|
|
|
|
#1
09/04/2007, 03:52 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
DIY Water Changer
I'm currently doing my plumbing for my new 75 gallon setup, it has (to this point) everything under the tank. FYI, its planted rather than salt and has no sump.
I'm not sure which way is the better way to go: 1 - seperate drain and fill -a fill setup somewhat like this(www.aquahub.com/store/product26.html) and a pair of solenoids actuated by the float switch to stop filling -a timed cycle to drain via my Aquacontroller Jr and a solenoid in a drain line 2 - Aquacontroller timed drain and fill -same hardware as above but with the aquacontroller reading the float valve state and controlling the solenoids. This setup would allow the benefit of having discrete fill and drain times. I'm probably going with these solenoids, can anyone speak for or against them? http://www.autotopoff.com/products/solenoid/index.htm. This floatswitch looks to be the best as well. http://www.aquahub.com/store/madisonms8000.html |
|
#2
09/06/2007, 11:25 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Nobody? Can anyone suggest another resource for automated water changing?
|
|
#4
09/07/2007, 09:55 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
This is what i created/use:
|
|
#5
09/07/2007, 09:57 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
also, i've heard the 120V version of those solenoid valves don't last very long. See if you can find the 12V version.
|
|
#6
09/07/2007, 09:58 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
On last thing - the best way is to do continual water change via a dual head peristaltic pump. That is what I'll do on my next tank.
|
|
#7
09/07/2007, 10:53 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Good info on the solenoids, I use similair ones on CO2 and I've had one fail. I presume the point of a dual head peristaltic is to keep volume out = volume in. Would that still work with a pressurized water source?
|
|
#8
09/07/2007, 10:53 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
FYI, I'm going to run a drain line down through the wall to access the plumbing stack.
|
|
#9
09/07/2007, 11:15 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
exactly. and input pressure doesn't affect flowrate for a peristaltic pump. The beauty of this method is that so long as your stock SW supply is the proper specs, your tank will always tend towards that spec. Even evaporation (which increases salinity) will be reversed by continual water changing.
|
|
#10
09/07/2007, 12:40 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
If you have a drain near the tank, the easiest safest water changer is nothing more than a stand pipe or drain in the side of the sump going to the sewer. Pump water in and the excess goes down the drain. No relay, no expensive pumps and no failures.
Don |
|
#11
09/07/2007, 02:10 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
The only problem with that is what happens when you have a power outage and the tank drains to the sump (and then down the drain).....when power comes back on, you're 5 gallons low... avoidable, but something to think about
|
|
#12
09/07/2007, 09:47 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
another problem is when you don't have a sump...planted and sumpless...
|
|
|
Linear Mode
