Automatic Top off? How about Automatic Water Change???

[brahm]

I was thinking about trying to setup a system with basically to float switches on timers, one will turn on a pump to drain the tank by a certain percent, then another would refill the tank with new saltwater from a diffrent bucket. This way I can set up my tank to do small water changes daily. Has anybody ever done this before? Is there any reason why I shouldn't try something like this? As from what I understand it's smaller weekly changes then larger monthly changes, why wouldn't it be EVEN better to do even Smaller Daily changes..

So Basically,

3 Timers

Timer 1 Turns off the Auto Top off Float so it doesn't try to add fresh water until the water Changes are compelete

Timer 2 Turns on and off the float switch set to drain the tank to a certain level

Timer 3 Turns on the and off the float switch to add salt water back into the mix.

I'd have a power head, and a heater inside the bucket of New Saltwater to keep things as close as possible, and then I'll I would need to do was drain the bucket with the waste water, and top off the new salt water bucket depending on how much I water I go through and the size of the container

[MATTT]

Dain !!! brahm.
You have got to do some thing to the tank yourself. That is why we are in this hobby so that we can ding around with something all the time. I can't just sit back and watch the tank witout doing anything to it. Just kidding.

Mattt.

[prof10000]

Lots of people have done this.

Build in redundancy so you don't overflow any tanks/containers if a sensor/timer/pump stops working.

[brahm]

OH trust me there is plenty of stuff to do, I'm not thinking of doing it for the lazyness factor as apealing as that sounds, but to see if it would stablize the tank more. We try to do everything as consistent as possible to create a controlled eniverment this would be one more step in that direction..

oh ok, now that i'm done bs'n yea i'm lazy..

[mhurley]

There's actually a device out there that mixes salt and RO and performs constant small water changes to your tank...I saw it at IMAC last year...Can't remember the company but I'll keep digging.

Mike

[shanekennedy]

i have overspill drains on my tank & sump which drain to my sewer lines. have fresh/kalk water line controlled by float valve. have salt water line controlled by timer. it adds about a gallon per day, with overflow going down the drain. have 2x 33 gal containers in basement w/ heated/oxygenated salt water. using
reef filler 2000 to pump water up from basement.

[rallendorph]

brahm -

I implemented similar function but use LiterMeterIII dosing pumps vs timers. The enclosed Pic shows the basic diagram.

Basically,
I have a 44G Rubbermaid Brute Garbage can / holding tank that Fresh Water is automatically filled from RO/DI. 2x a month, I empty ~ 30Gallons of this into a 2nd 44G Brute Garbage Can / holding tank. I mix my salt in the 2nd can, and have a small pump & heater to keep the water at/near tank temp.

I utilize a LiterMeter III to control 3 pumps.
Pump1 ==> Fresh water Make-up into Sump. Currently set at a little over 12 Liters per day.

Pump2 ==> Salt water Add. From Salt water holding tank, I add an amount equal to Salt Water removed from the tank by Pump3. Currently set at 8 Liters per day.

Pump3 ==> Salt water remove. I remove salt water from the tank to waste (3rd Garbage can). Currently set to 8 Liters per day,

The amount of salt water added/removed from the tank is completely arbitrary. With the current setting I have it set at ~2Gal a day so that each month I cycle ~60G of salt water. This translates into a monthly water change of roughly 14% +-.

As mentioned, my waste water is dumped into a third garbage can which will soon be rigged with a water level meter to automatically empty to drain.

Other particulars,

Fresh water: RO/DI -
For controlling the creation of RO/DI water in the Fresh water holding bin, I utilize a Reef Fanatic controller with High and Low water sensors. New water is input until the high-water switch closes. The dosing pump then drains the holding tank until the Low water switch trips, at which point I fill the tank back up to the High Water sensor (30+ Gal at a time). The Low water sensor is ~ 4" above the bottom of the tank so I maintain a small reservoir of fresh water for the LiterMiter pump, and or if I need to use for other. I use a solenoid from McMaster-Carr to regulate the RO/DI. The solenoid is closed unless power is provided.

As a backup to my electric solenoid, or switch getting stuck or burnt out, I have a Kent Float valve mounted about 1 " above the High water switch. This provide a mechanical backup to electronics.

And as a final measure of safety, I have a overflow bulkhead mounted about 1" above the Kent Float valve. I have a hose that runs from this bulkhead to my waste bin. I also use this hose when moving fresh water to my salt tank by moving hose output, and connecting small pump. In the future, I will probably add a 'Y' valve, and permanently place a small pump in the tank.

To control waste water through the RO/DI I have a pressure sensitive solenoid. Back pressure on output line trips it and stops water input to the RO/DI unit.

Using the dosing pumps is one way of skinning the cat. For the added expense, I make sure I don't ever flood the sump with Fresh or Salt water, and I hope that through small constant inflow of fresh salt water that I will maintain a healthy & stable environment. By not changing out large amounts of water at a given time I expect there will be less stress on the corals and fish. Time will tell.

Rob A.

[Ewan]

Originally posted by mhurley
There's actually a device out there that mixes salt and RO and performs constant small water changes to your tank...I saw it at IMAC last year...Can't remember the company but I'll keep digging.

Mike

Dialyseas

http://www.seavisions.com/prod02.htm

[mhurley]

Wow....Now that's not the one I was talking about and it is significantly more expensive than the one I saw at IMAC..but that's pretty sweet. I still cannot find the other vendor that had one of these..It was basically a big brown box with tubes boing in and out of it...Not as slick looking as this thing though!
Mike

[Gerard the fish]

The DialySeas has two independent filtration systems: one for your house water supply and one for your aquarium. The filtration system that cleans and dechlorinates (removes chlorine) from your house water is called a Reverse Osmosis with a Deionized Filter. This system makes really clean water. Now for the aquarium water, (this is where DialySeas comes in) picture your kidneys. Your blood is being pumped thru your kidneys, their job is to concentrate and separate the bad stuff from your blood and then you get rid of it. You drink, you get rid of it. So when you drink water you are flushing your kidneys, ah Water Change!

It looks like that machine doesn't actually preform a water change??? It cleans your saltwater and puts the majority of it back into your system???

- g

[mhurley]

I think it does based off of these quotes from their page:

"This System also makes and adds R.O.D.I Saltwater to your Aquarium for Automatic Water Changes"

"NEVER CHANGE WATER AGAIN DIALYSEAS DOES IT AUTOMATICALLY"

[joshsaul]

Does anyone actually have one of these to comment on its effectiveness?