AWC via controller

[PPBlimpy]

I am looking at doing AWC on my system but do not want to do daily 2-4G AWC like everyone seem to do. Currently have a Apex A2 but been thinking about jumping to Hydros so I am trying to plan what I will need out in the future.

First and foremost - This is not something I plan to implement and have happen when I am not home watching the tank. Maybe if it works reliably for a considerable amount of time.

I still prefer 15% weekly but on a 265G that is 40G and not something I want to do with Dosing heads.

Hear me out.

Can I run a set of height sensors on my DTs back wall. After turning off the return pump and letting the tank water level settle for 5 minutes.
Set one sensor at "settled height" (return pump off) and then one to a "WC height"

Have 2x 3/4" lines attaching to my closed loop plumbing(always submerged). 1 runs to the drain, the other to my salt mixing station. With multiple solenoid valves plumbed.
Open the drain valve till the water level hits the "WC Height" sensor and shuts off drain solenoid. Have the controller wait 1 minute or and open the solenoid valve at the mixing station to refill the DT to "settle height"?
Then just turn the return back on and monitor from the couch.

Can you tell I hate doing WCs

Plans are to have the mixing station on a controller to measure temp and salinity and can write in code to delay water change if mixing water is not correct and alarm out/alert me.

Tank will also have salinity monitored and displayed.

This is how I currently do my WC but with a garden hose ran thru my house And the levels marked on the side of my tank with a sharpie. I am going to be running 1/4" plumbing in my crawl space this next spring to attach mixing station to the tank for RODI ATO and could easily ad these at that time.

Imagine if it worked I could just walk in Saturday morning drinking my coffee. Check the stats and activate WC mode and by the time I am on my second cup a WC could be done.

Also if there was an emergency I could do 60G WC at a moments notice( salt water mixing tub is 65G) just by dropping the WC height sensor down. or even 120G if i need to.

Anyways something I am thinking about.

 

[allof fish]

I am looking at doing AWC on my system but do not want to do daily 2-4G AWC like everyone seem to do. Currently have a Apex A2 but been thinking about jumping to Hydros so I am trying to plan what I will need out in the future.

First and foremost - This is not something I plan to implement and have happen when I am not home watching the tank. Maybe if it works reliably for a considerable amount of time.

I still prefer 15% weekly but on a 265G that is 40G and not something I want to do with Dosing heads.

Hear me out.

Can I run a set of height sensors on my DTs back wall. After turning off the return pump and letting the tank water level settle for 5 minutes.
Set one sensor at "settled height" (return pump off) and then one to a "WC height"

Have 2x 3/4" lines attaching to my closed loop plumbing(always submerged). 1 runs to the drain, the other to my salt mixing station. With multiple solenoid valves plumbed.
Open the drain valve till the water level hits the "WC Height" sensor and shuts off drain solenoid. Have the controller wait 1 minute or and open the solenoid valve at the mixing station to refill the DT to "settle height"?
Then just turn the return back on and monitor from the couch.

Can you tell I hate doing WCs

Plans are to have the mixing station on a controller to measure temp and salinity and can write in code to delay water change if mixing water is not correct and alarm out/alert me.

Tank will also have salinity monitored and displayed.

This is how I currently do my WC but with a garden hose ran thru my house And the levels marked on the side of my tank with a sharpie. I am going to be running 1/4" plumbing in my crawl space this next spring to attach mixing station to the tank for RODI ATO and could easily ad these at that time.

Imagine if it worked I could just walk in Saturday morning drinking my coffee. Check the stats and activate WC mode and by the time I am on my second cup a WC could be done.

Also if there was an emergency I could do 60G WC at a moments notice( salt water mixing tub is 65G) just by dropping the WC height sensor down. or even 120G if i need to.

Anyways something I am thinking about.

That’s definitely possible. I don’t run automatic wc it’s a little difficult where my tank is set up. I would think it would be easier to have sensors in your sump and do it that way if your sump is big enough, that’s how I’d do it. Woudl you be running it thru the dos or another pump. If it was me and I had a big enough sump I would have everything there, drain water in sump to certain amount then Apex would fill it back up to right amount then pump would just pump it to Dt. That’s personally how I’d do it but no wrong way. Adding automation of a mixing station is definitely a plus. I’ve never used hydros so not sure what the major differences for that would be

 

[PPBlimpy]

That’s definitely possible. I don’t run automatic wc it’s a little difficult where my tank is set up. I would think it would be easier to have sensors in your sump and do it that way if your sump is big enough, that’s how I’d do it. Woudl you be running it thru the dos or another pump. If it was me and I had a big enough sump I would have everything there, drain water in sump to certain amount then Apex would fill it back up to right amount then pump would just pump it to Dt. That’s personally how I’d do it but no wrong way. Adding automation of a mixing station is definitely a plus. I’ve never used hydros so not sure what the major differences for that would be

Sump is not big enough to support a 40g WC unfortunately. Tank is a redsea S1000.

