"The Madd Hatter" wrote in message
...
This project keeps getting bigger and bigger! Now my Dad and I are
thinking about walling and insulating about 8' of the garage.. This
way I can move the majority of my tanks out there (that brings it to
16).. This will make water changes alot easier, and I can eliminate
alot of the extra air pumps that are running around the house, and
free up some living space...

In this case we will only wall in the portion of the garage that falls
upder the room upstairs, so we know the ceiling will be insulated. My
biggest concern w/ regards to insulation would be the floor... Would
rubber matting help?

This is in the shoot the **** stage, so please shoot it to **** if it
looks unfeasible, cuz I only like seeing frozen fish at the grocery
store...

hang in there Jim, recovery is a painful process, but we're all here
for you if you need us...



On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 12:46:40 -0400, "Jim Brown"
wrote:


Mid posted......


I had a feeling it would be... On the other hand, I would have been
running the smaller piston pump + a water pump of atleast 900GPH to
1000gph (the top tanks are pretty high so I have to compensate for
the
head)... I'm hoping this will be cheaper then that combination, but
I
might be mistaken since I've no idea how much power the water pump
would require... This pump is rated at around 54 Watts I think...

I am a fan of the MagDrive pumps. They push the water well and are
low
watt. But at 54 watts, your pump is not too bad.


There may be a lot of splash at the return, so consider an elbow
or 'U'
fitting to minimize.

I plan to have an elbow at the top leading to a horizontal pipe w/
ball valves or check valves over each of the three top tanks to
facilitate return..

To get full benefit of the air volumes, you might want to consider
larger
tubing. Even then, I would consider rigid piping to better handle
the
pressure.

The output on the pump is pretty wide... (i think its 1/4" or more
but
i'm too lazy to go to the garage to check)... The guy I bought it
from
have an identical one w/ the appropriate sized flex tube leading
directly to a wall mounted pvc conduit pipe approx. 6 to 7' long...
He
had it drilled at regular intervals w/ air valves inserted. From
this
point he had regular airlines from the LFS leading to his various
UGF's and sponge filters. ( I think he had like 15-18 things
running
and he still had to bleed it off)... Even he admitted that he did a
fairly sloppy job w/ a lot of the connections, but despite enough
leaks to qualify as a Ford, it was pushing his 180 GAL and atleast
5
other tanks quite well... Should I use wider airlines all the way
in,
or can I use the regular stuff after the pvc?


You might also want a side pipe higher than the tank's surface to
eliminate any overflow problems if a power outage or pipe
separation
occurs.

I can't picture that... Could you elaborate please :-)

I was thinking that instead of drilling the airline attachment to the
uplift
tube, make the riser a 'U' shape. Attach the air to a nipple on the
cap,
and the capped air pipe will provide some buffer if the air hose pops
off.
Just a quick thought on my part. As I said, think it out and
consider
problems before they happen.


What you are doing is just a very large version of the old HOT air
driven
filters that were fairly popular a number of years ago.

I'll look them up... I'm, a fairly recent addict.... er.... I meant
HOBBYIST!!!!

Just think it out, maximize the air supply tubing, and consider
damage
control.

I'm puttin it all in the garage!!! (Next project is to insulate
around
the whole system!

In the garage?? You will need a lot of insulation to run it any
length into
the house. It's not that warm in Mississauga.


Thanx Jim! As always, you are a veritable font of wisdom! How are
you
faring these days? Have you got your systems up to snuff again?
Cheers!

Thanks. Still struggling to get back at it. Still doing guppy shows,
and
have a speaking engagement in Kitchener in September. Would be nice
if they
could get my medications sorted out. Not easy coming back.

Jim



I suggest leaving the floor as is.....perhaps adding a mat to the
walkway to avoid slipping. When you do build your racks make sure the
posts are not sitting on the concrete. Some put hockey pucks under
them. This action keeps water (which will spill) from wicking up the
structure. For heating and air conditioning....try and find an old unit
like they use in cheap hotels that does both functions and mounts in a
hole cut in the wall. This will cool, heat, and also provide plain fan
air. Paint with a paint containing a anti-fungal/mildew agent since
that will naturally want to grow in a moist environment. You may want
to invest in some type of aux power. Either a generator or battery
backup for the main pump. If you invest a lot of money in fish, an
automatic start generator and fail over circuits may be in the cards....

If your tanks are drilled already......common filtration could make a
lot of sense....with auto water changes being easier to do.

good luck... If only money was no object..