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Water changes for me consisted of syphoning rodi water into 5 gal buckets in the basement, hauling them up the stairs. I would then mix and heat the saltwater overnight with spare pumps and heaters. Next day I would syphon water from the tank to a mark on the side glass, then pump the new water into the sump from the buckets, clean and put everything away till next time.
A turn in health for me this year had made the task a physical burden that led to less and less frequent water changes, and a desire to automate the process more, so I decided to join the one percent a day club
My system is a about 100 liters, so for me that is only a liter a day. I have a controller, so I bought two 50ml/min dosing pumps, and a 120 liter bin on wheels. I ran the small lines to my sump, and programmed the apex to run the old water out pump for 20 min, then the new water in for 20 min once per day. To check the pump calibration, I set a 5 gallon tank beside my sump, and filled it with saltwater to about the same level as my sump to mimic real world piping frictional losses and head pressure (about 6 feet of vertical head between my saltwater storage container and the sump). After marking the level in the 5 gallon tank, and making a tight lid out of saran wrap (for evaporation), I set the awc to run every hour, so I could adjust the time of each pump run to maintain a steady level in the "calibration tank" , figuring once I removed and replaced exactly the same amount of water over 24 hours I would be good to go. I am almost there....on my (hopefully) final calibration run.
What really surprised me was the amount of "slippage" in the peristaltic pumps. The new water in pump has to run approx double the time the old water out pump does, to move the same volume. The "new water in" pump has to lift the water about 3 feet on the suction side, and then pump it up about another six feet to reach the sump. The "old water out" pump has, obviously about 6 feet of positive head on the suction side, and about a foot or two of downward pumping on the discharge. (Kinda like a controlled syphon I guess). Given the semi-positive displacement nature of peristaltic pumps I was very surprised to see this much difference in timing between the two.
On that note, water changes for me from here on out will consist of flipping a switch and turning a valve to fill my saltwater reservoir, adding salt and mixing via pump on a timer about once every 3 months now...I'm pumped!! (Pun intended)
View attachment 20161118_182026.jpg
A turn in health for me this year had made the task a physical burden that led to less and less frequent water changes, and a desire to automate the process more, so I decided to join the one percent a day club
My system is a about 100 liters, so for me that is only a liter a day. I have a controller, so I bought two 50ml/min dosing pumps, and a 120 liter bin on wheels. I ran the small lines to my sump, and programmed the apex to run the old water out pump for 20 min, then the new water in for 20 min once per day. To check the pump calibration, I set a 5 gallon tank beside my sump, and filled it with saltwater to about the same level as my sump to mimic real world piping frictional losses and head pressure (about 6 feet of vertical head between my saltwater storage container and the sump). After marking the level in the 5 gallon tank, and making a tight lid out of saran wrap (for evaporation), I set the awc to run every hour, so I could adjust the time of each pump run to maintain a steady level in the "calibration tank" , figuring once I removed and replaced exactly the same amount of water over 24 hours I would be good to go. I am almost there....on my (hopefully) final calibration run.
What really surprised me was the amount of "slippage" in the peristaltic pumps. The new water in pump has to run approx double the time the old water out pump does, to move the same volume. The "new water in" pump has to lift the water about 3 feet on the suction side, and then pump it up about another six feet to reach the sump. The "old water out" pump has, obviously about 6 feet of positive head on the suction side, and about a foot or two of downward pumping on the discharge. (Kinda like a controlled syphon I guess). Given the semi-positive displacement nature of peristaltic pumps I was very surprised to see this much difference in timing between the two.
On that note, water changes for me from here on out will consist of flipping a switch and turning a valve to fill my saltwater reservoir, adding salt and mixing via pump on a timer about once every 3 months now...I'm pumped!! (Pun intended)
View attachment 20161118_182026.jpg