Pump powered drip system troubleshooting

samthechamman

New Member
Hey everyone,

I just finished my cage about a month ago! My cham is loving his new home. I posted here looking for lighting advice a while ago and received some great advice, so I figured some of you folks may have a good idea of what I should do with my drip system predicament.

The cage runs on timers: the lights, a fogger, and the drip system. All is running smoothly, except the drip system won't stay airtight for more than a day or two and then it is useless.

The drip system I made uses a water reservoir that has two hoses connected. One hose pumps in air until the pressure builds up and pumps out water into some aquarium airline tubing that I attached to the top screen on the cage. I poked holes every few centimetres in it for the water to drip out of, and when it was working it was awesome!

The pump was a fluval 30 gallon aquarium air pump, however I couldn't find a strong enough way to fit the hoses onto the reservoir without compromising air pressure. I tried gorilla glue, silicone and krazy glue but each would always leak after the first few days due to built up air pressure. Nothing adheres well to plastic.

I have attached pics of the cage and of the drip system I built to give you guys a better idea. Let me know of any suggestions you have as I would really appreciate some advice here. As you can see in one picture of the reservoir, I even had two air hoses running in to speed up how fast the water would drip out.

And yes, there is a fish in the front part of the cage, I made sure to cover the water in screening to make sure the cham never falls in or gets waste in it. I'll throw a picture up of him because he is brilliant looking :)

PS. I know I could probably buy a mister or something but I don't think my cham would like that as much. Also, i recently added some underwater foliage to the fish tank but these pictures were taken about a week ago and I haven't been able to take any recently.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7440.jpg
    IMG_7440.jpg
    246.3 KB · Views: 336
  • IMG_7399.jpg
    IMG_7399.jpg
    260.2 KB · Views: 331
  • IMG_7411.jpg
    IMG_7411.jpg
    264.9 KB · Views: 315
  • IMG_6903.jpg
    IMG_6903.jpg
    253.9 KB · Views: 316
  • IMG_7294.jpg
    IMG_7294.jpg
    252.7 KB · Views: 300
Lose the air pump and get a cheap pond/fountain pump from Harbor Freight. Air pumps are not right for what you are trying to do.
 
Rest of pics:

Had to upload separately because they wouldn't all fit in one post.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7300.jpg
    IMG_7300.jpg
    249.6 KB · Views: 258
  • IMG_7009.jpg
    IMG_7009.jpg
    248.5 KB · Views: 278
  • IMG_7253.jpg
    IMG_7253.jpg
    263.6 KB · Views: 283
  • IMG_7387.jpg
    IMG_7387.jpg
    248.9 KB · Views: 277
  • IMG_7397.jpg
    IMG_7397.jpg
    257.2 KB · Views: 335
Lose the air pump and get a cheap pond/fountain pump from Harbor Freight. Air pumps are not right for what you are trying to do.

Is that a website? I live in canada and would rather not order anything online. I think i was reading a thread you posted about a pump earlier, is that the same pump you are using? Also I'd have to find an adaptor to connect the pump hose to the aquarium hosing.
 
Lose the air pump and get a cheap pond/fountain pump from Harbor Freight. Air pumps are not right for what you are trying to do.

Good advice Mike!

He could get any aquarium submersible pump if harbor Frieght doesn't ship to Canada ... but I think they do.

As far as an adapter goes, you would need to make one -- but be careful what glue you use.
Some could poison the water.
Silicone for aquariums and PVC cement for PVC drinking water pipe would be ok.
It sure can be trial and error to see what glue will work with what plastic.
I suspect the air line tubing is vinyl (not so good) or silicone (better, non toxic).
Tiny Hose clamps will be your friends here I think.:D

Cheers
Todd
 
I think i was reading a thread you posted about a pump earlier, is that the same pump you are using? Also I'd have to find an adaptor to connect the pump hose to the aquarium hosing.

I use two pumps, a diaphragm high pressure pump for my mist heads, and a pond pump for the drip function. I use black poly drip line tubing with brass adapters to attach it to the pump. NPT fitting to the pump, then a barbed adapter to the tubing. Do not use clear air line tubing. The light makes stuff grow in it.
 
I use two pumps, a diaphragm high pressure pump for my mist heads, and a pond pump for the drip function. I use black poly drip line tubing with brass adapters to attach it to the pump. NPT fitting to the pump, then a barbed adapter to the tubing. Do not use clear air line tubing. The light makes stuff grow in it.

I'll take some measurements when I'm home. Thanks for the info, i'm using blue airline tubing, would this make a difference? If not what kind of tubing would you suggest I use that is flexible and roughly the same diameter?
 
I'll take some measurements when I'm home. Thanks for the info, i'm using blue airline tubing, would this make a difference? If not what kind of tubing would you suggest I use that is flexible and roughly the same diameter?

As long as no light can get inside it. 1/4" poly drip line is what I use. It is black. You can buy it in the sprinkler section of most home improvement stores. They have plastic barbed fittings that you can buy so you can add elbows or T's for cheap. It is more rigid than air line tubing, but still flexible.
 
Back
Top Bottom