Automatic Water changes. It doesnt get any better then this.

[AquamanE]

Spectapure- manufacturers of the Litermeter III reached out to me. They will be sending me a full system for me to trial and compare to my current set up. Please stay tuned to more info and equipment comparisons.

 

[AquamanE]

did we ever get the results?

I gave them my address today. They are sending it out.

 

[Sacohen]

At least they say they are sending a Liter Meter.
They could be sending a bomb????????

 

[thedasher]

This is the same idea but just higher technology and looks nicer :). http://genesisreefsystems.com/product/renew-basic/

 

[ws6kid]

The Genesis is really nice, but still requires a storage container for salt water and a drain for waste water. The Stenner takes it from the storage and puts it in the tank and takes from the tank and puts it in the waste, but does not require the wall mounted 1 gallon buckets that the Genesis does. It seems like a more simplified method to go with the Stenner. The Genesis has a lot of great modules for checks and balances to avoid anything terrible from happening, but it is a good bit of equipment to add to a small fish area imo.

 

[gettaReef]

I am going the auto water change route also. After seeing all the great examples here with the stenner and researching the genesis, I think I will still go with the liter meter III and water exchange module. I don't think any method is wrong or necessarily better than another, but just a preference

 

[NeveSSL]

There are certainly a LOT of ways to skin this cat. :)

Brandon

 

[DRThompson]

Update

WOW this thread is HUGE!!!

I just thought I would post and update if anyone is curious. I started my Stenner Automatic water change system in Nov 2013. It changes out 2.5gal per day on my 200gal system. I Havnt done a conventional water change since Nov 2013. No shift in salinity; my tank has never been more stable!

Whatever system you can employ (stenner, liter meter, genesys, homemade...etc), an automated water change system is WORTH the investment!:bigsmile:

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Anybody have a spare thermofisher motor and gear setup?? The masterflex pump I can get on eBay, but can't find the motor anywhere.

Shoot me a PM if u have one or even two. If u have the masterflex pump, I'll take it too. Thanks

 

[Sacohen]

I think any one who went with the thermofisher/masterflex set up has at least 1 spare because they were sold as a unit so if you bought 2 and pulled one off a motor and put 2 on 1 motor you would have a spare.

The main question s does anyone want to part with it.

I know that I want to keep it as a spare, just in case something happens to my first one, remember these were used to begin with and we have know idea how long they were run.

 

[SchnitzelReef]

I think any one who went with the thermofisher/masterflex set up has at least 1 spare because they were sold as a unit so if you bought 2 and pulled one off a motor and put 2 on 1 motor you would have a spare.

The main question s does anyone want to part with it.

I know that I want to keep it as a spare, just in case something happens to my first one, remember these were used to begin with and we have know idea how long they were run.

Ya I know. I already have one setup for AWC, but I want another one to use as an ATO pump for my display.

And FYI u can get a replacement motor for the drive. Apparently it's only like $10.

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Anybody have a spare thermofisher motor and gear setup?? The masterflex pump I can get on eBay, but can't find the motor anywhere.

Shoot me a PM if u have one or even two. If u have the masterflex pump, I'll take it too. Thanks

???????????

 

[AquamanE]

Received the LM3 a few days ago. Its the LiterMeter III G6 with an additional pump, and an overflow safety system. . I should have it set up by end of weekend. I will run it for a few months, and keep you guys updated along the way. I will document with pictures as I set it up.

 

[AquamanE]

WOW this thread is HUGE!!!

I just thought I would post and update if anyone is curious. I started my Stenner Automatic water change system in Nov 2013. It changes out 2.5gal per day on my 200gal system. I Havnt done a conventional water change since Nov 2013. No shift in salinity; my tank has never been more stable!

Whatever system you can employ (stenner, liter meter, genesys, homemade...etc), an automated water change system is WORTH the investment!:bigsmile:

DrT- Ive been running since December 2013. I do get SG shifts but they are 1-2 ppt per few months and I compensate by increasing or lowering new batches of SW. No ill effects noted.

