automatic water change
- Thread starter DRThompson
- Start date
DRThompson
2018 FMAS President
Dr;
This is off topic a little bit.
I noticed in one of your photos that you had a tub marked Kalk.
How are you running your ATO water?
Are you feeding the RO into the Kalk bin, mixing it there and then using that to top off the sump?
Currently I mix my kalk water manually into that bin (holds 10gal) and the single head stenner pump dispenses it to the top of the display tank (approx 30 feet away). That bin use to sit behind my tank in a closet; I moved it into the garage when I got the second stenner pump. Eventually I hope to build a larger ATO reservoir to fit that space. I don't top off directly from my ro because I like dosing kalk water.
AquamanE
Active member
IMHO- you dont want tot dose your evaporated water with the RO?DI directly for 2 reasons.
1- they are not meant to do that. Turn on and off many times per day.
2- RO?DI take a while whe n they are first turned on to get you ZERO TDS. Not an expert on why, but they just dont. Try leaving you RO?DI off for a day then turn it on. You will notice that for the first few minutes the TDS out of the membrane is very high. Yes at the end its zero because the DI takes care of it, but this IMHO id causing extra wear and tear on the DI. And if you dont have DI your pouring in RO with high TDS.
I dont know how Dr. T does it, but i have a dedicated 18G rubbermaid in the same closet you saw on vid. I fill it every week, and put in my Kalk, stir, and then its dosed via a ATO (autotopoff.com dual switch for safety) with a aqualifter pump. it replaces all evaporated water.
1- they are not meant to do that. Turn on and off many times per day.
2- RO?DI take a while whe n they are first turned on to get you ZERO TDS. Not an expert on why, but they just dont. Try leaving you RO?DI off for a day then turn it on. You will notice that for the first few minutes the TDS out of the membrane is very high. Yes at the end its zero because the DI takes care of it, but this IMHO id causing extra wear and tear on the DI. And if you dont have DI your pouring in RO with high TDS.
I dont know how Dr. T does it, but i have a dedicated 18G rubbermaid in the same closet you saw on vid. I fill it every week, and put in my Kalk, stir, and then its dosed via a ATO (autotopoff.com dual switch for safety) with a aqualifter pump. it replaces all evaporated water.
AquamanE
Active member
James- the lines are 1/4" each. Only you can determine that. But i would think a 1" would fit 2 if thats what you need with ease.
I only had to run ONE line from my garage to feed the tank since the pumps sits directly behind my tank in the closet. Hence my just stapling it to the baseboard.
All other lines sit at the pump, in the closet behind my sump/tank
Are you guys ready for a monkey wrench? Is there a way to plumb my frag tank to this system? maybe use the drain from the display to feed and another to drain? maybe stenner makes. 3 head pump? man that would be awesome to have my display and frag tank automated like that
mrx66699
New member
you would need to plumb the systems together first then one would do the change for both .....or just get a second pump and hook it up the same also
Sacohen
New member
I wasn't going to run the ATO directly from the RO/DI unit.
I was going to run it from my 20 gallon Brute trash can that I make the RO/DI water in, but I was trying to figure out how to dose the Kalk if I did that.
Also the reason the TDS is so high at the beginning of when you start making RO/DI water is explained here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6f07WzT2Ng
It's called TDS creep and has to do with the TDS on each side of the membrane trying to equalize.
They way to remove it is to dispose of the first couple of min of RO water even before it goes to the DI so you don't use your DI to try to clean it up.
Sacohen
New member
I don't remember him splitting the drain and return lines.
He did do tests of the amount of water removed and returned with the tubing of different lengths.
What I'm suggesting is that you take one of the in lines and run it to the tanks and then put a T in so that the pump is drawing water from the frag and display tank at the same time and then do the opposite for the return or fresh water.
Take it from your storage run it through the pump and as you get close to the tanks split it with a T so half goes to the display and half goes to the frag tank.
mrx66699
New member
that is referred to as flushing the membrane and it should be done before every use
blackthunda77
New member
I have a quick question, sorry if i over looked it. How do you monitor the fresh saltwater container? Like say you put it in a closet or part of the garage you dont visually inspect everyday. Im assuming that would have to be another aspect of the aquarium you would have to monitor correct? Maybe calculate how many gallons your container holds and then calculate / estimate how long it will take to exhaust the supply? And then just set an alarm on your email or phone? Maybe im over analyzing it.
blackthunda77
New member
also, where do you guys have the strainer positioned and the refill tube from the stenner positioned in the tank for best results?
DRThompson
2018 FMAS President
Strainer is in my sump to remove old water
New water dumps at the top of my canopy above my display tank. (see pics on page 1)
