Hi all, about 2 -3 months ago I posted a thread on here about moving to a location where all I have access to is rainwater for my fish tanks. I got some great answers and help, but I'm back to ask for more ideas. So currently, I have three tanks, 2 2ft and 1 3foot tank. The info I got from my previous thread post lead me to get seachem equilibrium to increase my gh, and tiny shells to increase my kh. So far this has worked pretty well, but takes a bit of time. I'm in the planning process of building a fish tank rack filled with 9 2foot tanks, and have decided to develop a semi automatic water change system to make maintenance quicker and more enjoyable. The water change system will follow the dilution method of dripping water into the aquarium at a set rate, which will push some of the old water into an overflow, and the rest of the new water will mix with the old water. My current method of water-changes with the three tanks I have is draining the old water, getting fresh rainwater and mixing in the seachem equilibrium into the water in a bucket to achieve my desired gh. Then I add it to the tank/s. My though process is that if i want to follow this same method for the upcoming fish rack then i would need a middle man (watercontainer of some sort) which I would need to add the correct dosing of equilibrium. From that middle man I can then pump the water into the tanks. My question for you guys is if there is any way to make this simpler? Can I add crushed coral or a material like it to the tank to handle both gh and kh so i can just pump in fresh rain water? I might have missed something but if you have any questions feel free to ask. Thanks in advance.
Fish tank rack water-change system
- Thread starter Johnykiwi
- Start date
The April FOTM Contest Poll is open!
🏆 Click to vote! 🏆
you can make it all automatic...
I'm not sure how you have the rack setup but nine tanks I'm assuming 5 and 4?
a single pipe in a downward angle in each shelf to connect the drains from each tank onto a main side pipe...
now for water...get a ph/tds controller
so with soft water you have a lower gh/ph...the ph controller turns on and increases the ph by running a peristaltic pump from a equilibrium bottle increasing its hardness which in turn brings ph up
then use a garden timer once a day to do water changes from that "controlled" container
just make sure you have an air stone or a pump moving the water in the container
don't run a 24/7 drip from it because a controller wouldn't be able to keep up...
only thing missing in this is a bunch of auto-feeders and voilá
let us know how it goes...and we love pictures!
they say a thousand words xD
I'm not sure how you have the rack setup but nine tanks I'm assuming 5 and 4?
a single pipe in a downward angle in each shelf to connect the drains from each tank onto a main side pipe...
now for water...get a ph/tds controller
so with soft water you have a lower gh/ph...the ph controller turns on and increases the ph by running a peristaltic pump from a equilibrium bottle increasing its hardness which in turn brings ph up
then use a garden timer once a day to do water changes from that "controlled" container
just make sure you have an air stone or a pump moving the water in the container
don't run a 24/7 drip from it because a controller wouldn't be able to keep up...
only thing missing in this is a bunch of auto-feeders and voilá
let us know how it goes...and we love pictures!
they say a thousand words xD
Thanks for the info I'll have a look at some of the parts
make sure the garden timer is analog instead of those digital ones...
digital ones can lose their settings with a power failure as an analog won't...
so if you were to go on vacation for a week and the power went out for 14h...
the time on the analog timer wouldn't be the actual time but it would still do the water changes let's say at 1pm on it with 14h loss of power which would mean the water changes would now be at 3am everyday until you came back and adjusted the time on it again
best ones i've seen (and use) look like this:
they support 15-20amps and I like the cover to prevent accidental touches on the push-in buttons
they cost 10 bucks
digital ones can lose their settings with a power failure as an analog won't...
so if you were to go on vacation for a week and the power went out for 14h...
the time on the analog timer wouldn't be the actual time but it would still do the water changes let's say at 1pm on it with 14h loss of power which would mean the water changes would now be at 3am everyday until you came back and adjusted the time on it again
best ones i've seen (and use) look like this:
they support 15-20amps and I like the cover to prevent accidental touches on the push-in buttons
they cost 10 bucks
In Australia, you are probably ahead, but IinCanada, I would stay semi-automatic. I would like to have a drilled tank set up, not for filtration but solely for water changing. A friend had an amazing automatic system with a heated water reservoir for the changes - the heater failed when he was away and his fish got straight midwinter cold for a week. Their bodies were reasonably preserved by the temps when he got back.