 

[ronnie]

I'm going into week 4 of my 1g per day water change and haven't seen any shift yet. I'm using an eBay pump with dual head currently plugged into a digital timer that does three changes per day. My apex is having issues, so I am sending it in. As soon as it's back, I'll have it set up on it instead. I love the AWC so far!

 

[Corry123]

Wish I would have done this on my current tank, hopefully next build I can implement this great idea!

 

[Sacohen]

You can do this anytime.

 

[mwminer]

Been running awc for 8months on 450 display and 150 sump and have had no issues (except power outages) works flawless Stenner pump 2gal a day

 

[cryptics]

Just noticed this thread. I set up a water change system using my Apex about 4 weeks ago. It is running really well now. One setback in the beginning which I will go into to save anyone else the cleanup.

Background

I have about 150g of water volume. A 90g display and a 45g deep blue frag both of which are plumbed into a Eshopps RS-200 sump. All equipment and returns are run off a manifold and a Jaebo DC-9000 pump. The tanks are in my office in the basement. Unfortunately I do not have a drain down there and not a lot of room.

Goal

My plan was to exchange 2 gallons a day.

Materials

Apex w/ breakout box
4 float switches
2 horizontal float switches
2 mj600's
1 Avast Marine Diaphragm pump (ATO)
2 Dry Food Vaults used for water storage. 1 RODI and 1 Fresh Salt (http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10004271&N=&Ntt=pet+food)
1 Home Depot bucket

I drilled the two pet food containers about 20% up and mounted the two horizontal switches. This is to tell when either container is getting low. Both will send an email and text alert to me when open. I also drilled both through the top off the side of the lid. The salt water container has a 1/2'' hose coming out connected to one of the mj600's inside the container. The hose runs to the return chamber of the sump. The RODI has a fitting for the hose from the AM pump with the hose going down to the bottom of the container. The other end is mounted into the return chamber of the sump. RODI is for my ATO.

I have the other MJ600 in the skimmer section of the sump with the 1/2'' hose going to a bulkhead at the top of the HD bucket. I have two float switches in the return area of the sump. One to control the sump level and one as a backup in case the low switch fails. I also have two switches in the bucket one at a little over two gallons and one slightly above it. Bottom one to stop the waste water pump and the top as a safety.

I timed how long it took for the mj600 in the skimmer section to pump two gallons which was a few seconds over two minutes. I programmed the APEX to turn off the ATO 2 minutes before the water change and stay off for 10 minutes. I then programmed the waste water pump and the new salt pump to come on from 10:30pm. The waste pump is then turned off by the APEX at 10:32PM. The New Salt stays on till 10:33PM. The Waste will stop or not start if the low or high float switches in the bucket are open or if the low salt warning switch is open. The new salt turns off when either the low or high switches in the return area of the sump is open. Both start at the same time so the sump doesn't run dry in the return chamber.

This has worked really well except of course the first time it ran without me there :( I had the mj600 for the waste plugged into a regular outlet in the EB8 and it failed to turn it off. I had heard of this happening with dosing pumps because of the low power draw but didn't think of it. Filled the bucket and watered the floor. I switched them both to the manual switches (4 or 8) on the EB8 and haven't had an issue since.

Future plans is to code this into my salinity probe to notify me if going out of range and stopping all together if it is out of whack.

Just figured I would share. Not the most fancy but does the job. I can upload pics or my Apex code if anyone wants to see.

 

[AquamanE]

As many of you know Spectrapure was kind enough to me a LiterMeter III- G6 for evaluation as part of sharing with all on this thread the different options available.

I will test this item for a few months and share with you my opinions on the product. I am currently running a Stenner pump for my AWC's. I have been using the pump for 8 months now.

Below are pictures of the LM3 with a Remote Pump, and Top Off Control Module as it arrived in my home.

This is a pic next to the Stenner:

Now just the LM3 and remote pump:

Gadgets used to calibrate: