Flow Through Systems

Ok, my back was killing me I had to do something. Constant water changes were getting me down. Literally. I have read here and there about the marvels of flow through systems, but I was a little intimidated by the project (or perhaps lazy is a better description). Finally, after being inspired by an article in the JAKA, I built a system. And guess what. It works!! I still siphon snail turds off the bottom of the tanks & fry boxes every once in a while, but running the system a few hours each day has certainly made life easier.

Step 1: Read everything you can find, especially the articles in JAKA. Check out the article on the AKA website library. Thanks all you guys!

Step 2: Get lots of 1/4" micro-tubing and play with it. You will need fittings - barbed tees, valves and button emmiters (preferably adjustable).

Step 3: Buy a lot more materials than you think you will possibly need. In spite of careful planning, you will always need another piece of CPVC, hose or fitting. With gas prices so high, save some bucks and buy extra right off the bat. One of those pipe cutting tools sure does come in handy. Different home centers carry different stuff, if one store doesn't carry a particular item, you may find it at another.

Step 4: Do it!!

I used micro-tubing for the fresh water and trombone siphons for waste water. I run the waste water line of my RO unit into a DI unit. The line then runs through a 100' coil of tubing submerged in the heated RO water reservoir (trash can). From there it is piped around to all the fry boxes and tanks. It would be nice to have a washer drain to run all the waste water into, but I don't. So for now, all the water is funneled though PVC manifolds and drained into buckets. I pump the waste water out either to the plants or down the drain (via power head and long hose).

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