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November 5th, 2007
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Fish Mentor
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Tim, Don't know if this makes any difference at this point, but is your propane heater vented to the outside?
I run a greenhouse in addition to the other hobbies (fish) , and have in the past toyed with propane heat as a emergency source in the greenhouse. The fumes are toxic to plants, not all, but some are very sensitive.....This may cause unforseen problems in your fish tanks.  |
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November 5th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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wood stove would be nice b/c they tend to suck moisture out of the air. and for the one sump over flowing cant you connect 2 of the sections with a tube and let water flow between the 2 set ups and let it free flow between them both
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November 5th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
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Tim, Don't know if this makes any difference at this point, but is your propane heater vented to the outside?
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Yes, the heater is wall mounted and flued to the outside, so it shouldn't cause any problems.
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wood stove would be nice b/c they tend to suck moisture out of the air. and for the one sump over flowing cant you connect 2 of the sections with a tube and let water flow between the 2 set ups and let it free flow between them both
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It would be nice, but a real pain to keep the temperature stable! As for linking the sumps together, if I were to do that, I may as well have just the one for the entire system. The problem there would be any disease that made it through the bio-filters and the UVC would affect all the fish! |
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November 5th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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yea i under stand is there a way to put a valve on the tube connecting them.  |
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November 5th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Ok, another day, more building..... Today we built the first rack, setup 90 gallons of tanks with the outflow to the sump, set up the siphons to connect them in pairs, and started work on the sump for this rack. Not much done, really!
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November 5th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
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yea i under stand is there a way to put a valve on the tube connecting them
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Whatever valve you use, if any infection gets into one side of the setup, it would be transmitted to the other system, even if you had a one-way valve, when it opened, micro-organisms would find a way through. It's just as easy to add an overflow to the sump to run off any excess to outside.
The only concern there is that an overflow on the sump may lead to shortage of water in the system should there be a power failure, although the setup will allow for levels settling down in this event. I just need to set the overflow high enough to allow for this. |
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November 5th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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here's a little more detail on the system. the first two show the return piping to the sump, the last two show the siphon and the fry screen filter internally fitted.
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November 5th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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i just thought of something for the dehumidifier...you may want to run it for a couple of days prior to hooking it up...just in case there is something in its system that could get into the tanks (kinda like running a new tank for a couple of days prior to doing a cycle w/ fish)
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November 5th, 2007
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Master Of Fish Poo!
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November 6th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Sorting out the plumbing is not an easy task! This is what I have spent all day doing today, since the plumber let me down and didn't arrive.
Not that it worried me, I just got down to it myself! The first rack is all but complete now, just waiting for the new pump to arrive tomorrow and a little tweeking here and there.
Opting for sand in the sump may cause problems though, since it seems to be lifting into the pumping chamber all the time. maybe I'll use floss instead, which will be much cleaner and not migrate!
Here are some pics of the plumbing. For cost reasons I've made a few modifications and decided to use standard plastic hose instead of all the corners and angles that solid piping would have entailed. The control valve is very neat, utilising a four-way hose controller with push-fit connectors to hose pipe that runs into the tanks.
I have filled all the main tanks in the rack, just leaving the sump half-full until the pump turns up. I then have to decide whether to fit heaters in there or just run with ambient temperature in the room. My feeling is that I will still need heaters to ensure that the water temperature stays stable, but time will tell on this one. There is plenty of room in the sump for the heaters, should they be needed.
The last two pictures show the siphon system I have used. This is to avoid the need to drill and seal holes in the tanks, but it caused me a little headache on just how to get it working. The main reason for this is that they are cut into the lids, which are fixed in place, so I can't remove them easily to fill them. They also have stocking screens on each end with holes drilled in the piping to allow more water movement.
The solution was simple, as it happened. I drilled a small hole and inserted a length of air tubing which bends up to the top of the bend. By adding a length of tubing to this small piece, as the water level rises in the tanks, I can suck the air out of the top of the siphon and start it working. As long as the end of the tubing stays under water, the siphon will continue to work! (I hope this makes sense folks)
The outflow filters are very simple and couldn't be easier to fit. They are 40mm drainpipe, with 32mm holes drilled through the sides and a piece of ladies stocking stretched over the end and the two holes in the sides, held in place with a plastic cable tie! The pipe fits snuggly over the nut holding the outlet fitting in place, so they can be removed easily for cleaning.
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November 6th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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looks good!
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November 6th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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It's very hard trying to cover all possibilities..... You only get one shot at this sort of thing.... get it wrong and it costs you dearly!
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November 6th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin
i just thought of something for the dehumidifier...you may want to run it for a couple of days prior to hooking it up...just in case there is something in its system that could get into the tanks (kinda like running a new tank for a couple of days prior to doing a cycle w/ fish)
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just wanted to make sure you saw this |
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November 6th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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yeah, thanks for that Kevin. I will make sure to pull the first couple of weeks into the bottle to make sure the nasties are gone before connecting it directly!
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November 7th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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just finished re-facing the outside of the fish house, so thought, as the sun is out, I'd take a picture!
You can see where the garage door was easily enough, and if you look at the side walls, it explains why I had to ensure that the insulation was good!
Last edited by timg; November 7th, 2007 at 08:29 AM.
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November 7th, 2007
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Fish Mentor
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Can't see the side, is it stone?
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November 7th, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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they are around 2' thick and made of granite and slate. Ideal for ornaments in the tanks, but no good at all for insulation!
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November 7th, 2007
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Master Of Fish Poo!
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Similar Aquarium Fish Forum Threads
looking like it's coming along fast -- you'll have to sleep one of these days though. 
