direct plumb idea (for pressure) is good idea.
thx
thx
AWC Problems: Just a Heads up for all that use a similar system
- Thread starter HKAVR45
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ReefKeeperElite
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Definitely better for me too. The way my dosing station is setup, it is not practical to replace the lines unless absolutely necessary. I plan on using the same task I described above for all my dosing lines except RODI every few months. SW, WW, Alk, CA, Mg, and Reef Energy AB+.
Luckily we haven't run into this issue, at least, not yet. While it would probably be a good idea to swap out the lines every so often, we feel less urgency given that we're using the Tropic Marin Pro salt mix. Because of how clean it mixes up, I see AWC tubing clogs less of an issue for us. If this were 2 years ago and we were still using the Red Sea salt, we may have needed to change out the AWC lines by now.
If you didn't want to switch salt mixes, another potential solution would be to recirculate the freshly mixed saltwater through a sediment filter. We installed one on our mixing stations back when we were using the Red Sea Blue Bucket and you'd be surprised how much brown gunk gets pulled out over time. Even with Tropic Marin Pro Reef the sediment filter is a light brown color after a few hundred gallons or so.
Marc88
Active Member
Thanks for the reply. It's good to hear from you regarding this. I'm sure different salt mixes will affect the lines differently based on precipitation and residual crud. I watched your investigates on salt and it says a lot IMO.
That looks horrible. I see a salt switch in your future. Lol.This is what I was dealing with.
Definitely better for me too. The way my dosing station is setup, it is not practical to replace the lines unless absolutely necessary. I plan on using the same task I described above for all my dosing lines except RODI every few months. SW, WW, Alk, CA, Mg, and Reef Energy AB+.
Glad to see we are on the same page. It would be far too much work for me. I went through your mind thread, it would be far more work for you. Lol. Great work BTW!
Shooter6
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Ive reached out yo multiple manufacturers, but none have taken my suggestion.
The 2 pump system is super flawed. Somone needs to do a 2 head gear driven off 1 motor. Then theres no way for the timing to get out sequence. Only failure points as far as that would be a clogged or faulty line, or empty container. This actually seems like a fix that should have been the original concept.
The 2 pump system is super flawed. Somone needs to do a 2 head gear driven off 1 motor. Then theres no way for the timing to get out sequence. Only failure points as far as that would be a clogged or faulty line, or empty container. This actually seems like a fix that should have been the original concept.
ReefKeeperElite
Active Member
Thanks. My lines weren't nearly as clogged as yours. I wish I had taken a picture, but it was just a 1mm symmetric coating around the inside of the tubing. The 4x vinegar bath cleared all that out, and I started my AWC with fresh lines this morning along with freshly mixed Tropic Marin Pro SW. So far so good. Mixed quickly, and parameters as advertised on the bucket. Biggest change was the alk of 7, for which I compensated by setting a separate interval on my alk doser which coincided with the timing of the AWC.This is what I was dealing with.
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Marc88
Active Member
2 months later my lines clogged completely. I ad to use an air compressor and blow it clean from the tank end, then I was able to flush it with vinegar. My bucket looked the exact same as yours. It was only the fres Salt line, the waste water was fine. Im thinking about switching to Tropic Marin or adding a sediment filter.Just to wrap this topic up, this is the junk in 40' of lines coming from the salt container to the tank. Crazy.
HKAVR45
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Quick update:
Made some fresh saltwater and decided to take a look at the AWC lines going to the tank. I blew out brown sediment in just 4 feet of rodi tubing. So I decided to run vinegar through the lines overnight. This is what came out. Mind you it's only been 3 months since I did this last. Also cleaned out the salt water holding tank with citric acid. It was dark brown. I like the red sea blue bucket and I will use it for manual water changes but for the AWC I'm going with Tropic Marin Pro.
Made some fresh saltwater and decided to take a look at the AWC lines going to the tank. I blew out brown sediment in just 4 feet of rodi tubing. So I decided to run vinegar through the lines overnight. This is what came out. Mind you it's only been 3 months since I did this last. Also cleaned out the salt water holding tank with citric acid. It was dark brown. I like the red sea blue bucket and I will use it for manual water changes but for the AWC I'm going with Tropic Marin Pro.
ID-Reefer
Active Member
Good thread- figured it needed a bump. I do AWC this way with the Neptune DOS pump. I noticed one day that both my lines (new SW and old SW) were nearly plugged. That brought me here. I figured I was going to have to run new lines - something I really didn’t want to do as they run through my crawl space. I was able to blow air through them with a compressor so I then ran about 3 gallons of citric acid through them over the course of a day. Worked great and water is again flowing like before. System has been up and running for about 18 months so flushing lines with citric acid will now be an annual chore I do.
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