Auto water change

[Thatgrimguy]

I'm looking for a way to do automatic water changes. I am thinking of using two BRS 50/ml a minute dosing pumps. One will pull water out for 5-8 minutes, then the next one will add water for the next 5-8 minutes. Do this at the top of every hour giving me 1.5-2.5 gallons water changed a day.


I'm going to control it through my apex. I'll probably have the hose that is pulling water sitting in a small filter sock to ensure it doesn't get clogged by something floating in the sump (I don't use them anywhere else in my system)

- Is there anything I should be worried about with this method?
- How long can saltwater sit in a food safe container? 3 weeks?
- Should I buffer my water change water to bring up calcium and alk? Or just let my calcium reactor and dosing pumps handle it after it gets added?

 

[Thatgrimguy]

any opinions from the morning crowd? Any tried using a dosing pump before?

I have the conductivity probe on my apex to monitor if something gets out of whack.

 

[gjk]

Enjoying this nice Labor Day weekend weather neighbor? I have been using A Litermeter III and it's optional remote pump for just over 18 months now. Very reliable and durable. I change about two gallons per day. The lines for both in and out go up through the wall behind the tank, into the attic, across to the garage, down into the garage for disposal and pickup of new salt water. As you can see, these pumps are very durable. With regular calibration and understanding your doseing and skimmate loss, the salinity is not too difficult to maintain. Small tweeks as needed on intake and outflow. There is another sponsor that has an auto change system of pumps that you may want to check the reviews on.

 

[ir_danno22]

I've had hit and miss issues with my apex eb8 outlets turning on and off when I needed them to. I had to deal with one that was stuck on when the controller said it was off and flooded my tank. I'm currently using 3 of the 50 ml pumps to cycle salt water from my 20g storage tank through two tanks then out to a drain in the laundry room. All pumps run at the same time and clogging is not an issue. I've added multiple float switches to sense overflows and programmed the pumps to turn on if an over flow does occur. with as much as I've already spent, I could have already bought a litermeter III and possibly had less flooding.

There shouldn't be anything you need to do to your water once it's mixed up. I just make sure mine is set at where I want it and the the system do it's thing. After a while, the salinity does go up but everything looks fine when I get home.

 

[Thatgrimguy]

Enjoying this nice Labor Day weekend weather neighbor? I have been using A Litermeter III and it's optional remote pump for just over 18 months now. Very reliable and durable. I change about two gallons per day. The lines for both in and out go up through the wall behind the tank, into the attic, across to the garage, down into the garage for disposal and pickup of new salt water. As you can see, these pumps are very durable. With regular calibration and understanding your doseing and skimmate loss, the salinity is not too difficult to maintain. Small tweeks as needed on intake and outflow. There is another sponsor that has an auto change system of pumps that you may want to check the reviews on.

Man!! It was bad enough to knock out my internet in my neighborhood!! Hope you're making it out ok, looks like you are getting more of it today.

Wow, I'm shocked at the head pressure you are overcoming with that pump... That's AWESOME! How often do you mix saltwater for your system? Can the saltwater sit already made up for 2 weeks or more?

 

[wildman926]

Enjoying this nice Labor Day weekend weather neighbor? I have been using A Litermeter III and it's optional remote pump for just over 18 months now. Very reliable and durable. I change about two gallons per day. The lines for both in and out go up through the wall behind the tank, into the attic, across to the garage, down into the garage for disposal and pickup of new salt water. As you can see, these pumps are very durable. With regular calibration and understanding your doseing and skimmate loss, the salinity is not too difficult to maintain. Small tweeks as needed on intake and outflow. There is another sponsor that has an auto change system of pumps that you may want to check the reviews on.

The quote below is from a member that uses the same setup as you. He also gives a link to see his setup. Who is the other sponsor?

This is my setup. Wasn't cheap, but totally worth it!!!
It's not completely hands off but soooo much easier. Just need to keep an eye on your salt levels.

http://www.livingreefs.com/automatic-water-change-system-t24727.html

 

[cm11599ps]

I've been doing auto water changes with my APEX since I set my tank up in March. It's a 55 gallon reef with about 25 in the sump/fuge. I've got 2, 30 gallon cans in my garage for water storage. One is top off water, the other new salt water. I have float switches in my sump that will activate a mag pump in my top off can to fill the sump. It's my own ATO. Works like a charm.