This would utilize the mixing pump on my mixing station to feed the fresh mixed saltwater back into the tank. I have found 3/4" 110v solenoid valves that i could use to control flow directions.

 

[PPBlimpy]

I am new to the apex stuff, just got an A2 when I purchased this tank. up to 3 months ago I was still running a reefkeeper lite but had been researching going to hydros before I acquired the apex.

I am sure there is a way to do it with the Apex, especially since i already have a second working control unit. Just have not spent the time to learn the apex stuff

 

[allof fish]

No there’s definitely a way to do it. I’m pretty sure brs has a video on it to that could help you. I think the best way would to once have sensors up program it when to start and stop filling and then connect it that way. Only problem is where is your apex. Is it by your water changing station and sump. It will need to be connected by both so pumps and sensors from sump and mixing station can be connected and programmed

 

[PPBlimpy]

I currently have my apex under my DT. mixing station is about 40ft away.

i do have a second A2 brain and can run it as a second system but i am not sure how to get them to talk.

With the hydros I can run a control ,probably a "Launch" , on my main tank and with a command bus cable connect it directly to a x3-s that will be at my mixing station.

still working out what controllers/items would be needed where to do what i want with the system.

 

[n2585722]

I am new to the apex stuff, just got an A2 when I purchased this tank. up to 3 months ago I was still running a reefkeeper lite but had been researching going to hydros before I acquired the apex.

I am sure there is a way to do it with the Apex, especially since i already have a second working control unit. Just have not spent the time to learn the apex stuff

I have a Hydros and do AWC 4 times a day but my tank is only 42 gallons and the reservoir is over 35ft away in the garage. The pumps I use are also in the garage. I do use dosing pumps. I currently use two pumps on my Blenny controller for water change. I do not turn off the return or skimmer to do it. I do them 6 hours apart and each pump runs for about 15 minutes each time. If I calculated right you would be doing close to 2 gallons a day for daily AWC. The Hydros AWC output type also has the ATO built into it and will disable the ATO during the AWC sequence. You can use a low level sensor and drain to that sensor or time the drain part of the sequence. the fill pump will fill back to the ATO sensor so you would need to keep the return pump running along with the skimmer so the full water level does not change. With that large a tank if you do use dosing pumps you would need the Sole pumps for drain and fill. Those can run up to a rate of 300ml a minute. You could probably set them at a lower rate though. I also control my RODI and mixing station in my garage with the Hydros. When the DI reservoir goes low it turns on the RODI unit to refill it. If the fresh saltwater reservoir goes low and the contents in the mix tank is ready to use the Hydro will transfer the contents of the mix tank to the fresh saltwater reservoir and then refill the mix tank with DI from the RODI filter. All I have to do is add the salt mix to the mix tank and the press a button when the contents is ready to use.

 

[PPBlimpy]

I have a Hydros and do AWC 4 times a day but my tank is only 42 gallons and the reservoir is over 35ft away in the garage. The pumps I use are also in the garage. I do use dosing pumps. I currently use two pumps on my Blenny controller for water change. I do not turn off the return or skimmer to do it. I do them 6 hours apart and each pump runs for about 15 minutes each time. If I calculated right you would be doing close to 2 gallons a day for daily AWC. The Hydros AWC output type also has the ATO built into it and will disable the ATO during the AWC sequence. You can use a low level sensor and drain to that sensor or time the drain part of the sequence. the fill part will fill back to the ATO sensor so you would need to keep the return pump running along with the skimmer so the full water level does not change. With that large a tank if you do use dosing pumps you would need the Sole pumps for drain and fill. Those can run up a rate of 300ml a minute. You could probably set them at a lower rate though. I also control my RODI and mixing station in my garage with the Hydros. When the DI reservoir goes low it turns on the RODI unit to refill it. If the fresh saltwater reservoir goes low and the contents in the mix tank is ready to use the Hydro will transfer the contents of the mix tank to the fresh saltwater reservoir and then refill the mix tank with DI from the RODI filter. All I have to do is add the salt mix the the mix tank and the press a button when the contents is ready to use.

