Smart ATO and Automatic Water Change With a Single Pump.

[DIY_PAUL]

I am currently working on a project where I have built my own peristaltic pump that I want to use for an ATO and water change system. I'm planning on doing all this with the single pump where it will remove 1 gallon, fill 1 gallon of fresh salt water, then switch to an ATO mode where it pulls from my RODI tank until the next water change cycle starts and repeats. I have a few redundant sensors using mechanical sensors, optical sensors, and a separate multi point level sensor that I currently have set up to monitor my sump level. All of this should have their internal routines but I want to integrate with home assistant so I can monitor and update via a web page or my phone. Has anyone else ever done something like this? if so I would love to see what been out there as an all in one unit. Currently I'm looking at a total cost being under $150 for all components, connectors, tubing etc.

Here is what my pump currently looks like which has been working great in testing and is capable of pumping 1 gallon in about 3-4 minutes.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I'm following this! I would be curious to see how well it works!

 

[HappyFm]

I have deep concerns about the temperature of the pump when running continuously. Essentially, a peristaltic pump is designed for "micro-dosing," so using it for water changes in an aquarium might be a bad idea.

Have you considered replacing it with a diaphragm pump? I found a brushless diaphragm pump that can be controlled via PWM, offering a higher flow rate and potentially better durability.

At this point, everything works quite simply:

• You store RO water in a tank for mixing salt. Before mixing, it operates in top-off mode; after mixing, it switches to water change mode.
• The pump runs in reverse to drain old water and forward to refill new water (think of a check valve combined with a T-junction).

For implementation, you can try Home Assistant. I find it very easy to use, readily available, and open-source.

Thanks!

 

[DIY_PAUL]

I have deep concerns about the temperature of the pump when running continuously. Essentially, a peristaltic pump is designed for "micro-dosing," so using it for water changes in an aquarium might be a bad idea.

Have you considered replacing it with a diaphragm pump? I found a brushless diaphragm pump that can be controlled via PWM, offering a higher flow rate and potentially better durability.

At this point, everything works quite simply:

• You store RO water in a tank for mixing salt. Before mixing, it operates in top-off mode; after mixing, it switches to water change mode.
• The pump runs in reverse to drain old water and forward to refill new water (think of a check valve combined with a T-junction).

For implementation, you can try Home Assistant. I find it very easy to use, readily available, and open-source.

Thanks!

I am not overly concerned about the temperature of the system. I am using a Nema 24 motor with a larger high quality stepper drive. I have the drive current set to about half the motors capability and am running it relatively slow for what this system is capable of. In my mounting the large heat sink for the drive is exterior to the box with amble room around the motor itself. If needed adding a small fan with a temperature sensor would be easy enough but I don't think it will be needed. As to peristaltic pumps they may be used for small dosing in aquariums and many medical fields they are also used for high flow applications. They excel in industries with corrosive chemicals, can handle high viscosity, have low shear, low maintenance, no cross contamination etc. For me being able to accurately meter based on a given number of steps makes the peristaltic pump worth it.