Engineering problem for you guys

I've got a 400-gallon round galvanized tank (with liner) that I use
for quarantine purposes. I'd like to use some sort of bottom drain
setup for it but I'm not sure how to go about it. Not sure if it's a
good idea to drill a hole through the side for pipe access.

Any suggestions?

thx

There are two possibilities, one through the wall as you mentioned, the
other a siphon over the top. Either will work. I have bottom drains
plumbed through the liner into the front of my skimmers. You just need to
have an appropriate size bulkhead fitting, clamping the liner to the tank.
You could also use the Bickal Boot for the liner and not worry about the
watertightness of the tank. My bottom drains are just pipes that end
pointed down in the deepest part of the pond, but they make commercial non
vortexing bottom drain units. For your size tank, I would think that the 2"
by Tetra would be more than ample, and it is designed as a retro drain, not
requiring a hole in the bottom of the liner. The plumbing can then go over
the top and back down to the pump, and work as a siphon.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"DesertPond" wrote in message
...
I've got a 400-gallon round galvanized tank (with liner) that I use
for quarantine purposes. I'd like to use some sort of bottom drain
setup for it but I'm not sure how to go about it. Not sure if it's a
good idea to drill a hole through the side for pipe access.

Any suggestions?

thx

DesertPond,

Where did you get a tank without a drain. All the tanks around here in
Oklahoma come with drain holes and/or drain plugs all ready in them.
Usually they are on the side somewhere.

Tom L.L.
---------------
"DesertPond" wrote in message
...
I've got a 400-gallon round galvanized tank (with liner) that I use
for quarantine purposes. I'd like to use some sort of bottom drain
setup for it but I'm not sure how to go about it. Not sure if it's a
good idea to drill a hole through the side for pipe access.

Any suggestions?

thx

It's got a small 1" drain hole on the side, but with the pine needles
I figure I better have 2" just to keep from having to unclog it every
10 seconds. Picked it up for free from a friend who didn't need it,
really lucky, suckers are kind of expensive.


On Sun, 4 Jan 2004 23:22:36 -0600, "Tom La Bron"
wrote:

DesertPond,

Where did you get a tank without a drain. All the tanks around here in
Oklahoma come with drain holes and/or drain plugs all ready in them.
Usually they are on the side somewhere.

Tom L.L.
---------------
"DesertPond" wrote in message
.. .
I've got a 400-gallon round galvanized tank (with liner) that I use
for quarantine purposes. I'd like to use some sort of bottom drain
setup for it but I'm not sure how to go about it. Not sure if it's a
good idea to drill a hole through the side for pipe access.

Any suggestions?

thx

Thx for ideas :-)

On Mon, 05 Jan 2004 00:38:51 GMT, "RichToyBox"
wrote:

There are two possibilities, one through the wall as you mentioned, the
other a siphon over the top. Either will work. I have bottom drains
plumbed through the liner into the front of my skimmers. You just need to
have an appropriate size bulkhead fitting, clamping the liner to the tank.
You could also use the Bickal Boot for the liner and not worry about the
watertightness of the tank. My bottom drains are just pipes that end
pointed down in the deepest part of the pond, but they make commercial non
vortexing bottom drain units. For your size tank, I would think that the 2"
by Tetra would be more than ample, and it is designed as a retro drain, not
requiring a hole in the bottom of the liner. The plumbing can then go over
the top and back down to the pump, and work as a siphon.

DesertPond wrote:

It's got a small 1" drain hole on the side, but with the pine needles
I figure I better have 2" just to keep from having to unclog it every
10 seconds. Picked it up for free from a friend who didn't need it,
really lucky, suckers are kind of expensive.

Pre-filter, like a box, inside the tank, which runs through the existing
fitting. This increases the surface area of the intake, and gives
redundancy, more than one surface to plug before it shuts off.

I'd go get a 2" bulkhead fitting. Essentially, you drill your hole, one
piece on the inside screws to a second piece on the outside.

Joe

On 1/5/04 7:43 AM, "DesertPond" wrote:

It's got a small 1" drain hole on the side, but with the pine needles
I figure I better have 2" just to keep from having to unclog it every
10 seconds. Picked it up for free from a friend who didn't need it,
really lucky, suckers are kind of expensive.



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Bickal boot (and other ponding & filter ideas) can be seen at:
http://www.geocities.com/bickal2000/pond.htm

Tetra Drains (thru the liner or retro, as RTB mentions) can be seen at:
http://www.fancykoioutlet.com/supply...tm#tetra_drain
There may be cheaper prices so do search.

Syphon affect diagram can be seen under *My Filter*:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/ ~ jan

~Keep 'em Defrosted~
Tri-Cities, WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

On Mon, 05 Jan 2004 08:46:43 -0700, DesertPond wrote:

Thx for ideas :-)

On Mon, 05 Jan 2004 00:38:51 GMT, "RichToyBox"
wrote:

There are two possibilities, one through the wall as you mentioned, the
other a siphon over the top. Either will work. I have bottom drains
plumbed through the liner into the front of my skimmers. You just need to
have an appropriate size bulkhead fitting, clamping the liner to the tank.
You could also use the Bickal Boot for the liner and not worry about the
watertightness of the tank. My bottom drains are just pipes that end
pointed down in the deepest part of the pond, but they make commercial non
vortexing bottom drain units. For your size tank, I would think that the 2"
by Tetra would be more than ample, and it is designed as a retro drain, not
requiring a hole in the bottom of the liner. The plumbing can then go over
the top and back down to the pump, and work as a siphon.

I have fallen in love with something called Uniseals: they're a lot cheaper
than bulkhead fittings, forgiving, and re-useable! You cut a hole a little
larger than your PVC pipe (instructions included), place the fitting into
the hole, then shove the PVC pipe through. It compresses the seal to the
sides of the hole to make it water tight. And you can slide the PVC pipe in
and out until you get the right length (for us who are measurement
challenged, or to handle the problems of settling tanks). Further, if you
decide to trash the system you're using, the Uniseal pops out for re-use!
I've used several sizes, including the 4", but they also have a 6". Aquatic
Ecosystems has them, or perhaps a search will turn them up for you.

Lee

"DesertPond" wrote in message
...
I've got a 400-gallon round galvanized tank (with liner) that I use
for quarantine purposes. I'd like to use some sort of bottom drain
setup for it but I'm not sure how to go about it. Not sure if it's a
good idea to drill a hole through the side for pipe access.

Any suggestions?

thx