automatic water change
- Thread starter DRThompson
- Start date
AquamanE
Active member
Sacohen
New member
I had thought about a separate container for Fresh RO/DI and then that would fill my ATO container when it is low, but I don't have the room in the garage for 2 20 gallon Brutes.
My wife feels that she needs to keep her car in the garage.
So my current 20 brute is going to be converted to my Fresh Salt Water and my 10 gallon tank that I currently use for the ATO is going to move to the garage and the R/O will fill that tank when it's empty and I'll just add the Kalk when it fills, let the pump run for a while and then switch it to work for the ATO.
Same for the salt container.
So I'm going to have to disrupt my ATO and water changes for little bit while the RO fills the containers.
Eddie; I'm going to be running the Masterflex pumps with the Thermofisher motor.
It's not up and running yet, but it's all been tested and seems to be working fine.
Any questions for your presentation?
Total cost for setting mine up was about $100.
AquamanE
Active member
Thanks Steve- No more questions. I just want to give you guys Dibs on your hard work to get these more reasonably priced pumps a shot.
Your choice of pumps allows others to do this. although you must admit its been a struggle with tubing issues, PS issues etc.....
Sacohen
New member
Yeah, but now that we figured things out it should be easier for others.
I was looking for my motor and pump this morning for some one I've been talking to on the Reef Angel forum who wants to set it up because he is away in the army often and wants to set up thing to make his wife's life easier.
I can find the pumps, but the motors are a little tough to find, even the AMETEK 3 Line Peristaltic Pump that lnevo is using is hard to find.
12V-40V 10A Pulse Width Modulation PWM DC Motor Speed Controller ($6.99 Shipped from Ebay)
ThermoFisher D3138-13 w/Masterflex 7024-20 Pump ($48.52 Shipped From Ebay)
5' of Laboratory Clear Tygon PVC Tubing, 1/4" ID, 7/16" OD, 3/32" Wall Thickness, 5' L ($19.32 Shipped from McMaster Carr)
12v 1A power supply I had sitting around the house, can be had for about 10 bucks though.
15g Barrels I had previously, got them off craigslist for like 15 or 20 bucks each.
Various PVC fittings, unions and yadda yadda to build water mixing station (70 bucks roughly)
Used Mag 7 laying around, but could probably pick one up for like 30-40 bucks or so
So if we add it all up.
AWC specific parts = $84.83 (I added in 10 bucks for a power supply)
Water mixing station parts = $150 (on the high side of all parts, and most people have this stuff laying around)
Grand total to never lift a 5 gallon bucket again = $234.83
Pics and a quick video in next post
ThermoFisher D3138-13 w/Masterflex 7024-20 Pump ($48.52 Shipped From Ebay)
5' of Laboratory Clear Tygon PVC Tubing, 1/4" ID, 7/16" OD, 3/32" Wall Thickness, 5' L ($19.32 Shipped from McMaster Carr)
12v 1A power supply I had sitting around the house, can be had for about 10 bucks though.
15g Barrels I had previously, got them off craigslist for like 15 or 20 bucks each.
Various PVC fittings, unions and yadda yadda to build water mixing station (70 bucks roughly)
Used Mag 7 laying around, but could probably pick one up for like 30-40 bucks or so
So if we add it all up.
AWC specific parts = $84.83 (I added in 10 bucks for a power supply)
Water mixing station parts = $150 (on the high side of all parts, and most people have this stuff laying around)
Grand total to never lift a 5 gallon bucket again = $234.83
Pics and a quick video in next post
That's the mixing station built into the closet. The barrel on the left gets the fresh RO/DI water coming into it, with a float at the top. I also mix the water in this barrel. The barrel on the right is where my AWC pulls from. I let the pump run on this barrel for a day or so after pumping over to it and then switch back to the main barrel for mixing up a new batch of saltwater. There is also a float switch that goes down from the 2" bulkhead fitting in the top of the fresh saltwater barrel to disable the AWC system if the barrel gets too low.
Right now, since my tank had suffered on maintenance up to this point, I've been doing about a 20% water change a week, or 14 gallons or so per week. This is all controlled through my apex, and with the speed control module I run the pump very very slow (it's only like 15 or 20 rpm now compared to the 200rpm with no speed control on it).
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There's the pump and how slow it runs on the speed control. The room is NORMALLY pretty quiet, but since you had this coming up soon and wanted some info, I went ahead and shot the video now while there's water splashing in my QT. I have some fish getting ready to go into tank transfer, and I raise the salinity up to my tank level by just not topping off the evaporation
As said previously, the pump is controlled by my apex. Running so slow it uses practically no power, so it has to be on a relay outlet (4 or 8 on an eb8) or an eb4 outlet. Here's the apex code I use....
