Automatic Water Change Setup in Litermeter or APEX?

JJKK · Oct 13, 2020

Ready to setup a Litermeter 3 AWC system to put out 1.5gallon/day from the main tank and the side tank. Is best practice to let the LM3 to program the amount of water to change per day or set it up to run constantly and use the Apex to turn on the pumps daily? Any pros/cons one way vs another?

I would guess more stability with the LM3 doing it throughout the day. Any other impacts in terms of maintaining water level and salinity if doing it constantly throughout the day? I was thinking with letting the APEX control the pumps, I can turn off the ATO during the window of time when I run the LM3 pumps. Thanks for you insight.

JJKK · Oct 15, 2020

So I think I am over thinking this even though the LM3 pumps will run sequentially. With such a small daily water change(1.5g/day) and the LM3 doing it over 150 times within 24 hr, I don't think I will trip the ATO sensor to worry about having the salinity getting out of whack over time. I will use the LM3 to program the AWC.

bobnicaragua · Oct 16, 2020

I do a daily automated water change of 1.3 gal, on my 135 gal tank. It takes about 30 min. The export pump starts first, so the water level does drop a bit. The ato only runs for a couple minutes every 3 hours, and it is off during this time.

You are probably right that you won't have an issue with the ato, but I would make the decision on whatever method you think minimizes risk.

I could fart across the room from my tank and brown out some acros!

benapilot · Oct 17, 2020

I use the LiterMeter dumb pumps with Apex. I have one to drain 15 mins, then another to fill 15 mins on my 75 gallon, 4 days a week. I set it up 4+ years ago so I don't remember how many gallons that is. You don't need exact numbers, just consistency!

I've got three of the LiterMeter pumps (AWC fill, drain, and ATO). They have performed flawlessly for over 4 years.

t5Nitro · Oct 17, 2020

I use the LM3 with WXM for daily changes of just over 1 gallon. Should not trip your ATO with this volume. I'd just run it by itself as the pump is near flawless so far.