Does anyone here do automated continuous water changes.

Looking at coming up with a setup and looking for input. Right now my leading method would be to use a aTO and just pump out a given volume and replace saltwater with ATO.

I know others use dual peristaltic or diaphragm pumps to pump equal parts. Others have just used single peristaltic pumps but have not had success with equal amounts.

Any one here have any experience?

 

if im reading this right you're asking about topping off with premixed saltwater? if so, no i have no experience with that i always top off with straight ro water and monitor my salinity levels. with weekly water changes i dont seem to have any drop in SG.

 

He's talking about doing a constant water change. You can't really do it without it being "Automatic", though lol. Like 1 drop every few seconds, new saltwater in and tank water out, always running.

I think it's a good idea, but it would be hard to implement. Lots of things can go wrong with a setup like that. Even just using ATO isn't going to work; you'd be replacing salt water with fresh water, and end up lowering your SG considerably over time.

 

Ya... and some use peristaltic pumps that run a lot.... but with the ATO idea I have... this would just be a one time shot once a day. So 1 gallon a day for my 90 at 30 gallons per month...30% WC monthly. .... even though doing every day comes out to the equivalent of a 26% WC monthly.

 

I could see this working if you had a big tub of SW next to the tank. Put a pump in your sump setup on a timer that would run for X minutes/day to pump water out of the tank. Then set up some sort of float switch to pump water from the SW tub back into the tank. You would just have to make sure to refill the tub.

Personally I think i would rather just do water changes lol

 

Never done this nor sure if it would work but what about putting an overflow in your sump. The overflow would go to a drain then use one pump to add your desired amount of saltwater. You would have to lower the salinity of your new water to compensate for evaporation.

Jack

 

Peristaltic pumps aren't meant to run continuously, so that's something I wouldn't rely on for a continuous system; the once-a-day system sounds like it would work well, though.

An overflow in the sump isn't an idea I'd go with, as there's no way to reliably get a very small, specific amount of water out using an overflow. A peristaltic pump going to a drain, and another from a reserve of SW, sounds like a better plan.

The only thing is, I think it'd be complicated to get water to mix correctly unless you were doing it manually, in which case you didn't do all too much about the actual ease of use of the system, just the water stability factor.

 

Others have used that approach.... you just put in salt water and overflow waste.... but then when the power is out...it overflows.

 

The Tunze maintains my sump within 1/8". So if I set my sensors at the same height...then I don't have to worry about equal amounts.... the ATO will only replace what was taken out.


The whole point is that I am on a stability kick. I'm getting my Alk/Ca to more conservative numbers. I'm going to dose Ca over time... I got away from regular WC because my nutrients were very low... but now I think weekly small ones would be better than the 20% every few weeks I was doing.

Now with me ordering a Apex... I can use the additional power to control a daily water change. I'm trying to go for the most stable, hassle free system I can get and see what I can do with a SPS dominate tank....that's my motivation behind this.

My other thinking is that if I get this going... I can even control my salinity off a conductivity probe and correct small changes... even though my salinity is pretty stable..... but with 2 part it does need to be watched.... I could just top off with salt water if it is low.... or turn on the waste pump if it is high and the RO ATO will kick in.

 

Hey buddy, I know what you are talking about. I have thought of this myself considering I have two barrals one that is 32gal & the other is like 66gal. I have the basic idea already scetched out. Using two pumps or one pump & and electronic valve that is normally closed, due to power failure. To regulate how much to take out & put back is the easy part. Use time, for example lets say it takes 10sec to remove 5gal. Then it would take 10sec to replace 5gal. As switches you can use inexpensive X10 modules or even an Apex system.

Please note, if using a dual pump system the pumps must be the same as GPH.

What do you think?? While I have been waiting a year to setup my 90gal I have had a lot of time to design my configurations..