Calling all Dos AWC users

[MONTANTK]

For those of you using the AWC feature on your Dos, I have a few questions:
-does your Dos pull water directly from your mixing tank or a separate reservoir?
-how much fresh saltwater do you keep on hand? (And how much water are you changing out of your tank)
-how do you deal with evaporation from your mixing tank/reservoir?
-If your tank is an AIO and you use an optical sensor ATO, does the AWC trigger the ATO?

 

[SuncrestReef]

I’ve been running AWC for almost 3 years. I have a Reefer XL 425 and change between 1.5 to 3 gallons per day, depending on my nutrient levels. (I periodically adjust the volume)

I mounted the DOS in my garage above my 75 gallon mixing station tanks, and draw the water directly from it. The tanks have tight fitting lids and just a small 1” bulkhead where the DOS tube goes in, so there is very little evaporation. One advantage of placing the DOS in the garage is that I can’t hear it from inside the house. It’s pretty loud when running full speed.

Because the DOS adds and removes water simultaneously, it does not alter the water level in you sump or tank, so your ATO can continue to operate as normal during the water change.

Be sure to read this post where I recommend altering Neptune’s instructions on how to connect the tubing:

https://www.reef2reef.com/posts/7783633/

 

[MONTANTK]

I’ve been running AWC for almost 3 years. I have a Reefer XL 425 and change between 1.5 to 3 gallons per day, depending on my nutrient levels. (I periodically adjust the volume)

I mounted the DOS in my garage above my 75 gallon mixing station tanks, and draw the water directly from it. The tanks have tight fitting lids and just a small 1” bulkhead where the DOS tube goes in, so there is very little evaporation. One advantage of placing the DOS in the garage is that I can’t hear it from inside the house. It’s pretty loud when running full speed.

Because the DOS adds and removes water simultaneously, it does not alter the water level in you sump or tank, so your ATO can continue to operate as normal during the water change.

Be sure to read this post where I recommend altering Neptune’s instructions on how to connect the tubing:

https://www.reef2reef.com/posts/7783633/

When you mix do you let it sit for a day before continuing the AWC schedule? Or a better way of phrasing it, do you turn off your Dos after mixing?

 

[SuncrestReef]

When you mix do you let it sit for a day before continuing the AWC schedule? Or a better way of phrasing it, do you turn off your Dos after mixing?

I created a virtual output named AWC_Control. When I’m ready to mix a new batch of saltwater, I turn off AWC_Control which disables both heads on the DOS. Then I refill the mixing tank, add the salt and run the mixing pump for about 4 hours. After confirming the salinity is correct, I turn AWC_Control back on so the DOS resumes its schedule.

 

[MONTANTK]

I created a virtual output named AWC_Control. When I’m ready to mix a new batch of saltwater, I turn off AWC_Control which disables both heads on the DOS. Then I refill the mixing tank, add the salt and run the mixing pump for about 4 hours. After confirming the salinity is correct, I turn AWC_Control back on so the DOS resumes its schedule.

Got it. And what salt do you use?

 

[SuncrestReef]

Got it. And what salt do you use?

Red Sea Coral Pro salt.

 

[Gtinnel]

I use an older masterflex pump instead of a DOS but most of the questions you asked aren't specific to the DOS. I've only had my AWC for about half a year but I can't image going back to rolling a brute can around the house to do water changes anymore. My mixing station is basic and made with 32g brute cans. I have my new saltwater coming directly out of the mixing station so when I fill it up I have around 30 gallons of saltwater. I change almost 2 gallons a day on my 150 gallon system, so I can make it 2 weeks before filling the brute back up. I keep the lid on my brute with only a small hole drilled for the tubing and a power cord for a powerhead for stirring so as already stated evaporation is fairly minimal in the 2 weeks. When I mix up new salt I let mine stir for around half a day and I manually turn the pump off (I control mine with wifi enabled outlets) to make sure it doesn't run until the salt is mixed and tested for proper salinity.

 

[Waters]

For those of you using the AWC feature on your Dos, I have a few questions:
-does your Dos pull water directly from your mixing tank or a separate reservoir?

My DOS pulls water directly from my mixing container which is a Brute can.

-how much fresh saltwater do you keep on hand? (And how much water are you changing out of your tank)

I refill the Brute every weekend and do water changes daily throughout the week. I change roughly 3 gallons a day in a 130G system.

-how do you deal with evaporation from your mixing tank/reservoir?

I use a lid :)

-If your tank is an AIO and you use an optical sensor ATO, does the AWC trigger the ATO?

My tank is not an AIO, but your water level does not change since you are adding the same amount of water back in as you are taking out, simultaneously.

 

[Cprivi]

I installed a DOS about a year ago to handle both ATO and Automatic Water Changes. I used a gravity overflow drain to automatically discard excess water. This setup worked great when I had HOB filtration and skimmer. About 2 months ago I replaced all of the HOB gear with a sump instead. Everything worked great but the sump kept losing water in the return chamber and I could see that the AWC overflow was tossing far more water than expected. I moved the ATO and AWC lines down to the sump and that keeps the sump water level constant but now I don’t get ANY water coming out of the AWC overflow. Any advice?