iced98lx
New member
This is pretty accurate. I have ~$600 into this setup with the big bins and the pump and all the plumbing and while it's not a silver bullet, it's the easiest way I've found to keep things on track in the tank.
automatic water change
- Thread starter DRThompson
- Start date
This is pretty accurate. I have ~$600 into this setup with the big bins and the pump and all the plumbing and while it's not a silver bullet, it's the easiest way I've found to keep things on track in the tank.
iced98lx
New member
It's still a very active post.
What you're describing starts OK:
"Put a y and a valve on the overflow drain" - Yes you can drain from here, ideally into a house drain.
However, since you're draining saltwater, and the auto top off is pumping in fresh water, you wouldn't want to let the ATO fill it back up. I have seen a setup where the same sensors for the ATO were used in a similar setup. The setup basically went:
Tell the system to use the saltwater pump not the ATO pump
drain what you wanted to change
the system pumps in fresh saltwater until the ATO float goes off
tell the system to use the ato pump not the saltwater pump
imho that's 'assisted manual' type setup and ripe for issues when you forgot to change the pump the system is using one way or another.
AquamanE
Active member
I done get the "y and a valve" comment. We are using dual headed peristalsic pumps to pump out and pump in at the same time, hence daily auto water changes.
Not that hard to setup on a controller so the forgetting doesn't happen. But certainly can't y off the overflow drain to do that, well unless you also take salinity into account. Then you leave yourself vulnerable to a probe failure.
I still think the simultaneous pumps are the way to go. I've been slack about getting my setup finished (i know its been over a year, right?) I had a tank setback but it's been coming back strong. Recently ordered a few parts and getting ready to get my setup done.
So my system is finally live. Started changing out water last night. I'm configured for 1g a day, spread out at 6 hour intervals for 15 minutes at a clip. My ReefAngel is monitoring the water level in the two saltwater brutes. One can be setup for mixing while the other acts as source water for the water change. I have diverter valves setup to switch the RO/DI and the AWC input.
For the ATO I was originally going to incorporate, I have the filter extended to my reservoir with a float valve to prevent any failure and a solenoid controlled by the ReefAngel. Every day at 8pm this will open only if the water level in the reservoir is below 30% and will fill until 85% or by timeout. So a few redundancies built in.
For the ATO I was originally going to incorporate, I have the filter extended to my reservoir with a float valve to prevent any failure and a solenoid controlled by the ReefAngel. Every day at 8pm this will open only if the water level in the reservoir is below 30% and will fill until 85% or by timeout. So a few redundancies built in.
Just gotta say, I'm also using one of the cole industrial pumps (mine was a dc version that I also use a pwm driver on to slow it down) and I'm pretty sure it's well over a year flawless, never a hiccup. Totally a life saver with how much I travel for work now, as when I get home I get to enjoy the tank, not work on it constantly.
I just wanted to quote those as my new system is going a bit bigger.
With moving into the new house I'm now installing a 280g display tank, with 40breeder frag and qt tanks. I'm going to be keeping all these tanks seperate from each other through the peristalic pumps.
A) I only have to worry about balancing the display tank, everything downstream is going to be getting such large water changes throughout the day from near identical water parameters it will take out any work of the other tanks.
B) With the additional pm1's for my apex I can install a variety of topoffs/sensors for the other tanks to see if the water change is matching up with expectations for some additional redundancy and fail safe
C) I hate water changes
So that said I'm tracking down 2 more pump heads for my cole pump, which will bring me to a total of 4 pump heads on a single motor.
Pump #1 will be new salt water to 280g display tank (well it's sump but whatever)
Pump #2 will be old salt water from 280g to frag tank
Pump #3 will be frag tank to coral/fish QT tank
Pump #4 will be coral/fish QT tank to drain
This gives me 3 seperate systems and keeps up maintenance on all of them.
Very nice, must have a pretty robust motor on your setup, I think 3 heads is about the limit on most that I've seen except for the CP motor blocks..
I've been doing WC from display to frag tank using three heads on the same model as Inevo, been working great for over a year now! It hasn't completely eliminated maintenance on the frag tank but it sure makes a dent, and keeps everything DT most of all much more stable now that I'm not having to go thru the chore of mixing 5gal buckets every week!!
Ryanaquarium
New member
quick question is everyone having good success with this daily water changes are the result noticeable ??
DRThompson
2018 FMAS President
Hey Ryan!
I started this thread over 2 years ago when I designed my AWC system. For me it was a matter of maintenance. I'm sure many reefers have the same problem when performing regular water changes; (ie: the hassle, the mess, the stress and procrastination..etc) I found that I did NOT do my maintenance water changes consistently and my water suffered.
Now, with my AWC system, my water changes are automated and are performed ONTIME.
As far as daily water changes vs. weekly vs. monthly?
Statistically, there is about a 5-7% reduction in water changout by using the daily water change. I can live with that knowing that it's getting done. Also, my water parameters are not influenced by the small daily water change like they are with the larger water changes. I dont worry about the water in my water change barrel effecting temp, pH or ALK.
referencing "Water Changes in Reef Aquaria" by Randy Holmes-Farley posted on my first page in the thread: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/
Still the best thing I ever invested in for my tanks, noticeable improvement in coral coloration and growth, due mainly IMO to the increased stability that daily water changes provides. There are no sudden swings in parameters and even when I neglect to refill my 2 part dosing containers for weeks/months the new saltwater continues to add minerals and micro nutrients and I have had consistent coloration of my corals since implementing it. Growth rates are also improved, though obviously slow when I forget to keep up with two part dosing but the color and health remain good and unchanged, something that was not the case before automated water changes (after a month or so of neglect/procrastination I would notice coral color start to fade and growth rates slow way down, not the case any more)
AquamanE
Active member
I started a few weeks after Dr. T, and have had continued success. I no longer worry about doing water changes.
Ryanaquarium
New member
thank you so much for the replay DRThompson and AquamanE I'm doing this same method daily water changes I have a total of 300 gallons of saltwater I ordered the stenner dual head now I'm looking for a 160 to 180 gallon container to keep salt water .
Ryanaquarium
New member
just confused on which stenner pump to buy the 100gpd or the 70 gpd i plan on doing 2 gallons water change daily maybe on the future mire like 4 daily
