? Doesn't seem easily accomplished.

Thanks
David

As much as people say it affects the membranes and such I've done it and I know people who have simply hooked the RO unit to hot water. I have noticed a small difference in membrane life but the energy bill seems to have justified it.

Josh

[Willie]

The manual in my Merlin RO System shows the optimum yield of RO water is around 78F, so obviously the membrane can handle this temperature.

Willie