what do you guys / gals think about this ??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2tKgN7E7nw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2tKgN7E7nw
auto water changer equipment
- Thread starter cono
- Start date
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
Stupid ideas these automatic water change systems. They are not going to clean any build up in the tank and sump just replenish trace elements. This is for the extremely lazy reefer
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
Why is that not discussion what i said? I gave my opinion. Just because my opinion is different then your it means im being a nasty? I said to me its useless. If i cant clean my tank when it comes down to water change day why change the water at all. Might as well add trace elements instead of doing water changes. Most people who have a tank have the time to maintain it and if these are sold 85 percent of them will be sold to the lazy aquarium owner and 15 percent to the person who has no time
- Location
- Amityville, NY
OP asks what we think. And the Duke himself spoke up....and after this, I'm truly afraid to post what I think.
- Location
- Bellmore, NY
My diamond goby, sand sifting star and nassarius snails take care of my sand bed.
I have two mp40 on a 65g tank and one time i tried taking a turkey baster to my rock work and nothing came off. I run Nutrient Transport for 2 hours after every feeding.
I still do water changes. I do them the same way these controllers do but with my Reef Angel. When i have the proper plumbing setup i would set it to do smaller amounts on a daily basis. Right now I change 20g a week.
I have two mp40 on a 65g tank and one time i tried taking a turkey baster to my rock work and nothing came off. I run Nutrient Transport for 2 hours after every feeding.
I still do water changes. I do them the same way these controllers do but with my Reef Angel. When i have the proper plumbing setup i would set it to do smaller amounts on a daily basis. Right now I change 20g a week.
- Location
- Garden city
Duke I gotta disagree with u on this one I wish I could set up automatic wc system between work side work house work i have to stay up late to work on tank or on rare occasion wife takes baby somewhere for few hrs I work furiously on tank while she's gone to try and get few things done! I'm not lazy far from it and if I had the $ right now and time to set it up I'd definitly have one!!!
As far as cleaning out sump and Equipment once every 3 months should be good no?
As far as cleaning out sump and Equipment once every 3 months should be good no?
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
To control my NO3 PO4 i clean the tank. I syphon behind the rocks,baste the rocks,clean the sump and fuge. I clean all sides of the tank. I never had a NO3 or PO4 problem and i know its because of that. If all your doing is removing the water how is that removing the deitrus that is causing that? Takes me exactly 1 hour to do my tank. I tank 5 gallon out of the fuge syphoning the floor,5 from the sump doing the same thing then 10 from the DT doing the same thing. If you had a bucket with a rotting animal at the bottom and removed 1/2 the water then filled it back up whats going to happen? You will have the same water the next day you had when you took the old water out
Can you give me an idea of how you do this with the controller? I have an acIII not RA but if you could help me understand the setup and what code commands I would really appreciate it.
- Location
- Bellmore, NY
The code on RA is in C so it's pretty straight forward to do there. Have no idea how you would do it on a RK or Apex.
What I do is turn off my reactors and skimmer. That brings the water line just under one of my float switches. This switch normally shuts down my return pump as an alarm if water level gets too high. However in WC mode it becomes an ATO switch. I have a pump in my new SW that then fills more water until the float switch triggers. After that is enabled and ready I turn my reactor back on. I have a valve I change so the water is redirected to a hose that i run directly to the toilet. While that outlet is on the water level is dropping and my "ato" pump in my fresh salt water keeps the sump at the right level. When the water in the reservoir runs out the ATO timeout is triggered which then shuts down the reactor.
The process usually leaves a little extra water than i started with which compensates nicely for any drop in salinity from skimming. I turn the ball valve and exit WC mode. Reactors come on and then skimmer comes back on in a few minutes.
As I said earlier, i basted my rocks once and saw nothing from it. My goby is an extreme digger and my sand bed is immaculate. I use filter socks so the last time i pulled out my skimmer i was going to vacuum that chamber but it was so clean it wasn't worth it. The only accumulation i have is some gfo that i accidentally shot into my return chamber that i haven't vacuumed out. Granted my tank is only 15 months old so maybe in another year or two things will change.
PM me if you need more details on what i'm doing controller wise.
What I do is turn off my reactors and skimmer. That brings the water line just under one of my float switches. This switch normally shuts down my return pump as an alarm if water level gets too high. However in WC mode it becomes an ATO switch. I have a pump in my new SW that then fills more water until the float switch triggers. After that is enabled and ready I turn my reactor back on. I have a valve I change so the water is redirected to a hose that i run directly to the toilet. While that outlet is on the water level is dropping and my "ato" pump in my fresh salt water keeps the sump at the right level. When the water in the reservoir runs out the ATO timeout is triggered which then shuts down the reactor.
The process usually leaves a little extra water than i started with which compensates nicely for any drop in salinity from skimming. I turn the ball valve and exit WC mode. Reactors come on and then skimmer comes back on in a few minutes.
As I said earlier, i basted my rocks once and saw nothing from it. My goby is an extreme digger and my sand bed is immaculate. I use filter socks so the last time i pulled out my skimmer i was going to vacuum that chamber but it was so clean it wasn't worth it. The only accumulation i have is some gfo that i accidentally shot into my return chamber that i haven't vacuumed out. Granted my tank is only 15 months old so maybe in another year or two things will change.
PM me if you need more details on what i'm doing controller wise.
- Location
- Bellmore, NY
Heres the thing to...if you automate the physical water changing part of water changes then you could focus on the cleanup part when you would normally do your maintenance. Not having to lug buckets of water in and out frees you up to baste rocks and clean whatever detritus you want. Socks, settling tanks, siphoning etc could all be used to catch the released particulate and your automation would keep the tank at the right level and salinity. This equals less stressed tank inhabitants, more focus on tank cleaning for owner, less stress on backs...meaning cleaner tanks cleaner water and happier livestock.
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
If I was to do what you guys say you do and just change the water it would take me 15 minutes to do. 5 minutes to remove the water and 5 minutes to fill it back up and 5 minutes to wheel the brute container over to the toilet plug in the pump and dump it. The time in the water change is all the maintenance I do. Don't see how people can't find 15 minutes in one day a week. Don't see any purpose in a system like that
Last edited:
- Location
- Bellmore, NY
Not really. The hour you spend would become 45 minutes. Giving you some extra time to measure PE 
The idea of this method is to spread large water changes over time as well. Doing more small changes on a regular basis instead of more massive one weekly or whatever.
For me still doing weekly changes but having the automation lets me feed the baby / change diapers or do something else while its all happening which I did on the last one while wifey was getting nails done.
Usually I am doing the other maintenance while its going. Change filter sock, clean sponges, clean glass, clean skimmer cup, start next batch of SW mixing.
The idea of this method is to spread large water changes over time as well. Doing more small changes on a regular basis instead of more massive one weekly or whatever.
For me still doing weekly changes but having the automation lets me feed the baby / change diapers or do something else while its all happening which I did on the last one while wifey was getting nails done.
Usually I am doing the other maintenance while its going. Change filter sock, clean sponges, clean glass, clean skimmer cup, start next batch of SW mixing.
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