(for an article) Who here is set up to do automatic water changes?

[Jay Norris]

I use the Genesis Renew auto water change system and currently change 8 gallons per day on a 600 gallon system. The system changes 1 gallon at a time every 3 hours. I have been running this for 4 years and have played with amount of water per day from 5 to 12 gallons per day and about 6 months ago bumped from 6 per day to 8 and saw lower nitrate and my system just seems very happy and my colors have improved so just leaving it for now. I mix 130 gallons at a time and top off my bin every 10 days.

I looked into the Genesis system and they look like a really good way to do AWGs, but I bought a GHL system for a really good price for my AWG's, now I need to buy the two 300 gallon tanks to store the water in once the garage fish water room is finished, also I will be using NSW collected in the Gulf Stream off the Florid Keys.

 

[BZOFIQ]

220ish gallon system, I use a dos and do 3 gallons a day. Two 55 gallon tanks for my water making/salt mixing/ATO station.

I wish I had this much space :)

@DangerDave Perhaps you can help with this, you seem to have exactly what I'm looking for.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/water-mixing-station-containers-square-upright-type.517052/

 

[sde1500]

I do daily auto water changes. I have a Stenner double head fixed output peristaltic pump, model 100DMP5, hooked up in my basement. It is 100 GPD, 50 GPD per head. One head is plumbed directly into the bottom of my NSW tank and pumps into my tank near the return section. The other pump pumps from the sump, upstream of the return section, to the drain it is hooked up to. It is plugged into a mechanical timer that turns it on around 6 pm every day for half an hour. This gets me a roughly 1 gallon water change every day. So I have to mix up new water about once per month since I use a 32 gallon Brute trashcan to store water in. Only challenge I have with it now is remembering to check the water level occasionally so as to not run out. And then when I do run out, filling it and mixing new saltwater. Next steps for me are to install a float switch that can turn the pump off incase I forget to check, hard plumb my RODI unit to the two tanks so I don't have to monitor things so closely when refilling, and maybe add a small pump to my RODI top off water tank so I can quickly refill the NSW tank so there are less interruptions in water changes.

Not the most illustrative of pictures but this is the pump all hooked up. Directly above it is my fish tank on the first floor.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Now personally i would not suggest to empty 3 gallons over 8 times a day because your essentially defeating the purpose of water changes by emptying fresh salt water you just added a few hours earlier that was mixed with old water , you would want to do a larger volume at once to make it beneficial unless im missing something ??

Things would be a lot easier if this much space was available. My WC storage tank will be in a remote closet and besides that space the only other space I have is underneath the tank within the stand with a footprint of roughly 80 x 30

As to water change volume and the large vs multiple small changes discussion there isn't much of a difference.

I did some quick math and its within "acceptable tolerance" levels. Below doesn't target specific contaminant (you can fill your own, say nitrates for sake of discussion) but shows dilution rate.

If my logic is incorrect, I hope somebody can point it out.

 

[BZOFIQ]

not exactly but close : yes i have 2 regular maxi jet1200 pumps , one is in my sump ( my sump is 8' long)
and the other is in my " fresh salt mix tank " ( 75 gallon under my sump ) i don't have float switches to turn them on/off i just use my apex program so essentially if say the pump in my sump failed and it did not pump out the desired amount of water then the pump in my fresh mix tank would still kick on and add the programed amount .... now for me im lucky and have enough space in my sump to allow for this should this ever happen .

You can also add an "emergency level" float switch in your sump higher than you standard fill level and include it in programming for both your ATO and AWC logic so that both programs would not run if that was triggered.

 

[BZOFIQ]

the litermeter III as well and have documented my setup in my build thread. It was the best thing I ever did as far as my tank goes.

Spoke to SpectraPure re this exact setup - certainly high on my list and their 5 year warranty and no B/S support will play a big role in my decision.

 

[BZOFIQ]

the litermeter III as well and have documented my setup in my build thread. It was the best thing I ever did as far as my tank goes.

Just went through your build thread, great job there sorry to hear about latest event although I know you already have bigger and better in mind plus it allows you to resolve issues you've spotted in the initial build.

That brings me to page 17 of your thread and the fact that you're in NY, where did you source that darn square tank?

Was is anywhere local?

