Fish Room Update Coming Soon

[P4Angels]

So I have been looking for a good drip system for few  year now and I finally feel I have the best approach. In the coming weeks I hope to add pictures and illustrate this project. No more water changes...  YES!!


All PVC is 3/4 inch will give a flow rate of 200 gph - not that the drips system will ever use that much.  We will only be pushing a max 2-3 Gallons an hour thru them... Yes jon I know if I can get this to work you want some help.... LOL

Parts so far:


Timer:


Over flow:


Here is a preview

[Mugwump]

Not bad,,except the blasted Seahawk junk...oy vey....

[Frank The Plumber]

I have used the male adapter female adapter o'ring style system before. There were several issues that I had to resolve. The o'rings should be greased using a non toxic water safe plumbers faucet lubricant. This prevents the o'ring from binding or chipping as it is tightened into position. I used a very fat very pliable or soft ring as I wanted to be certain that the o'ring was pressed into the thread gaps tightly, I found nice o'rings at the NAPA store cheap. I used one on each side of the glass panel. Be careful when using this on glass as it will pop the panel if you over tighten the male adapter into the hole. The threads are tapered on the male adapter and on a tight hole the threads will move into the hole and can wedge into it and crack the glass. Also, grease the threads lightly so they do not bind upon themselves. This works OK, you get a few droolers after a year or so but it's a cheap way to do it.

[Mugwump]

I have used the male adapter female adapter o'ring style system before. There were several issues that I had to resolve. The o'rings should be greased using a non toxic water safe plumbers faucet lubricant. This prevents the o'ring from binding or chipping as it is tightened into position. I used a very fat very pliable or soft ring as I wanted to be certain that the o'ring was pressed into the thread gaps tightly, I found nice o'rings at the NAPA store cheap. I used one on each side of the glass panel. Be careful when using this on glass as it will pop the panel if you over tighten the male adapter into the hole. The threads are tapered on the male adapter and on a tight hole the threads will move into the hole and can wedge into it and crack the glass. Also, grease the threads lightly so they do not bind upon themselves. This works OK, you get a few droolers after a year or so but it's a cheap way to do it.

What about good old Vaseline??..or just caulking it in....?

[BillT]

This looks like a nice cheap way to make a bulkhead.
I would add a concern about using any old o-ring in making it since the o-ring material will be in contact with the fish water. Test I did when I worked in a lab showed that n-buna and at least some EPDM rubbers were toxic to embryonic zebrafish. When i use bulkheads now, I just pitch the gasket and use a layer of silicone which i think would work fine in this case.

[Frank The Plumber]

You could use food safe o'rings, harder to find but non toxic.

[BillT]

You could use food safe o'rings, harder to find but non toxic.

Yes should have mentioned that.

[P4Angels]

That is why I love you guys and gals on this form.  Always willing to share your ideas.



Here is the information on the O-rings:



http://www.homedepot.com/p/PartsmasterPro-218-O-Ring-10-Pack-58280/203197117?keyword=58280#more_info



My other plan was to use:





http://www.lowes.com/pd_31446-143-PP25546_0__?Ntt=pp25546&UserSearch=pp25546&productId=1082955&rpp=32


6"x6"x1/16" and cut them to any size you need.  @ that size you can cut your own and it still keeps the budget in mind.  I can get like 6 from each.  I have used them before to make gaskets in other tanks and it works great.  I keep them in squares and cut out the whole in the middle.  Place these on the inside of the glass and use the O-rings on the outside, or I can use the sheets for both. 



Or would this be a better option:


Silicone O-Ring, 70A Durometer, Red, 1-3/16" ID, 1-5/16" OD, 1/16" Width (Pack of 100) for 21.95 (free Shipping)




http://www.amazon.com/228-Silicone-O-Ring-Durometer-Width/dp/B003SLE5LS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369807996&sr=8-1&keywords=SILICONE+O+RING



As always any comments are appreciated.   

[Frank The Plumber]

The food safe o'rings I had used were blue, I think they were teflon, I used them in a cookie factory fluids line. Not sure of the composition the silicone ones. I still like the grease and used plumbers faucet grease just to slick the o'rings even on the teflon ones. The engineer for the cookie factory approved the plumbers grease but I forget what exactly I used. I like the orings because they force themselves against the threads and want to return to the round shape of the construction, this forces them against the glass surface. A flat gasket loses it's pliability rather quickly and many times you need to rely upon a secondary sealant such as silicone etc to do the work of holding a seal. In the case we have here where we are using a very minimal surface area acting as a flange you will not have a lot of actual surface area to use on a flat gasket. Even on a flat gasket I use a bit of plumbers grease, this allows the surface of the gasket to be more willing to seal. The water droplet has to push the bit of grease out of the way before it can weep, it tends to not be able to. When using a silicone you want to do the same thing seal wise. Just a very thin film works better than any amount of a thickness of silicone product.

[BillT]

I think Aquatic EcoSystems has a food grade grease. Probably comes in large amounts though.

[P4Angels]

What a weekend, got phase one completed (and Lori did not move any tanks!!).


1. Drainage line is installed ad running around the room,
2. Drilled all the tanks. (not as bad as it looks just have to take your time with this step.
3. Added bulk head and lines and connect to the drainage line (used the bio grade O-rings and siliconed from the out side)
4. Set up all my grow outs one the drip water system. 
5. Setup up my 100 galloon storage tank to the system (now ready for use it for grow outs (hint hint jon KOI babies)
6. Added a drainage line for the dehumidifier so out the door it goes.
7. Drilled all 10 of my 20 breeders and will have them all on the system by end of day.


Pictures to flow:


Things still to do (phase 2, 3, 4 etc):
Add my rack of 3 50 gallons to the system drip system
Add my 8 10 gallon tanks to the system.
Run all the drip line
Add the timer (set for run ever 8 hours for 4 hours a day - this will allow for a constant temperature with little to no change)
Run line from kitchen to timer.


Tweak everything then set back and enjoy. 

[Mugwump]

Good job!!...It seems you've got it all starting to come together....sweet

[P4Angels]

Completed the water lines and doing a test water change while im typing.  nothing like sitting back and watching the water go in and the water go out....     Hands free gotta love that..

[BillT]

Sounds like you've been very busy.

[P4Angels]

Me drilling a 20 gallon tank



Lori cleaning after the drilling



After painting the bottom and adding the over flow



Installed and ready for action


]
30 gallon up and running (if you look close you can see the water flowing out the tube.



55 gallon running (drainage tube is located at the bottom of the tank)