I can make you a list and prices if you'd like
if you'd like to, dont feel like you have to though.
oks so I made a rough design on how it should look
each level is connected in series and from last back into the 1st (each level requires a water pump)
and the very last tank of each level would be the one with a drain hole
the drain pipe is shared by each rack level and by the water holding container
the ph controller basically controls the hardness from low to high.....basically what it means is that while it's low...it'll turn on the peristaltic pump increasing hardness etc...to your desired level
and the tds basically will do the opposite if it goes higher
do allow for a gap between what you want in the ph value and the tds one
so best way to calibrate this system would be for you to actually make the water manually the first time
put both bnc's inside the container and check the ph....so you set the ph controller to work as such...if it's under that value...turn on the peristaltic pump
then the tds...check how much is the tds of your pre-mixed water and add around 25-50ppm on top of that value
and you set it high to low...if it's over that limit...turn on the water-solenoid valve which will bring the softness back down
IMPORTANT: you have to add some extra ppm doesn't have to be 25 but enough so the tds controller isn't fighting against the ph one...
because that would just be a waste of water and hardness chemicals
you need that space-gap to allow the ph/tds to simply not turn on when they're both in acceptable range
now parts....
enough pvc and 2 bulkheads for each tank (3 for the last one in each rack level)
1 peristaltic pump for the hardness chemical
1 ph/tds controller
3 water pumps (1 for each rack level and 1 to push water to the solenoid water valve for water changes)
2 water solenoid valves (1 for daily water changes and 1 for when tds goes too high in container)
1 flush valve (toilet valve) to fill up container
1 garden timer
now..some people want everything independent of each other (tank-wise)
instead of connecting them in series where the water would flow throughout all 5 tanks in each level
you can however design every tank with 3 holes like the last one
and you can set it up as you wish (future-proofing it in case you want to change things)
for an independent tank system you'd probably use a piston air pump and just use sponge filters in every tank
myself I hate noise and I would probably go with the series one as it would just be dead silent
now prices...
peristaltic pump goes for around 50 bucks on amazon (pump + power kit)
ph/tds controller costs around 100 on aliexpress
3 water pumps of about 100-200gph costs around 25$/each on amazon
2 water solenoid valves cost about 12$/each or 35$/each as a kit with power kit
toilet valve you're better off going to a hardware store
and the garden timer 10-15 bucks
2 things to pay attention to...when you buy water pumps off of amazon read the reviews and make sure the flow adjuster works
as some on there it's simply a front plate that spins and does nothing to control flow
and the water solenoid valves make sure its the threaded type and not the push-in fittings as you don't want leaks down the line
I wish you good luck on your project and as you know...we here love pictures xD
let us know how it goes and don't hesitate in asking for help...
there's lots of knowledgeable people here
each level is connected in series and from last back into the 1st (each level requires a water pump)
and the very last tank of each level would be the one with a drain hole
the drain pipe is shared by each rack level and by the water holding container
the ph controller basically controls the hardness from low to high.....basically what it means is that while it's low...it'll turn on the peristaltic pump increasing hardness etc...to your desired level
and the tds basically will do the opposite if it goes higher
do allow for a gap between what you want in the ph value and the tds one
so best way to calibrate this system would be for you to actually make the water manually the first time
put both bnc's inside the container and check the ph....so you set the ph controller to work as such...if it's under that value...turn on the peristaltic pump
then the tds...check how much is the tds of your pre-mixed water and add around 25-50ppm on top of that value
and you set it high to low...if it's over that limit...turn on the water-solenoid valve which will bring the softness back down
IMPORTANT: you have to add some extra ppm doesn't have to be 25 but enough so the tds controller isn't fighting against the ph one...
because that would just be a waste of water and hardness chemicals
you need that space-gap to allow the ph/tds to simply not turn on when they're both in acceptable range
now parts....
enough pvc and 2 bulkheads for each tank (3 for the last one in each rack level)
1 peristaltic pump for the hardness chemical
1 ph/tds controller
3 water pumps (1 for each rack level and 1 to push water to the solenoid water valve for water changes)
2 water solenoid valves (1 for daily water changes and 1 for when tds goes too high in container)
1 flush valve (toilet valve) to fill up container
1 garden timer
now..some people want everything independent of each other (tank-wise)
instead of connecting them in series where the water would flow throughout all 5 tanks in each level
you can however design every tank with 3 holes like the last one
and you can set it up as you wish (future-proofing it in case you want to change things)
for an independent tank system you'd probably use a piston air pump and just use sponge filters in every tank
myself I hate noise and I would probably go with the series one as it would just be dead silent
now prices...
peristaltic pump goes for around 50 bucks on amazon (pump + power kit)
ph/tds controller costs around 100 on aliexpress
3 water pumps of about 100-200gph costs around 25$/each on amazon
2 water solenoid valves cost about 12$/each or 35$/each as a kit with power kit
toilet valve you're better off going to a hardware store
and the garden timer 10-15 bucks
2 things to pay attention to...when you buy water pumps off of amazon read the reviews and make sure the flow adjuster works
as some on there it's simply a front plate that spins and does nothing to control flow
and the water solenoid valves make sure its the threaded type and not the push-in fittings as you don't want leaks down the line
I wish you good luck on your project and as you know...we here love pictures xD
let us know how it goes and don't hesitate in asking for help...
there's lots of knowledgeable people here
WOW, sorry for the late reply. But thank you so much for this.
Most reactions
-
247 -
244 -
151 -
143 -
140 -
135 -
109 -
107 -
93 -
90 -
85 -
80 -
78 -
67 -
62
