What size pump.

[georgedv]

I just connected 4 55gal, 7 20gal H, 8 10gal, 5 29 gal and 3 20gal to a water changing system. The tanks on the top two shelves empty w/ the help of gravity. However, it takes too long. I want to buy a pump to help speed the process and also tackle a row at a time. How do I calculate the power needed for the pump to handle this task?

thanks in advance

g

 

[dfea]

georgedv,

By speed up the process I assume you referring to pumping the water back into the tanks. So basically you need to determine the flow rate you would like to achieve and match the pump to it, tanking into account the head pressure that the pump will encounter.

This is a link to a Head Loss Calculator I used when designing the plumbing for my Discus Tank.
http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php

Hope this helps - Dan

 

[georgedv]

Sorry I was not clear on that. Actually I will use the pump to empty the tanks.

g

 

[dfea]

Could you post some more details on how they are organized, connected, and what plumbing you have in place? As you are probably aware, the plumbing will have a major impact of the drain volume which would translate to time.

Tackling a row at a time would imply some form of valves for separation of the row and or flow regulation.

Also how fast are you trying to drain them?

Or are the top row tanks your holding tanks of new water?

- Dan

 

[georgedv]

I will try to draw the layout for you. There are 5 stands each w/3 rows all side by side against the wall.

KEY: 0=valve, ---=pipes, #=don't pay attention to this, it just used to lined things up on the drawing.

All pipes and valves are 3/4 inch.

As you can see each row has a main valve "0" so I can work w/one row only
if needed.

Also there is a valve on the Main Pipe OUT line which I use to release sucktion so I can empty any water left in that pipe after I am done and all individual tank valves are shut.

Columns are not lined up in drawing, but you can see what is on each row.

I want to place the pump between the valve on the Main Pipe Out line and the sink.

Boy I hope this makes sense!!!

The water goes out of the tank thru a large candy cane like design 3/4 pipeing w/the valve connectiong the candy cane like pipe to the main pipe.


Top Row *20L* *55* *55* *55* *55*
#########0-----0----0-----0----0----------------------------------0\
Mid ROw *20L* *4x10G* *4x10G* *3x20H* 3x20H #################\ Main Pipe OUT to sink
#########0----0000-----0000-----000-----000----------------------0-->---0-----
Bot Row *20L* *20H* *6x29G*############################## /
#########0----0----0----0----0----0----0----0----------------------0/

 

[georgedv]

I read over this thread and realized it might be missunderstood. I am not trying to find a pump to empty all the tanks at the same time. If I did I would need sewer pipes not 3/4" pipes. I just want to know what would be adequet horse power for the pump to be able to empty several tanks at a time.

thanks
g

 

[electric eel]

i thought it was pretty clear dude but a 1" drain would have probably been a better option in my opinion.i guess it would be a pain to change it now?maybe you could just change the main drain to 1" or even 1 and 1/4 and use a reducer to go from it to your 3/4 coming from the tanks.it might drain faster if you vented it somehow.do you have it set up so it is vented?you would want to vent the end opposite of where it is connected to your main drain line.a 90 and 2-tees with a riser coming out of the top tee might solve your problem without a pump. i guess youd need a valve at each tank that you could turn off to keep from losing your siphon.maybe a pump would be a better option!i'm curious now gonna talk to some of my pipefitter buddies and see what they think.

 

[georgedv]

All the pipes are 3/4" except the pipe that runs from the junction where the main pipe of each row meet to the drain. That is 1". I did not want to creat too much sucktion so as to protect the fish from being sucked in. I have neever done this, so it's just theory.

It is all set up and I have been using it for about a month. It used to take me about 3 hours to empty and fill all these tanks, one at a time with a hose and water created sucktion. Now I am done in 1 hour or less. the top two rows empty on their own due to gravity. The bottom row need to be hooked to the faucet and use water out of the faucet to creat sucktion. With gravity I can empty up to 4 tanks at a time. With water sucktion 3 tanks at a time. I figured a pump with the right horse power could speed things up even more.

I was hoping some one had some experiance with this and could suggest a good pump or at least some info on what power to look for.

After I build this I even surprised myself with how well it works.

thanks

g

 

[electric eel]

i called my dad last night(he was a union pipefitter for 40 years) he seemed to think your drain would drain much faster if it was vented.i was pretty sure this was the case but i'm an industrial electrician not a plumber so i was'nt 100% sure.you'd have to have some valves somewhere to stop the venting.either at each tank or one for each row so you could isolate the vent from the drain system(it might still let a small amount of air leak thru though) dad said your best bet would have been to use your 3/4 pipes from each tank and have them drop in to a bigger header(your main drain line)i have pondered doing the same thing in my room.i planned to have a valve at each tank(below the level i wanted to drain down to) and have the header vented.i was kinda guessing that since you said the bottom tanks did'nt gravity drain(if they were tied into the same piping system as the upper tanks.are they?) that it thru a monkey wrench into the whole deal.at least it is saving you a lot of time as is and you've learned a little bit in the process.

 

[georgedv]

Hi electric eel. If you look at the diagrame above you will see a "0" on the Main Pipe OUT to sink. That represents a valve. If this valve is open while I am draining water....water comes out. I use it after all the draining is done and the valves at each tank have been shut off, to empty rhe water that is left in the pipes. It realy works great. As for the bottom row...gravity is not our friend here. If your drain is on the floor (I use a sink, thus there is an uphill climb) then gravity might work for you. A friend suggested creating a pipe line for the bottom row with ups and downs gradually leading up to the sink and see if gravity helps. Since I am planning on hooking a pump or sump that was of no use here.

I went with 3/4" to protect the fish and because 1" pipes would have been bulky, ugly and hard to fit in some areas. 3/4" works great.

You should give it a try.

g

 

[electric eel]

i wanted to put my drain on the floor and tie it in to the drain for my deep sink so i could gravity drain my bottom tanks also.i need to do something cause i have 40 tanks in a pretty small space 8feet by 8feet by 16 feet long.i built a building outside(wife was tired of the fish in the house) much like i read in practical fishkeeping that some people in the uk do.my only amenity at this point is a 1" airline that feeds all the tanks.wife has had some health problems lately and it has made it hard to keep up with water changes gonna have to speed the process up somehow.i use a pump to refill the tanks and draining them is really what eats up most of the time involved.

 

[georgedv]

Sorry to hear this. Before you start buying anything sit down and design your layout. This is very important. I did not think the whole process out the first time around and payed for it in time & $$$.

Let me know if I can help.

g

 

[electric eel]

the way the room is set up(by necessity) with opposing 3 tiered shelves everthing is pretty symetrical.it should be fairly easy to do.i've got a lot of tanks crammed into a pretty small space.there is also a 2 tiered row of tanks in the middle.