That's a JOB well done ! I can only dream of a room like that
Flip dude love your avatar. Thanks, its not done yet still awaiting MONEY and a little time to complete.
1,000 GALLON MULTI TANK SUMP SYSTEM.
- Thread starter kamikaziechameleon
- Start date
Flip dude love your avatar. Thanks, its not done yet still awaiting MONEY and a little time to complete.
Ok thanks for that its reassuring, all things sorted all I need is money and then I'll find the time. The bank has run dry might actually be months before I can conclude things.
Thank you!We are always working on it and we take pics of everything we try to do. So as soon as we make a visible difference we will post up more.
Thanks!
The current pump is 3700-4000 GPH and uses 500-700 watts(lots of juice!). After we build the new overflows for the 75 gals we plan on testing the flow of those tanks using this pump then we will be able to make the decision for the new pump or pumps.
As for heat, that is still a major concern we are currently debating on running 3-4 300watt heaters in the sump or insulating the room, putting a new wall up and running a space heater to bring the entire room to 78-82 degrees. We need to weigh the cost of each option to see what will be more economical down the line.
in the long run, it is much cheaper to heat the room not the tanks in this type of set up! space heaters or oil filled heaters are not cost effective to run.. is it possible to tap into your homes heating system and add a zone?? good luck
I'm not quite sure how heating will be resolved. It does seem space heat will be best, just trying to sort out how to best accommodate this. Don't think I can do as you propose with my old furnace. :^/
Heat is heat. It cost exactly the same amount to electrically heat the room with an electrical space heater in the room as it would heating each individual tank in that room to the exact same temp.
The trick is to use the cheapest source of heat. If you have gas at your house and gas prices are cheaper than electric in your area then it would be cheaper to heat the room with a gas heater or plumb a hot water line/coil to your sump to transfer that heat to your tanks.
I found the cheapest way to heat a fish tank is to not heat it as much. I keep all my tanks except the grow outs at 74 in the winter. It's way way cheaper than 80. Also I save on food and water changes and I think it's good for the fish to go through "seasons"
Just my two cents......
I would heat the water. Just because the tanks are at 80 degrees doesn't mean the surrounding air will be at 80 degrees. Heat the water and cap the tanks and sump to minimize evaporation. Minimizing evaporation is the best way to reduce heating costs.
I lower my heaters in the winter also. And it does make my cichlids more mellow. I don't know if this would be a good idea if breeding is the goal though.
I lower my heaters in the winter also. And it does make my cichlids more mellow. I don't know if this would be a good idea if breeding is the goal though.
Temp asside you are right, I have gas and may just use a game space heater to warm that space. I've also found aquarium heaters to be the most reliable way to kill fish. 
They always die and when they do the body count is frequently high.
They always die and when they do the body count is frequently high.
Keep your eyes pealed for a major update with photos, drilling commenced this past weekend. All the tanks on the super system are cleared and getting drilled, over this next week I hope to acquire the plastic to make our overflows and then we are back in business. Still need to get several final details worked out but the promise of getting all 8 tanks running on it is drawing ever closer.
After Drilling we have to Choose and purchase a pump, and resolve how we will implement the DE filter system. Weather to use 2 smaller DE filters on the return or one MASSIVE one.
After Drilling we have to Choose and purchase a pump, and resolve how we will implement the DE filter system. Weather to use 2 smaller DE filters on the return or one MASSIVE one.
I apologize for them being out of order, but you can get and idea of what we did.
we bought 2 45mm saws from Gl*******s.com they were decently priced.
The first 3 tanks we drilled using only the pressure from the weight of the drill. (not very much) we drilled 3 holes in each tank so by the 4th tank the bit was starting to show a considerable amount of ware. The last 75 gal took a long time to drill the hole under the weight of the drill. I had to apply a little more pressure but it cut the hole with ease.
we are going to drill the 100 gals in the next few days, they are almost 2x's the thickness of the 75's so we plan on using the second bit (new).
The next task is to assemble the corner overflows and plumb them into the system to check flow. I will make sure we take pictures of the overflow assembly and construction.
thanks for looking, and all the input guys/gals its really important and has helped a ton.
Joe