ado_84 Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 hello all, i have never run just one large air pump so i thought i would just ask what size pump would be sufficent to run 40 air filters and about 15 air stones? i was thinking a resun lp 60, these are just back ups as nearly all my tanks are on sumps. does anyone know how many outlets you could run off one of these? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enthusiast Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 I personally run about 10 sponges off 70L per min and could prob push to about 15 if i didnt want high flow. Im buying a 300Lpm blower so i am able to run about 100 air devices at about 3LPM. Looking forward to see what everyone else says. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braddo Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 Personally I would go bigger. you can never have too much air. You just bleed the excess if need be then you wont have to upgrade if you add more tanks, made this mistake my self. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ado_84 Posted December 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 thanks guys, so maybe i should be leaning towards a lp 150, as i could always add a few more tanks, so in 'litreage' how much air should past though an average sponge liter per minute? i just hopeing to keep the power consumption reasonable... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tech Den Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 Braddo is spot on and depending how you have your setup I had airstones at the back of my tanks and they were moving a lot of air as I was using them to help circulate the water in the tank to help keep rubbish off the bottom of the tank as they had no substrate and did not really have to clean the tanks as it would all end up filtering though the sump. If you have a power drop out then the water is well oxygenated which helps too if you are not using a back up power supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braddo Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 ok for a better power consumption I would run it through high pressure 40mm pvc in a figure 8 or circular pattern. The reason for 40mm it gives you more volume of air which then increases pressure. I was able to double the tanks when I swapped from 20mm to 40mm and tapped the lines off that. This is stops restriction of air and back pressure to the pump. Is your setup in the house or away from the house? The reason I ask is blowers are better as they are a fan rather than rubber diaphrams, they last longer and nothing to replace. There biggest downfall is they are noisy with a high pitched scream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ado_84 Posted December 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 the tanks (about 40 atm) are in the double garage ajoining the kitchen, how would a blower compare in power usage though?? i wouldnt really want to have it out side (due to the noise) as it a brick house. would a lp100 with 30/40 mm pipeing run a garage full of tanks, thats that are also on sumps do you's think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braddo Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 The lp100 used to run about 50 tanks in my room it had about 50 tanks at the time. So I would say that would do the job. I also use 4mm irrigation taps to control air flow to the tanks. Not sure what tech den has for that. Or AOA the only reason I use the taps is I had a heap here. Definately go 40mm tho it is worth it. I am lucky I built a shed for my fish at it is fully insulated so the noise is minimum. I have 2 blowers running now they are 185 watts each but pulling 36000lph in air. But I am setting up 2 more hatching racks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ado_84 Posted December 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 so if i run 40mm in a square around the roof and then just decide on A, lp100 @100w 150lph or B, jhg-090 @90w 200lph or similar i was planning on just using brass valves (hate the plastic ones) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betta Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 I think Braddo is right, LP100 should be enough, I'm running an LP40 for my tanks & I have plenty of air to spare, I use heavy duty irrigation pipe & I use 4mm taps to drop airlines down to each tank, I'm about to put in a piece of 100mm pipe to act as a reservoir to balance the pressure, I also already run loops around each shelf for the same reason, I've got some pics below to show you how I've done it, I'm not saying you have to do it this way but you might get some good ideas to adapt to your system, hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ado_84 Posted December 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) That is great thanks for the pics Betta, so large piping or a reservoir is quite important. That would of been a mistake waiting for me. Betta how many tanks or sponge filter would you run off the LP 40? Edited December 27, 2012 by ado_84 typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betta Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 Thanks dude, yeah the pipe size/reservoir is pretty important. I have 20 taps running & 3 of them are just running full open to relieve pressure as I don't have the reservoir in yet & I'm worried about too much back pressure. Also I'm probably stating the obvious but always have the pipes running above the tanks so if you loose power you won't flood the air pump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 That is great thanks for the