The mixing station automation you have set up is what I am looking to do also.

I understand the daily water changes but feel like if I do 2 gallons a day, in reality it’s still getting rid of a certain amount of freshly added water from the day before. I know it’s been discussed. Where if I do a 15% WC weekly it’s a solid 40g. I also like the option for quick emergency water changes.

One reason I am revamping my ideas/tank is I just had a crash and lost 90% of my corals. Only thing that survived were mushrooms and all my fish.

I know I have seen someone do the math regarding the daily WC but not interested in finding it right now.

If I disabled the ATO and drained to where the return pump hasn’t sucked air yet and then refilled to ATO level It would only be in the realm of 3g.

I know I can get the programming worked out to do the big WC. Just trying to figure out if my thinking is logical and approach is right

 

[n2585722]

The mixing station automation you have set up is what I am looking to do also.

I understand the daily water changes but feel like if I do 2 gallons a day, in reality it’s still getting rid of a certain amount of freshly added water from the day before. I know it’s been discussed. Where if I do a 15% WC weekly it’s a solid 40g. I also like the option for quick emergency water changes.

One reason I am revamping my ideas/tank is I just had a crash and lost 90% of my corals. Only thing that survived were mushrooms and all my fish.

I know I have seen someone do the math regarding the daily WC but not interested in finding it right now.

If I disabled the ATO and drained to where the return pump hasn’t sucked air yet and then refilled to ATO level It would only be in the realm of 3g.

I know I can get the programming worked out to do the big WC. Just trying to figure out if my thinking is logical and approach is right

if you click on the "MY Tank Thread" banner in one of my post it will take you to my build thread. Go to page 6 post #119. That is when I got my first Hydros controller the X4. I used it in the garage at my mixing station. I slowly added to it until it is now all controlled using the Hydros. I did have an Archon before and was passing signals between it and the Hydros using relays and inputs and outputs on each. I now have 15 Hydros controllers in my main collective for the tank. The first things I did was the AWC and ATO but to begin with the Archon was passing the signal to the Hydro as to when ATO was needed and also a signal that it was ok to do a AWC. As new features came out on the Hydros such as the RODI Filter output type I discussed it and posted screenshots of the settings. I was controlling the RODI before they added the RODI Filter output type but I required several outputs to do it. That is also in the thread but early on. Let me know if you have questions. I change out about 500ml at a time so that is a very low percentage of the whole water volume so even doing it 4 times a day only very small percentage of the drained amount will be newly added water. I have been doing AWC since I setup the tank 9 years ago. I even used a dual head dosing pump for a while.

 

[PPBlimpy]

if you click on the "MY Tank Thread" banner in one of my post it will take you to my build thread. Go to page 6 post #119. That is when I got my first Hydros controller the X4. I used it in the garage at my mixing station. I slowly added to it until it is now all controlled using the Hydros. I did have an Archon before and was passing signals between it and the Hydros using relays and inputs and outputs on each. I now have 15 Hydros controllers in my main collective for the tank. The first things I did was the AWC and ATO but to begin with the Archon was passing the signal to the Hydro as to when ATO was needed and also a signal that it was ok to do a AWC. As new features came out on the Hydros such as the RODI Filter output type I discussed it and posted screenshots of the settings. I was controlling the RODI before they added the RODI Filter output type but I required several outputs to do it. That is also in the thread but early on. Let me know if you have questions. I change out about 500ml at a time so that is a very low percentage of the whole water volume so even doing it 4 times a day only very small percentage of the drained amount will be newly added water. I have been doing AWC since I setup the tank 9 years ago. I even used a dual head dosing pump for a while.

I have been reading thru your thread. Definitely an inspiration!

 

[Hooz]

That's basically what I have setup on my 65g AiO tank. I have a "normal" level optical sensor that serves as the sensor for the ATO, and the "full" level for the AWC, then I have a second sensor at the "low" level for draining the old water. I use micro pumps and ATO reservoirs, but the same thing would apply to solenoids and/or AC pumps, you would just need to use controlled outlets for them.

The workflow goes exactly as you described... Disable ATO during AWC > turn on pump (or open solenoid) to drain to the "low" sensor" > turn on pump (or open solenoid) to refill with clean water > re-enable ATO

I do .5g daily, so I do it while the rest of the tank is running normally, but it's all the same principle.