fishroom water system for fish tanks

[plec0]

Im now setting up my fish tanks in my shed, I am putting the tanks side by side and thinking of running pipingabove the tanks (tanks dont have tops or lids ) and have a hose running into easch 1 to fill tank up with water and Im trying to figure out a way to suck out water out of each tank for water changes, then I will have a floor drain so i can go to each tank and vacuum the left over food and trash out of each tank, but I am trying to look for ideas on a system that dont require drilling holes into the tanks for pipe, but allow pipe to run above the tanks to fill and suck water out of each tank, also will put switches on each tank, so i can do 1 tank at a time or all at once with either filling up with water or draining water out. any ideas, pictures,blueprints etc will be very helpful and much appreciated thanks.. by the way my fishroom is in a insulated shed with artificial lighting strips about 4-5 ft. above the tanks then a big strip in middle of room for additional lighting . the fish room is in a 8x12 shed. only 1 window . also still got to run water line into the fishroom room, Im running off well water that is fairly hard water, any recomendations on water filteration or purifiers to attach to the line that way the water is already filtered before it reaches the fishroom ?

[apistomaster]

http://www.aka.org/aka/modules/content/index.php?id=6
An overflow just doesn't come any cheaper than this design which operates on the principals of a flush toilet.
These overflows may be connected to a main drain line which you can run to your floor drain.
I know you said you didn't want to have any contact with me but I provide information freely even to those who are angry with me. I don't hold grudges. I hope this offers you the solution to your overflow design issue.

I think you will need to incorporate an RO unit into your water supply system but you will probably need to use a water pressure boosting pump to get maximum efficiencies. Also some 55 gal barrels. I recommend those sold for potable water storage from http://www.baytec.com
You can then blend RO and well water to adjust your water to whatever a given species needs.
Unless you have undesirable chemicals in your well water no other filtration should be needed.
Hard to beat this package deal
http://www.airwaterice.com/product/1EXT ... Meter.html

[MatsP]

I personally would recommend that you do drill the tanks. It is not very hard or particularly expensive to do it yourself. I have posted instructions a few times. Of my 13 tanks, 11 are drilled (one has two holes), and I've swapped out two other drilled tanks, so in total I've drilled 14 holes in various tanks, up to 10mm glass thickness (approx 3/8").

The overflow suggested by Larry will work, as long as you start it off somehow [any method for starting requires the T to be held shut - perhaps fitting a tap there too will help!] - either by a having a tap at the bottom of the drain system or by some sort of sucking action. The tap idea works by the fact that the pipe/tube is filled with water, which will create suction if it's flowing fast enough.

I would also suggest you use a some form of lid on each tank. There are many different solutions for this, anything from sliding glass to fine-corrugated clear plastic roofing sheets. The reason I suggest this is twofold:
1. It prevents evaporation - this again splits into two things: less evaporation -> less risk for condensation problems, and less need to top up tanks (with frequent water changes, this is less of an issue)..
2. It keeps the heat from your heater in the tank, rather than spreading it around the room.

As for filtration, what are you wanting to filter out? There are many things we may want to remove: particles, chemicals, bacterial, etc. Without knowing which one(s) you are targeting, it's hard to advice as to what may be a the right solution.

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Mats

[apistomaster]

Not many chemical pollutants found in water tables around the USA cannot be removed by a good RO unit and with the 1 micron pre-filters few bacteria pass. Only if you intend to drink the water without boiling it do you need to disinfect the product water. RO water is great to use with your coffee or espresso machines. You really get good tasting espressos or cups of coffee when you use RO water and it also prevents mineral scale.

[MatsP]

Not many chemical pollutants found in water tables around the USA cannot be removed by a good RO unit and with the 1 micron pre-filters few bacteria pass. Only if you intend to drink the water without boiling it do you need to disinfect the product water. RO water is great to use with your coffee or espresso machines. You really get good tasting espressos or cups of coffee when you use RO water and it also prevents mineral scale.

Yes, but there's also the "problem" that the RO unit produces very pure water, which needs careful "looking after" to prevent pH crash. Also, RO units work best if they are provided with good pressure.

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Mats

[apistomaster]

I mentioned blending some source water, providing it is not contaminated, to adjust for hardness and pH.
Chris understands these concerns.

[MatsP]

Larry,

I read your original post, then saw your comment about RO system, and didn't realize you had added a bunch more lines to the original post, where you had already covered some of the difficulties. Sorry about that.

I think it's still useful to know what sort of problem with the water that we're supposed to "fix" by the filtration...

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Mats

[apistomaster]

Larry,

I read your original post, then saw your comment about RO system, and didn't realize you had added a bunch more lines to the original post, where you had already covered some of the difficulties. Sorry about that.

I think it's still useful to know what sort of problem with the water that we're supposed to "fix" by the filtration...

--
Mats

That's OK. To err is human to not is to be me... yeah, right. not of this earth.