Idea....thoughts???

[pilot_bell777]

OK.....here is what I was thinking let me know your thoughts......

I'm planning on taking 6" PVC pipe and attaching a base to it so it stands upright. Put 10 gallons or water in it and then but it off a little above the water line. Add a bulk head going into the tank with a ball valve and just set another cap on top. In the cap attach a small bulk head with a T and a ball valve comming off my RO/DI unit so I can turn it on and fill it up. Add a small pump to the tube.

Why you ask?

Hold enough water for a water change under the tank. Fills automatically from the RODI. Take the cap off, add salt, put cap back on and turn on pump to stirr it up and circulate. Drain old water, turn on pump opening ball valve to tank and it auto fills. No more lifting heavy water bottles or "Pouring" water into the tank/sump/fuge and stirring things up.

Will attach a drawing later of my idea.....what do yall think?

[blueboy]

sounds like a good idea, but 6" PVC is pretty pricey, you usually have to buy a 20' section. and scraps of this size will probably be hard to find, as 6" is larger than anything used on residential construction. i'm interested to hear if this works out.

[::pete::]

Try a local plumber for a shorter piece.

[pilot_bell777]

Lowes has it in 10foot sections for $23...figure I would spend that much on buckets or jugs, etc....

[witecap4u]

Lowes has it in 10foot sections for $23...figure I would spend that much on buckets or jugs, etc....

You'll probably need 10ft to hold 10gal of water....i think

cs

[pilot_bell777]

not in a 6" pvc pipe! LOL Maybe.....

bucket! What fun is that?????

[brewercm]

It looks like your auto fill is also coming from the PVC. If you are going to be mixing salt in for water changes you can't use it for top offs also. Auto top off should be run straight from the RO/DI unit, probably just add another T into the line going to the float valve.

Maybe I'm just reading the drawing wrong and that line is going around the tube instead of into and out.

[pilot_bell777]

was limited on drawing space..... auto top off goes directly to the ro/di.

line comming to the tank, T off, one to auto topoff, other to mixer.....

[Magneto]

Lowes has it in 10foot sections for $23...figure I would spend that much on buckets or jugs, etc....

You'll probably need 10ft to hold 10gal of water....i think

cs
I was bored. But counting an internal diameter of 6 inches it should be 1.46 gallons to a foot of pipe. So 6.8 feet of pipe for 10 gallons.

[Polkster13]

But you also have to take into account the volume displacement of the pump, wiring and internal hoses and connections. Your best bet would be to assemble everything and then fill with 10 gallons of fresh water and then mark the top where the float valve will need to be set. Install the float valve. Then remove the excess from the top. Add a top that can be easily removed (to be able to add the salt) and ta da, you're done.

[jaded]

Or you could simply cut the PVC tube into smaller lengths, set it side by side and connect with flex tube or smaller pvc. Then add your pump in a way that will circulate through the pipes. This way you could possibly have it short enough to sit behind the tank/stand

possible???

[pilot_bell777]

thought about that too if it was too tall......figure use an external pump, connect the couple with plumbing and make a closed loop kind of thing out of it with a Y on the pump. Turn the Y the other way and it pumps the water into the tank......Not sure yet.....

[brewercm]

You could do something similar to this just instead of setting it up for a maxijet make it for a mag3 or 5. All this does is recirculate the water and kalk mix inside the tube, same theory. If you wanted you could tee off of the outlet side of the pump for your water change when time.

[pilot_bell777]

kinda it

[eleyan]

You might have better luck fitting one of those $10 10G tanks from petco. You can get another float valve for it so it doesn't have to be water tight like the PVC pipe plan.

[pilot_bell777]

I was thinking about that but have limited room under the tank with the sump and fuge.

[blueboy]

so, is this contraption going to sit beside your tank, or do you have a fishroom or closet, or is your stand 7' tall?LOL

[pilot_bell777]

I was planning something to fit under the tank. No fish room, if I did I would have the 20gallon tank for this in there. DOn't want it beside the tank, want it hidden.

Will figure something out.....

[BIGBIRD123]

I'm fixin' to do this. Looked like a purty good idea. Then I could hang it on my sump.

http://www.reef-eden.com/DIY%203%20.htm

Steve