Ok so im wanting to design a auto system for the room giving a % change twice a day on one section of tanks and once a day on the other.

Planning on brining in warm water (gas) and cold water into the room and get the mix about right with valves.

Will also use a "normally closed solenoid valve" either 12 or 24v (not decided yet)

Tanks have a 20mm overflow and will have a 6mm inlet.

Questions

Could the solenoid valve be hooked up to a standard timer via a 12 or 24v adaptor.

and do you find that the flow rates are uneven coming into the tanks?

Any suggestions would be great.

if any flow rates are uneven you could have a tap to each tank to control the rate of flow to each tank, that way if you want to increase the % water change you can just turn the tap on or off more.

6mm taps???

Washing machines have solenoid taps, you could buy a $1 washing machine off trademe and get the taps out.

I wouldn't bother with getting both hot and cold water, if you have the feed rate down slow it wont shock the fish. In fact would be easier on the fish if you do the water change over a couple of hours

Could the solenoid valve be hooked up to a standard timer via a 12 or 24v adaptor.

Yes, just plug the adapter in to the timer.

and do you find that the flow rates are uneven coming into the tanks?

You will need a tap on each tank anyway (in case the tank is empty, etc) so use this to control the flow.

If the flow is slow I wouldn't bother with heated water either

PS Suphew; I think you need to change your sig as it is out of date :lol:

use the fittings from a toilet to fill up a tank or what ever, with a heater in it, then set a pump on a timer to pump the water into the tank (set to how ever long it take the water to heat up, or how ever often you want to change the water, then the the toilet fitting will automatically fill the water back up.

i think they are called ballcocks (i bet that gets modded ) :roll:

and if you dont want to heat the water you could put the ball onto the tap, and just have a timed pump that sucks the water out of the tank...not that you would want that little float in your tank.

PS: LOL @ Suphew's sig

That is what they are called.

Washing machines have solenoid taps, you could buy a $1 washing machine off trademe and get the taps out.

True, then pay to dump the rest I have some i think will work

I wouldn't bother with getting both hot and cold water, if you have the feed rate down slow it wont shock the fish. In fact would be easier on the fish if you do the water change over a couple of hours .

Hmm, good point, will do that. If it doesn't work the will pull the hot water in which will be easy ast the gas system is just outside the garage.

Andrew_W

Trying to avoid drums as i am limited on space both inside and out of the room.

doesn't have to be a drum, even a 5L tank, bottle bucket. just do multiple fills.

just do cold tap on/off.

will look into both options, thanks

i have a washing machine solenoid here if u want it i think its 12v a lot of them are it has a 3/4inch fitting on 1 side

Thanks spoon, will let you know if the others don't work.

I have a couple of solenoid taps too if you can't fine any. Put them aside for a future project.

Sig changed :lol:

lol I wouldn't mind scoring a solenoid too if anyone has one spare (obviously after TM has found one..) have been planning something like this for my fishroom didn't think of a washing machine to get the parts..

Not trying to pinch your thread TM just been following it for inspiration too

no worries.

Just make sure you get "normally closed" valves, that is they require power to open. This way if there is a power cut they don't open.

all of ur washing machine 1s are normally closed and a good 1 can stand mains pressure . a 3/4 inch fitting on 1 side makes plumbing easier the other side (out) is about 10mm(outside diameter) tubing. most recycling centers will take old washing machines regardless of condition(can be scrapped for metal) but be aware if you buy a broken down 1 a lot of the time the solenoids are part of the problem.

all of ur washing machine 1s are normally closed and a good 1 can stand mains pressure . a 3/4 inch fitting on 1 side makes plumbing easier the other side (out) is about 10mm(outside diameter) tubing. most recycling centers will take old washing machines regardless of condition(can be scrapped for metal) but be aware if you buy a broken down 1 a lot of the time the solenoids are part of the problem.

But if the solenoids are cheap you can afford to buy a handful of them.

What are they triggered by? 240v or 12v?

nearly all of the smartdrive and gw52 etc are 12v some other brands have 240v, i would bother with a solenoid from a 380 or 400 who knows how old those things are if some smart drives are 10 yrs old now!

Inorganics are a good source of this sort of thing, the vultures are just after the power cables and motors from them so there should be plenty around with the valves left in them.

sounding great TM is this for discus by any chance?

Just make sure that if you are reducing the outlet of the solenoid, say from 1/2 to 1/4, that you keep the reduced length short as you can. Reducing the outlet can create back pressure on the valve, keeping it open even when the coil is de-energized. IMO, if you have the room you could just use a large bucket with a small pump, that plugs straight into a timer. This way you know how much water you are using and that it will aged and be at room temperature. You just have to keep the bucket filled.

Inorganics are a good source of this sort of thing, the vultures are just after the power cables and motors from them so there should be plenty around with the valves left in them.

at a later date i will but for now just for easier water changes