Anyone using continuous Litermeter3 water changes?

There is a guy on saltwaterfish dot com that said he is doing constant water changes using the litermeter 3. And it is working good for him. I believe he is also a member here.
 
Now that we've settled the "why" question :), does anyone have any clever ideas for doing this more cheaply than the LM3 solution, that do not require an overflow drain in the sump?

I'm in the process of implementing the LM3 solution on the system I'm just building, but I've got another smaller tank that I'd love to do something similar with, if I could do it without another $500 or so of gear.

I've seen the alternative suggested of just pumping the new water into the sump and using a standpipe just above the top-off level to allow the old water to drain out, but unfortunately on this system I don't have access to a floor drain that I could dump the effluent into...
 
You could still let it overflow the standpipe, but it would have to be stored in a drum or something. The standpipe would dump into a small container with a pump and float switch. The larger container would have a high level float to shut the who system down...

Sounds easy, but the complicated part is getting it failsafe. If this all sounds foreign, then it is not likely a good project to undertake :)
 
Thanks Bean... That's a possibility, I suppose -- I'll have to ponder it a bit; the way things are currently set up, that would have to make the effluent container mighty shallow... Maybe I could raise everything up a bit :-)

Failsafing is the hard part, for sure... Sooner or later, all moving parts stop moving, and all failsafes fail...
 
for some reason i wasn't getting notified of all these responses...

thanks for all the info. it just makes total sense to me that it would be great for corals and i haven't heard from anyone that there have been any known major issues with the LM3. i think that while the price is not low, given how many hours of work it will save you, it will sorta pay for itself in no time. if it minimizes human error and keeps more livestock alive, then that's another cost saving...

i'm going to give it a go.
 
I understand the attractiveness of having as little parameter swing as possible, but this gradual water changing method has one major issue that is lingering in my head (asside from the cost of a Liter Meter): it is about the least efficient you can get in terms of salt usage for the amount of waste removal you are doing. Say this method nets you 30 gallons of saltwater removed and replaced over the course of a week. This would not be the equivalent to doing a 30 gallon water change in that week. For simplicity sake in describing this, the saltwater wasted during this process will include some of the new fresh saltwater added.

I personally prefer skimming rather wet and replacing the lost saltwater via my ATO and continual additions of salt into the sump. This way the water removed would be the most nutrient rich. I'm sure I could figure a way to make this process more automated and have it incur less shifts in parameters, but so far I see little reason.
 
Couldn't you run your ATO on a timer then just get any 2 channel dosing/feeding pump? Same idea as the LM3 but a lot cheaper if you shop around.

I have read the articles, and looked over the math. The only problem I ever saw with this method is I love to get into my tank with the hose, and siphon any crud out that I find laying around. I would still end up doing manual changes.
 
"Couldn't you run your ATO on a timer then just get any 2 channel dosing/feeding pump? Same idea as the LM3 but a lot cheaper if you shop around.

I have read the articles, and looked over the math. The only problem I ever saw with this method is I love to get into my tank with the hose, and siphon any crud out that I find laying around. I would still end up doing manual changes."

I don't know why you would need to run the ATO on a timer. The point of the 2 channel pump is that it will pump in and out at the same rate. This means that the water level will not be affected by the change - it will still decrease with evaporation. The ATO will function as usual.

I like to use a canister filter for removing crud; it give you more time to work.
 
i think that one way to mitigate the inefficiency of using salt this way is to keep another tank off the "waste" water that's constantly coming off the main tank. tinytool mentioned keeping a nice frag tank this way (no skimmer, etc.). you know the Ca, dKH, pH, etc will be stable. obviously it would need to be a much smaller tank. but it could either do frag work, work as an ongoing quarantine (if you're in stocking mode), or even use it as a species tank (anemones come to mind but may be too messy).

-tE
 
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I use this method and it works flawless for me. my nitrates are between 1-2 (at this point) So I really don't use waterchanges for the traditional means of nutrient export, at this point I'm using it for trace element replenishment. I do 7 gallons a day and from my main tank I feed my Prop tank so I don't have the need for equipment on that system. Doing it this way is actually saving money thru equipment and electrical cost to run another skimmer, calcium reactor, etc... Also that system is much smaller and gets around 75% waterchange a week, with that I can definitely spot feed my corals a hefty amount of food and not really worry about nitrates and phosphates building up.
 
I havebeen using this system for 2 1/2 years.
Unattended automatic waterchanger

I had 2 water changes when I went diving in Palau this past Feb.....

The biggest expense was the mag pump

I admit that a 15 to 20 gal water change on a now 550g system isn't much, but the convenience and regularity is beyond description.
 
I also use this method with an aquamedic twin doser. It works great. I got the idea to do it before going on a 3 week long vacation. I have a 40 gallon tank and a 30 gallon reservoir. The pump removes 1 gallon a day and replaces it with one fresh gallon late at night (after feeding). My tank is near a window so the waste water just gets dumped outside. I love this method. Because the pumps exchange the nearly the exact same amount of water, I still use an autotop off to help with evaporation. I also live right next to a marine research lab so we have free public access to filtered seawater. So basically, once a month I refill the 30 gallon reservoir and get water changes going on continously for that month. I will have to move in a year and this will be a huge kicker. Anyways, I recommend this method highly and also recommend the aquamedic pump if the liter meter is just a tad too expensive.
FB
 
awesome -- i'm surprised you don't see more people doing this. it takes up more room in your house, but seems so well worth it. seems like the effect on nano's that don't run fancy filtration would be really cool too.

-tE
 
tonyespinoza, how is your water changing going?
I have a LM3 and I have been thinking about this for a few weeks now.
What do you think so far?
 
i have all the LM3's but haven't got the water changes going because i've been trying to decide on a mix tank config... anyway, i'll post as soon as i have it running!
 
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