pics Betta, so large piping or a reservoir is quite important. That would of been a mistake waiting for me.Betta how many tanks or sponge filter would you run off the LP 40? I run a hell of a lot of stuff of an LP60 It really depends you many DEEP tanks you are running. For example IBC need more air power that the usual 1 or 2 foot high tanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betta Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 I run a hell of a lot of stuff of an LP60It really depends you many DEEP tanks you are running. For example IBC need more air power that the usual 1 or 2 foot high tanks Definitely, depth does make a difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braddo Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 Brass valves are excellent. I will try and get some pics up tomorrow early warning the room is a bit of a mess at the moment. Im running over 100 tanks at the moment. From 1ft all the way up to 5fters and 600l IBC. This is something I have a passion for a day working in their is so much better than half an hour driving my truck. In fact I wouldnt even call it work. It's my relaxation. If I had a choice this is where I would work full time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETFISH Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 hey Adrian, i am currently running 120 sponge filters of my lp 100 at a depth of 500mm and 400mm BUT i dont use air stones they restrict the flow and put back pressure on pump ,i have 32mm pipe with 4mm irrigation taps ,a big loop for top tanks and a big loop for bottom tanks ,the two loops are jioned together with t piece between that go,s to pump (40 tanks some with 4 sponges some with 2 sponges in each) cheers Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaholic99 Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 I put 2 airpump on the same air circuit for when one fails (and it will). And have 2 different electric circuits, one just for some air pumps and this is on an auto switch with backup power. Also try to have all airpumps the same make and model for easy swap & parts. Actually I have a backup pump for my backup pump because it's that important. On the deeper tanks, I just run air halfway down on long uplifts . No airstones anywhere as this is just something else to monitor, clean or go wrong. . On some systems which are very uniform, no taps either. Always mount airpump on wall shelf above top tanks which also keeps them out of way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ado_84 Posted December 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 Thanks for all the feed back guys. I run a hell of a lot of stuff of an LP60It really depends you many DEEP tanks you are running. dff how many filters do you run roughly off yours.?? majority of my tanks are 2*1*1, 2*2*15", 3*18'*18", and a couple 6*2*28" Braddo, that would be great, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Thanks for all the feed back guys.dff how many filters do you run roughly off yours.?? majority of my tanks are 2*1*1, 2*2*15", 3*18'*18", and a couple 6*2*28" Braddo, that would be great, That was a few months back tho I shall have to count them again, as I clean them lol! I put 2 airpump on the same air circuit for when one fails (and it will). And have 2 different electric circuits, one just for some air pumps and this is on an auto switch with backup power. Also try to have all airpumps the same make and model for easy swap & parts. Actually I have a backup pump for my backup pump because it's that important. On the deeper tanks, I just run air halfway down on long uplifts . No airstones anywhere as this is just something else to monitor, clean or go wrong. . On some systems which are very uniform, no taps either. Always mount airpump on wall shelf above top tanks which also keeps them out of way. basically the above is what I have, my air loop runs off twin LP60 pumps It can work well enough with 1 X LP60 BUT if one breaks, then......... drama lol unless theres a backup and yes, in the cupboard is the backup backup pump. If you are gonna do something do it so it works and keeps doing so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ado_84 Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 umm so maybe two lp60 would be better than the one lp100.. seems the common practice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaholic99 Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Donny, I use a wash machine to clean my sponges. Makes life easier when you have a few to clean. Used machines under $100 these days. Winston Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 true that lol I like to do them seperate I am always paranoid about spreading snails, hydra or anything to different tanks they are all off system if they were on a sump/system tho...... washing machine would be epic awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ado_84 Posted January 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 thank for all the help guys i ended up getting a LP60 its running 43 sponges and about ten air stones for tumbling (could do more i'm sure), i've use 25mm poly as it was quick and easy. this weekend i will make a reservoir was just going to use a length of 90mm capped with a bulkhead. so far very happy with the output, the old air pumps were drawing 72w so should help the power consumption too. i will eventually connect the pump to a battery/bank, inverter and battery charger or solor panels thanks again everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Welcome to the LP60 club man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
