Pumps and valve installation
The pumps are the key elements to distribute the food and water mixture to the tanks. We decided to use micro gear pumps, that are self-priming, safe for food, and can move up to 2 liters per minute. We added a solenoid valve downstream of the "water in" pump to avoid water flow from the reservoir tank back into the ZAF device.
ZAF is designed to be modular, and therefore the number of pumps can be modified. In our original design, presented here, we have two pumps, and each pump can deliver food to 8 tanks. So just by adding pumps the user can scale up ZAF for more tanks. In this section, we will describe how to position the pumps and the valves in ZAF. Please refer to the following schema for where to place them and attach with nylon cables ties.
In the presented system we have one valve and four pumps:
- Pump food 1 & Pump food 2 --> Two pump for the water and food distribution to the fish tanks (feeding up to 16 tanks).
- Water in --> One pump to bring the water.
- Mixing --> One air pump to stir the food in the water.
- Air pump --> to mix the food and water.
- A. Model of the micro gears pump used, with the in and out pipe.
- B. View of the three top pumps attached with nylon cable tie.
- C. Bottom pump and valve.
Top view of the pump area with the nylon cable tie.
Note: Readers who would like replicate ZAF might have hard time finding the exactly same brand and model pumps and valves we've used. Readers can use different brand/model pumps and valves with same technical specifications with what we've have used. We've chosen to use pretty generic pumps and valves, hence, it should be easy to find replacements if needed.