I also placed a mag pump in my sump that is output into a drywell I dug last spring. At 4 PM every day the mag pump in my sump runs and drains about a gallon of water from my sump. I use RO tubing for this since I run the line clear across my house in the attic. I programmed my APEX to run the drain pump for about 5 minutes because that's how long it takes to drain about a gallon.

I then have the drain pump turn off and activate the mag pump in my new salt mix can to add water back to my sump until it reaches the proper float switch. My tank is running the entire time this takes place.

I have the programming code if you're interested.

 

[Thatgrimguy]

The quote below is from a member that uses the same setup as you. He also gives a link to see his setup. Who is the other sponsor?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1929377

I found this one earlier...

Edit:

Meh, its still the same company. Never mind.

 

[gjk]

Fortunately, the storm has been pretty tame. As you well know that can be a very differnet situation when they become hurricanes!

I keep 60 gallons mixed between two cans. One can is always being drawn from and the other in reserve. I am impressed at the Litermeter III and remotes ability to overcome the head presssure as well. In addition, they have done so for 18 months now. They are real workhorses and require little maintenance. I clean the rotating nylon parts more often than required, but still that is very simple and fast to do. I find that between auto doseing Ca, Mg, and alk and the normal seasonal changes in evaporation and then the finally the auto water changes all combine to a perpetual need to check and water paremeters and make sutle changes to compensate. For example, I might find the salinity moving in a slight upward direction through my weekly testing. If that is the case, I make a slight change on the Litermeter to draw less NSW, thereby requiring my auto top off to pump slightly more freshwater into the system and the result is a slow correction down on the rising salinity. The Litermeter is digital and allows very minute changes in volume. In addition, it divides the daily water changes into many small amounts throughout the day. If the pump was less durable it would still be ideal in my humble opinion. The durability of the pumps is a huge bonus. I think I am asking a great deal from them and they keep on chugging.

I have the obvious back up saftey in place. Float switch for the LMIII main unit and the remote has an optional sensor that will shut it down in an overflow situation. Obviously, one pump has to be backed up for overfill and one for overdraw. If you are ever headed over in this direction, please feel free to check this system out. Good luck and I highly recommend installing auto water changes. It has removed the one chore I really did not like to do and, as you know, there are more benefits to your livestock.

 

[schabiazabi]

All not bad, but this is not enough for me. I want to have a button called "water change". The function behind it will do the following:

1. Get water
2. Mix the salt
2a. Age the water mix
3. Exchange water in the sump
4. Verify parameters

It's possible and I will do this on my big tank setup one day.

Btw, it's not required to have 2 pumps in order to exchange water. All you need is one pump that puts the water into the sump and have a whole (drain) in the sump at the specific height.

 

[Fishbulb2]

All not bad, but this is not enough for me. I want to have a button called "water change". The function behind it will do the following:

1. Get water
2. Mix the salt
2a. Age the water mix
3. Exchange water in the sump
4. Verify parameters

It's possible and I will do this on my big tank setup one day.

Btw, it's not required to have 2 pumps in order to exchange water. All you need is one pump that puts the water into the sump and have a whole (drain) in the sump at the specific height.

My concern here would be that if you return pump ever shuts off, like during a power outage, the water in the return lines and any short back siphon would go down the drain. Your ATO would then dilute your tank with freshwater.

FB

 

[Kbra84]

Solinoid valves can be tied in with a controller to prevent that...

 

[Fishbulb2]

I guess but once you start introducing solenoids into the mix I think it's much easier to just go with dual pumps or a multi-head peristaltic pump.

FB

 

[Plato]

Lots of ways to skin a cat.

This however is the most expensive. I also use GHL controler in conjunction with a Liter Meter 3. The Liter Meter IMO is key to sucess. It can be calibrated so you know the volume of water changed. Any controler will work. Lowest price option is using Spectripure Liter Meter pumps and vats with premixed salt water.