@choss Hope you can help here.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/water-mixing-station-containers-square-upright-type.517052/

 

[Ditto]

I use a GHL and a maxi doser to change out 1.8 gallons of water a day in my 100 gallon tank over a 8 hour period and on my other tank another GHL maxi doser for another tank at 2.5 gallons over 6 hours.

My salt mixing station is in the basement also monitored by the GHL and alerts me if it gets low, and monitors the salinity levels of the salt that has been mixed.

My ato is also part of the salt mixing station also, controlled by a Avast Barrel Tender tied to the GHL controller this makes sure my rodi system is not always turning on and off but after about 5 gallons is used in my salt water station rodi water side.

I use a combination of max amount time on the GHL maxi dosing pumps to determine a problem if the AWC fails to finish. I use also three float switches two for the water change and an emergency high water also in the event something goes wrong. Beee

Been working great all I do is once a week is mix salt for the week.

 

[Cesar Romero]

For does doing the small daily water change, what salt are you using?
My tank is still pretty new running, and have been using the Red Sea Coral Pro. Anyone having success mixing this salt and storing for long term, such as a month? Any tips for successful storage of the mix? Thanks in advance!

Maybe this could be cover a little in the article

 

[Tastee]

For does doing the small daily water change, what salt are you using?
My tank is still pretty new running, and have been using the Red Sea Coral Pro. Anyone having success mixing this salt and storing for long term, such as a month? Any tips for successful storage of the mix? Thanks in advance!

Maybe this could be cover a little in the article

This is my main question too. I have a 65g tank and would like to use AWC in future, but my biggest concern is about the life of NSW in a mixing tank. I see lots and lots of posts suggesting 3-7 days is the maximum you can keep it.

How long do you all keep NSW in your mixing tank?

If you mix a fresh batch and then run the AWC, what do you do about the leftover SW? Do you leave it and then re-use it when you mix your next batch?

The mechanics of the AWC itself is fairly easy, but the SW mixing is less so.

 

[n2585722]

This is my main question too. I have a 65g tank and would like to use AWC in future, but my biggest concern is about the life of NSW in a mixing tank. I see lots and lots of posts suggesting 3-7 days is the maximum you can keep it.

How long do you all keep NSW in your mixing tank?

If you mix a fresh batch and then run the AWC, what do you do about the leftover SW? Do you leave it and then re-use it when you mix your next batch?

The mechanics of the AWC itself is fairly easy, but the SW mixing is less so.

It takes about a month for me to use what is in the storage tank. I usually have some ready to go in the mixing tank by then.

 

[sde1500]

This is my main question too. I have a 65g tank and would like to use AWC in future, but my biggest concern is about the life of NSW in a mixing tank. I see lots and lots of posts suggesting 3-7 days is the maximum you can keep it.

How long do you all keep NSW in your mixing tank?

If you mix a fresh batch and then run the AWC, what do you do about the leftover SW? Do you leave it and then re-use it when you mix your next batch?

The mechanics of the AWC itself is fairly easy, but the SW mixing is less so.

My tank is 65 gallons, I mix up about 32 gallons at a time and it lasts a month. I’ve seen no ill effects as of yet. Though I haven’t bothered testing the water after a few days to track to see if it changes. Typically when I mix new water there are a couple gallons left, and I just remix it in with new.

 

[MLSReefer]

I had inspiration from this thread here - http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2113252 which was on SpectraPures page. I own a 1st Gen Litremeter and it still is doing me good (12+ years with the new gen6 pump) and when they developed the water exchange module and remote pump module i decided to go for it and buy the whole set up. Unfortunately a month later, I had to relocate and couldn't take anything with me so I sold my livestock and never got to use the modules. I actually still have them in the bag and for sale if anyone is interested... thread is in the dry good sale forum.

I have heard lots of successful stories regarding Spectrapures water exchange set up and the ease and simplicity of their programming. their pumps are unmatched and i was able to push and pull from my basement with ease.

check out that reefcentral thread and there is a lot of good info there

 

[Katrina71]

Anybody using AutoAqua AWC?

 

[lbacha]

So here is my newly set up AWC and RODI topoff.

I’m still using my ato container next to my tank for top off water with a tunze osmolator but I wanted a way to fill it since the 5g container was needing filled every other day. I will set this for a few liters a day to make that timeframe longer. This also allows me to go on vacation for a couple weeks and not worry about water.