Daily Auto Water Change Idea

[jacob.morgan78]

I know this has been brought up before probably but I thought I would put it out there anyway.

I have two dosers that I'm currently not doing anything with. I'm going to have one pulling water out of the system and one putting clean water in trying to keep as many variables the same as possible. I know they're not going to be perfect but close enough I think... I'd shoot for about 1% a day.


I'd need to check salinity pretty often to make sure it's staying close but I'm pretty sure that's all I'd really have to do other than making sure my ato is turned off whenever I program the dosers to work. Also, I'd take water out and put water into different sections... I like keeping things simple.

So, what do ya think? What am I not considering here?? Thanks!

 

[iced98lx]

I'm going to do the same, roughly, but adding in a micro controller that has a 'calibration' option on it, so the controller knows how much water gets moved by each pump in "X" seconds. Should make it slightly more reliable/accurate, but is extra work obviously.

if they're identical motors/heads and you put fresh tubing on them and work at it a bit (manual calibration by stretching the tubes) you should be able to get close enough that it won't cause any major SG swings. How big of a tank & what volume are you changing?

 

[jacob.morgan78]

It's a small 20g + 10g sump system. It's actually in my classroom... Kids love it!

 

[kenman345]

Does anyone know if these dosers are powerful enough to drive two dosers? Say you gut one doser and line it up and attach the spinning part to the first doser. This way, you have both turning at the same rate, even if that is slower than before modification. Takes one complication out of the equation, unless you were to find a dual doser, then you might do well with that. I figured modification like this may be ideal in a classroom environment where funds may be unavailable to get another doser when you already have two.

This is my favorite DIY water change thread, might wanna take a look if you havent seen it already:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2349824

 

[iced98lx]

It's a small 20g + 10g sump system. It's actually in my classroom... Kids love it!

in that case you'll need to watch your salinty VERY carefully as that small of a tank doesn't take much to put off. 1/2 gallon a day should be doable with some testing and tuning.

 

[Sethjamto]

I'd be VERY cautious on a small tank like that. Parameters can get out of whack REAL fast.

I'm doing it with a Litermeter that's calibrated on a 300g tank and love it. The Litermeter is much more accurate though and the tank volume will allow me to be off just a hair without affecting it too fast. I also double check the calibration on the pump monthly just to make sure they are pumping properly.

 

[jacob.morgan78]

I'm thinking one percent of 20 gallons is only .2 gallons. If I do that daily, or every other day, I think I'll be able to catch anything if it gets out of whack a little.