Water change system idea and ideas wanted

MMM33732 · #1 01/03/2008, 02:25 PM

So I've been thinking of an idea of how to set things up so a water change would only take 3 min to do and use no extra pumps to do it.

Basically it involves adding an extra tank that is used for the change and also allows you to measure exactly how much water is being changed as well as adding some filter floss to the overflow water (plus increase the total system volume). So heres the quick paint sketch:

The tank size would depend on how much water you plan to change on regular bases. So say you have a 150g system and you want to change 10%, then you would want 15g changed, so I would use a 20g tank because the entire thing will not be full of water since the display overflow and filter would take up room. Now I suppose you could do away with the entire filter and have the overflow coming straight in from the top if you wanted, but I like the added filtration and polishing which would always be removed later down the road.

The sketch is pretty much self explanatory... you have a valve on your RO/DI tank to drain it into the saltwater tank. In that tank you would have added the salt earlier to have it all mixed already so you would be all ready to change out with aged water. You'd pretty much just have to turn off the return pump from your sump, open the water change tank's drain valve and drain it all out to whatever level you measured off. Then, close that drain valve and open the saltwater tank's valve and let that fill up the water change tank until you are right back to where water is overflowing into the sump again. Thats it... well them make some new saltwater.

I think its a pretty good idea since it uses only gravity to do the entire thing. The only pump would be an optional powerhead to keep the saltwater constantly mixing if you wanted.

So what do you think? Anyone have any other water change ideas that allow you to measure exactly what you take out and put back in? I'd love to see them. Any ideas of ways to maybe improve my idea?

MMM33732 · #2 01/03/2008, 08:52 PM

Any other ideas out there?

Fly 75 · #3 01/03/2008, 09:05 PM

How would this be considered a water change if the tank is connected to your total system. Hope I am not missing something but if it is in fact connected to your system then you would be missing the idea of why water changes are important. I personally have my RODI set up in the garage with 3 50gal resevoirs to fill and mix. Then I use a pump and clear rubber hose to remove and then add new water to my tank. Not the fanciest but easy and out of sight when not in use.

MMM33732 · #4 01/03/2008, 09:16 PM

The water change tank is connected to the system, but its in essence just another sump used for measuring how much you drain out and how much you refill.. The saltwater tank is not connected in any way other that it can drain directly into the water change tank once that tank has been emptied....

khoivo1 · #5 01/04/2008, 02:48 AM

i dont think you need a filter tank,,,
i did my filter in sump and when i need water change then just drain my sump to marked line for 30g and then drain new water to sump upto marked line
so i have two mark line one is low and one is high
ezer i think

MMM33732 · #6 01/04/2008, 12:57 PM

I thought of simply doing that too, but in my case, no chamber of the sump (except the fuge) is large enough to do the full water change in one shot. (Especially once you count in the volume taken up by full skimmer, pumps, in sump reactors, etc.) Also, if the sump is directly on the ground, in certain room setups and all, it may prevent a drain on it from working properly. Example would be if the sump is directly on the floor but you need to drain into a sink thats 3 feet off the ground with no way to tap into the floor drain. As long as this filter/water change tank's drain is elevated that high, there would be no issues with something like that if a floor drain is not accessible in that room.

superedge88 · #7 01/04/2008, 01:03 PM

That is exactly what I have done in my system. The only difference is that I made it so that I can take the "water change vat" offline from the rest of the system by just turning 3 valves. This allows the system to keep running while I drain the vat and fill it and make sure that the salinity, temp, and pH are right on. Then just turn 3 valves and the "water change vat" is back online and the water change is done.

kgross · #8 01/04/2008, 03:35 PM

That would work fine, but with 1 simple change you don't have to shut down the system to do your water change.

Put a T and 2 valves on your drain line with one end of the T going through the T into your water change tank, and the other end of the T going into the main sump. Then rather than turning off the return pump when you want to do a water change, just close the valve going to the change tank and open the valve to the main sump. Do your change, then close the valve to the main sump and open the one to the water change tank.

Kim

MMM33732 · #9 01/04/2008, 05:03 PM

Awesome idea. Never thought of that. So if using 2 overflow lines from the display tank and 2 overflow lines from the water change tank, I would need to add a total of 4 valves and 2 tee's. I could probably run the lines slightly different where they are at more and a vertical position and only need 1 valve per line instead of 2.

MMM33732 · #10 01/04/2008, 05:11 PM

Something very similar to this where the red lines are the valves...

kgross · #11 01/04/2008, 05:51 PM

Yes, only you will also need to add a valve on the other sie of the T just to make sure that when you are doing the water change no tank water flows int he water change tank.

Kim

tkeracer619 · #12 01/04/2008, 06:32 PM

Use a dual head peristaltic pump. One head pumps water out to drain the other pumps new water in at the same rate from the storage tank.

MMM33732 · #13 01/04/2008, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tkeracer619
Use a dual head peristaltic pump. One head pumps water out to drain the other pumps new water in at the same rate from the storage tank.

The idea is to not use any pumps...

tkeracer619 · #14 01/05/2008, 11:10 AM

There are many ways to do it, I was just suggesting what a bunch of us with large tanks use. GL with your setup.

firechief · #15 01/05/2008, 12:40 PM

You can use one line from your main tank to your sump that will handle total pumping volume of your return pump, the other line to your water change tank with one valve and any filter you need, then use a over flow setup in your water change tank back to your sump or fuge tank, this will give you one valve to close and the water change tank will be off line, the water in the tank will stop flowing when it get below the over flow line, open your drain and drain off your set amount of old water, close drain then open new salt water back up to the over flow line, then open the main valve from your main tank and the water will rise over the over flow and back to your sump or fuge. Then you can use the valve to control the amount of water that goes to your water change tank if needed ??

MMM33732 · #16 01/05/2008, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by firechief
You can use one line from your main tank to your sump that will handle total pumping volume of your return pump, the other line to your water change tank with one valve and any filter you need, then use a over flow setup in your water change tank back to your sump or fuge tank, this will give you one valve to close and the water change tank will be off line, the water in the tank will stop flowing when it get below the over flow line, open your drain and drain off your set amount of old water, close drain then open new salt water back up to the over flow line, then open the main valve from your main tank and the water will rise over the over flow and back to your sump or fuge. Then you can use the valve to control the amount of water that goes to your water change tank if needed ??

I don't quite understand that. Any pictures?

firechief · #17 01/05/2008, 09:51 PM

Line A in the picture needs to handle 10% water GPH over return flow of pump, this will allow you to close the valve to your water change tank, in turn this will increase the GPH in line A to full flow of return, allowing you to change your water as needed. after your water change is done you will open the valve allowing water to go to your water change tank again (form the main tank) fills back up to the over flow and starts to run into the sump again and you are done. Your main tank never needs to be turn off.

firechief · #18 01/05/2008, 09:54 PM

Try this again

firechief · #19 01/05/2008, 10:00 PM

When power goes out your sump will need to handle the water from your main tank and your water change tank ( till the over flows stop that is)

firechief · #20 01/05/2008, 10:06 PM

If you use the line from your water change tank to feed your fug, you can control the flow it your fug with the valve from your main tank to your water change tank.

This is starting to get fun
Still new to this post thing

MMM33732 · #21 01/06/2008, 01:20 AM

I like the one valve idea, but yet I don't. I like the fact that it uses only one valve, but I don't like the way if you wanted to use the water change tank as a filter, it would only filter half the water. Also, in order to keep the system online while changing water, the overflow leading directly to the sump would need to be able to handle 100% of the water flow. All in all, another good idea to consider. Thanks.