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
OSC 000:00/010:00/050:00 Then ON
If Outlet AWC_Override = ON Then ON
If LowNSW CLOSED Then OFF
Pretty simple, lose communication it's OFF, Set OFF is kind of redundant these days, the OSC commands implies an OFF state.
The oscillate command lets the pump run for 10 minutes every hour on the hour. I also created a virtual outlet to override the AWC system so that if I need to pull water from the tank I can do it via water change (I put a TEE on the drain line so I can drain it to a bucket if I wish). The switch safety line is the last line of code to override all other settings in case the AWC Barrel is low.
Any other questions?
What's hard to find about that Ametek pump, the same link I posted earlier is still good, that seller had around 100 of them when I ordered mine. They are just $75 now.......
but even so all you need is the pump, one float, and a relay and PSU, So assuming you have a suitable PSU laying around and a container for SW, you're looking at around $100 after tubing, fittings etc.
I'm still waiting on some fittings that were supposed to be delivered Friday, but didn't show due to the Holiday on Monday I think. If I get a chance at work tomorrow I'll add up my total system cost and sketch up a diagram. Still not finished yet, but the pump is only waiting on fittings to be up and running. (just using a 5gal. bucket of SW at that point with a low water float)
I'm doing the typical two 32 gallon brute can mixing station setup, and will have floats and relays in place to make it as simple as flipping a switch and walking away for each stage of mixing. The system will alert me when the SW bin is empty via a LED light, and then I just flip a switch, dump in a bag of salt, let it mix, flip the switch back and forget it for another month, in theory. (I don't have the full system figured out yet with all the relays and indicator lights yet, but I think I have all the parts on hand now, the wiring will need some thought yet)
I'll post pics when the system is completed, but it probably won't be until next weekend for the whole system to be up and running. I can post pics of the "simple" version running as soon as the connectors arrive, hopefully tomorrow!
Edit: my mixing station basically looks like what Dread posted, just mine will use two brute cans on a rolling cart with salt storage cabinet built in.
I broke it down to AWC specific parts and parts for a water change setup. I already had 1 barrel and a simple mixing station previously, and then made up the twin barrel setup when I went to using my marine magic doser for auto water changes.
Pretty much though, pump wise, tubing to rebuild, power supply, everything, I was sub $100 to have it up and running, compared to over 300 for a stenner or newer masterflex setup. I cannot complain one bit to get the same performance (actually better with how controllable the speed is on this now) for a third of the price :thumbsup:
Dread, thanks for pointing out that speed controller BTW! I think it will take care of my noise issues and just let it run longer, fingers crossed that it will quiet down enough to run at night while I'm sleeping. It doesn't get totally silent but I can slow it down to barely a crawl to the point where I can hear the gears quietly whirring away in the gear box, but I think I'll need it running faster than that, as I have a smaller size pump than the one you are using, 1/8" inner diameter tubing on my pump heads (model 7016-20)
Otherwise I may relocate the pump to my AWC cart and build a sound proof-ish box to put over the pump.
Otherwise I may relocate the pump to my AWC cart and build a sound proof-ish box to put over the pump.
When I first ran that pump, I couldn't find a spot in the house that I couldn't hear it. Now it's quieter then my skimmer drawing air. Video makes it sound louder because I was literally right on top of the thing, but trust me, you can't hear it from 5' away
Sacohen
New member
This link that you posted on post #467 on page 19...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMETEK-3-Lin...item19e62f081d
Shows that "This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available."
At least that is what I'm seeing when I'm logged in and it doesn't come up when I search for "AMETEK 3 Line Peristaltic Pump"
Well shoot, Maybe someone bought them all?
Here is another good looking option if four people wanted to split them up, they are new supposedly, but I'm not familiar with the pumps. I'd imagine they would work just fine and the price is right.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/REX-Enginee...115?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19ddc83da3
These are 110volt so not PSU needed, just take care with the wiring.
Here is another good looking option if four people wanted to split them up, they are new supposedly, but I'm not familiar with the pumps. I'd imagine they would work just fine and the price is right.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/REX-Enginee...115?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19ddc83da3
These are 110volt so not PSU needed, just take care with the wiring.
Thats a nice find...i'm lousy at this ebay thing...110v is a great option if your plugging into a controller.
Sacohen
New member
Yikes, I just ordered one to play around with and wanted it quick so filtered down to US only sellers and paid $6, got here in two days and it worked great so I ordered a few more on the slow boat for round $3.50 for use on various other projects. Those even should arrive by first week in March, LOL!
.....and speaking of annoying delays, I just got notification that my fittings I ordered last week are on back order now, GRRRRRRR! Apparently they only had one or two left and I needed 6. Now waiting to find out how long it will be or if I should look elsewhere..............will I ever get this project finished?
At least I made good progress over the weekend on my Water change station.
At least I made good progress over the weekend on my Water change station.
