In Wall Tubing for Water Changes??

[benihana]

I am in the planning process for a custom 315 (72x42x24) that will be located about 30 feet from where I will be mixing/storing saltwater. In order to make the water changing process easier, I am considering running some type of tubing through the wall/cieling in order to remove water and add new saltwater to the system, so I wouldnt have to drag buckets around.

Surely someone else has done this before? Any learnings from doing this? What type of material did you use?

 

[justshoe]

You can always stick with pvc or cpvc. But if you can find the right adapters some 3/4 pex would make running it real easy.

 

[savethereef]

I use a long garden hose made for potable water in those rolling garden things to roll it up easy. The I use a mag 18 submersible pump to pump water from my garage to the tank. Its about 80 feet away. When im done I roll the hose up and not a drop of water on my ground. Takes me 20 min to do a 80g water change.

 

[kris101]

I ran 1/4" tubing across my basement ceiling from my water tanks to my tank. I ran 2 lines. One for RODI to fill my top-off and one for salt. I used John Guest valves on both ends and use a Pan world pc-x 50 pressure pump to push it.

Home Depot has 25' 1/4 tubing and I bought 100' 50' for each line. bought a few valves and 2 couplings and works like a charm

I used 1/4 so the pump could handle the distance. It takes a few minutes to fill my top off which is 20 gallons but it works

this is a photo of how I have it hooked up to the pump. The salt and RODI each have a 1/4 valve. Just have to be careful not to send salt water to my top off!

[URL=http://s44.photobucket.com/user/mikekristoff/media/IMG_1377_zpsac971c3d.jpg.html][/URL]

 

[Spaced Cowboy]

So, I'm planning an in-wall aquarium - start in ~6 months or so. The space I'll be putting the aquarium leaves me with a 46" by 127" box of a "fish room". I'll be putting the tank slightly cantilevered out of the wall (by 6" to 9") and it will be 30" deep, leaving me with 22" to 25" of space behind the tank.

Clearly there won't be much space, and I didn't want to clutter it up with RODI tanks or NSW tanks. I already have both of these (and a mixing tank) at the far end of the house (about 70' away) and my solution is going to be simply to plumb them in using 1.5" pipe in the crawlspace under the house, the horizontal pipe leading to a vertical pipe in the "fish room" which I'll leave un-capped. If I make sure the top of the pipe in the "fish room" is above the vertical height of the water in the NSW and RODI tanks, I can't see how it could overflow (water always finds its own level).

So then I just dip a 1/2" clear plastic hose into the pipe (or take a feed off it) and pump out what I want. This effectively reduces the size of a tank down to the size of a pipe, useful in cramped quarters

Simon

 

[Captainsreef]

I use a long garden hose made for potable water in those rolling garden things to roll it up easy. The I use a mag 18 submersible pump to pump water from my garage to the tank. Its about 80 feet away. When im done I roll the hose up and not a drop of water on my ground. Takes me 20 min to do a 80g water change.

That's basically the same thing I do & it works very well. Takes away a lot of the pain & desired procrastination of performing tank maintenance. Hahaha

 

[guserto4]

I'll be putting the tank slightly cantilevered out of the wall (by 6" to 9")

I LOVE this idea and have thought of it in the past- but how do you plan on supporting it?!
I always conjured up some bit of steel- I'd dream about the cantilever floating out there with the slimmest support profile possible but Idk how else to accomplish it. I wish a steel plate was MORE rigid. Lol.

To the OP- if you are still in planning I would design WC and top off into the walls in a heartbeat. Forget the removable hose if you have the patience to do it now I think it's much better to get all plumbed up and automated. I love a good DIY project that let's me be both lazy AND proud in the future.
Your distance is a little tough so plan to have gravity help you as much as possible. Maybe put your top off container higher in your fish room space to cut down on head height? Can you cut into your floors? How will you drain?

 

[Spaced Cowboy]

I LOVE this idea and have thought of it in the past- but how do you plan on supporting it?!
I always conjured up some bit of steel- I'd dream about the cantilever floating out there with the slimmest support profile possible but Idk how else to accomplish it. I wish a steel plate was MORE rigid. Lol.

Well, the tank and stand are being done by the same people, so it's not as though they're unaware The basic option is 2" square steel tubing, but I've asked them to try and come up with something slimmer - I suggested solid steel rather than tubing - I'm not a structural engineer but seems to me solid steel should hold more weight than the tubing, so it could be slimmer ...

Ideally there'd be a thin support underneath the tank, but realistically it's going to be (at the moment) 2" square steel tube, then 3/4" plywood, then 3/4" of foam; add another 1/4" top and bottom for some nice wood sheathing, and I'm looking at 4" underneath the tank for support. That's still (just) within the look I want - it's 24" of glass above that, so it ought to look good

Just waiting on the existing renovations to complete (another 8 weeks) and then Xmas to be over with, and I'll be starting things up

Simon

 

[dave.m]

Steel sheet is quite floppy. It is the bends in the tubing that give it strength along its length.

Dave.M

 

[Spaced Cowboy]

Steel sheet is quite floppy. It is the bends in the tubing that give it strength along its length.

Dave.M

I was suggesting steel bars, not steel sheet. 1" or 1.5" thick solid steel. We'll see what Miracles say.

Simon

 

[prickles]

Back to the OT, I ran 1/4 line through the attic 100' for RODI. I also ran 100' pex through the attic to do water changes, but I haven't tested the system yet.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

If you run any lines in a ceiling make sure there is a slope so the line will drain so you don't get a "puddle of bacteria".
Could possibly wipe out the tank.

 

[JBarnes]

if you put a 1.5" line at the tank and intend to siphon water from the tank into that drain line don't forget to vent the line somewhere in the middle of the run. Otherwise you'll get a air block. At least thats what I learned when I did mine!

 

[benihana]

if you put a 1.5" line at the tank and intend to siphon water from the tank into that drain line don't forget to vent the line somewhere in the middle of the run. Otherwise you'll get a air block. At least thats what I learned when I did mine!

If I plan to use a pump, there should be no issue though, right?

 

[dave.m]

It would have to be a pump that can run dry without burning out. Water sitting in lines is a bad thing.

Dave.M

 

[benihana]

Good point

 

[4Hummer]

I do exactly this.

1" Flex line from second floor to Laundry room in basement, Mounted under tank with a quick connect fitting

I use the python Siphon Thing on the laundry room sink to start the siphon, and than let gravity do the rest, Clean the tank, than stop. After wards I connect that same line to the Salt water mixing station, turn the pump on, and pump water up the the tank.

NO BUCKETS. water change in 20 minutes (125 gallon 6ft tank)