Question about a design I am thinking

[Novi]

You know how water changes suck..lol. What I want to do is have a hidden pvc pipe in the bottom corner of the tank that connects to a ball valve and then drains to the outside of my house. The pipe will be hidden under some rock work and the top will be screened so no fish or inverts can get into it.

So when ever I want to do a water change and lose 10-20% of tank water, all I have to do is turn the valve. Sounds simple right? Is it really that easy or could I possibly run into some problems? I will have the pipe cemented into a bulkhead and be about 4-6" high covered in live rock.

 

Lets here anybodies thoughts. I hate bringing out the bucket and doing a siphon water change. And as stated before I am trying to set this up so I have to do as little as possible.

[gwweber]

only issue i see is if the bulkhead fails and you drain all the water from your tank to the 5-6 inch mark. Do you have an overflow? Why not branch a t off of that?

[Novi]

Well because once the water is lower than the teeth in the overflow how will it continue to drain?

[Guest thefishman65]

Salt kiils plants. Do this too many times and you won't have to mow any more.

 

Maybe you thought of this, but just in case something gets in there and block the ball valve from closing , make the the top of the pipe is at a reasonable place.

[Jon Lazar]

You could run the water into the house drain rather than out into the yard.

 

Salt kiils plants. Do this too many times and you won't have to mow any more.

 

Maybe you thought of this, but just in case something gets in there and block the ball valve from closing , make the the top of the pipe is at a reasonable place.

[Dragon Eye]

Are you running sump less?

[gwweber]

I was under the impression that the oulet was in the bottom corner of the tank

 

What I want to do is have a hidden pvc pipe in the bottom corner of the tank that connects to a ball valve and then drains to the outside of my house

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2010 by gwweber

[Origami]

You could run the water into the house drain rather than out into the yard.

 

I've seen this setup in Jon Coppolino's place, I think. - Right into a nearby drain.

 

I come off of my main pump (that is off of my sump) and into a ball valve leading to a hose. I unroll the hose to a nearby deep sink (recently installed) and just open up the ball valve. I can drain off 15-35 gallons off of the sump in a few minutes time this way without lugging buckets around.

[FearTheTerps]

Instead of having the pipe only extend 4-6 inches from the bottom, if I were doing it this way I would perfer to have the pipe be a certain distance below the waterline. Set that distance to be the volume for the amount of water you want to change, say 2-4 inches depending on the tank volume and dimensions. This gives you the insurance that you cant drain anymore water then that set amount, and its always a consistent amount. That said, it may not be what you are going for in terms of looks.

 

I would still perfer to just run a bypass off my return line to do my water changes. All it takes is a T fitting, a ball vale, a hose barb, and some flexible tubing.

Edited November 11, 2010 by FearTheTerps

[FearTheTerps]

I've seen this setup in Jon Coppolino's place, I think. - Right into a nearby drain.I come off of my main pump (that is off of my sump) and into a ball valve leading to a hose. I unroll the hose to a nearby deep sink (recently installed) and just open up the ball valve. I can drain off 15-35 gallons off of the sump in a few minutes time this way without lugging buckets around.

 

Tom beat me to it by a few seconds

[davelin315]

I'd add something to protect it from draining your whole tank in case the valve fails for some reason (I've had this happen before where it cracked off and I couldn't turn it back). I would run a tube up above the top of the tank and T off of this, leaving the top open as an air break or even having a small JG ball valve on it. I'd put the T at the level you want the tank to drain to and that way it'll flow up and out of the tank but won't go beyond a certain level as the siphon break will prevent it from draining. Essentially it would be like adding a bulkhead in the side of your tank only it would be removing water from where detritus would usually build up.

[BowieReefer84]

I may be totally wrong in my understanding of your question. However, can't you just get a really long siphon hose (aka heavy duty garden hose) to go to the drain instead of carrying buckets? Figure out a way to keep the hose secure at the front and back if you do not have a second person to help. Use a pump to start the siphon if "sucking" on it doesn't work... Never have a chance to overflow your tank if plumbing fails.