Auto water change

[fishguy1978]

I have a cold water tap in my fish room and am going to purpose it for a auto water change system. I have the drip irrigation parts and 3/4in pvc pipe and fittings. The drip irrigation parts are 1/2in. I am wondering, should I use 1/2in to maintain pressure or 3/4in for volume? I plan to run this to 13 of my tanks using a mix of 1/gph, 2/gph and 4/gph drip emitters. I have a basic irrigation controller that will allow me to set run times with the plan to run 1-2hrs of drip so that over the course of a month each tank will have 100% volume change.
I've done a little googling of how to set up a drip system which of couse is geared towards outdoors setup. I'm not sure how drip proof the system would be with just press to fit connections.

 

[sir_keith]

...I'm not sure how drip proof the system would be with just press to fit connections...

Well, I don't have any experience with a drip system in my fish room, but I do have an extensive drip system in my yard and garden, and I wouldn't trust the press-to-fit connectors indoors. Then again, you have a concrete floor with a drain, so it's a bit of a tough call. I generally go for better-safe-than-sorry, but that's just me...

 

[Modest_Man]

It shouldn't matter what size you use because you'll need a pressure regulator anyways to reduce the incoming water pressure down to a level usable by a drip system.

I would add a barbed valve off the main pvc and then run tubing down with your drip emitter to avoid leaks.

I run several large drip systems in my garden and yard and the press fitting do leak, especially going from the 1/2" mainline to the smaller drip line. It's not PVC though, it's polyethylene.

I still need to add a drip system to my tanks but need to figure out chlorine treatment and a water heater first.

 

[fishguy1978]

It shouldn't matter what size you use because you'll need a pressure regulator anyways to reduce the incoming water pressure down to a level usable by a drip system.

I would add a barbed valve off the main pvc and then run tubing down with your drip emitter to avoid leaks.

I run several large drip systems in my garden and yard and the press fitting do leak, especially going from the 1/2" mainline to the smaller drip line. It's not PVC though, it's polyethylene.

I still need to add a drip system to my tanks but need to figure out chlorine treatment and a water heater first.

I have three 4 gang heads that screw onto 1/2in PVC adapters. My plan is to run 3/4 around the perimeter of the room and place a T, I think, where I need to be able to feed a tank. I may do a 3 way gang valve off the water spigot as another option. The 29g (8) rack will be one circuit, 260g, 220g, 60g and a 55g on a second and the 120g on a third. Will leave the multies off for now.