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- Oct 17, 2018
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Plumbing
I'll touch on how my tank, sump, ATO, AWC and waste water systems are plumbed.
I'm using the stock RSR plumbing in the stand. I see people commonly complain about the Reefer plumbing. Lots of comments on noise, gate valve complaints, etc. I have pretty much zero issues with the stock plumbing. Most complaints I've seen have come from owners of the v2 plumbing, so perhaps the v3 is improved? I'm not sure how. I believe it's largely the same components.
With the v3 RSR plumbing, the return pipe is routed to the front (closest) right corner of the wet side cabinet. I did have gurgling for several days after initial setup. But after several tiny, tiny adjustments, it is absolutely dead silent. And it's required no adjustments in 3 months.
Water flow:
Return from overflow > Filter sock chamber (2 filter cups, 2 filter socks – stock RSR setup) > Refugium > Skimmer chamber > Bubble Wall > Return chamber with COR15 pump. Plumbed back up to tank output via vinyl hose.
AWC:
I'm using the Smart AWC Touch for auto water change. This system is stellar when it comes to it's simplicity. Controlled by high and low optical sensors. Easy to control water change volume. I'm currently running 2.5% total volume water changes every other day.
Sensors are installed in the return pump area, and this is also where the waste and new saltwater pull and replace from. These lines (I believe 3/8") route through the back of the cabinet, through the wall, directly into fish room.
ATO:
The ATO is incorporated into the Smart AWC Touch. The ATO is function uses the AWC high sensor to detect when topoffs are needed. As most know, ATO function is paused during water changes.
Issue: One big issue I've had with the Smart AWC Touch is that the brain has failed me 3 times. Only the ATO port fails. The ones I've had fail have done it within a few weeks. I'd move on to another option but they just keep shipping me new units for free. My current version has been running strong for about 3x as long as the others. I haven't heard of this happening to others, or in any reviews.
Fish Room:
There are 3 x 20g long tanks in the fish room that handle ATO, Salt Mix, and Waste Water duties. The Smart AWC Touch feeds each of these through the plumbing that routes through the wall. The ATO tank has a MJ12 that feeds the salt mix tank and is controlled by a American DJ rack power switch. The salt mix tank is stirred by 2 MJ12's creating a circular motion. The waste water tank has a high powered sump pump plumbed to 1 1/2" pipe that routes out of the fish room through a wall, into my furnace room, and up and out of the house to the outside. The sump pump moves a full tank in about 8 or 9 seconds.
The entire process is fully automatic, aside from adding new salt. I generally just keep the salt mix tank full by adding new salt and water every few days. I could go 1.5 weeks or so without doing anything essentially, following the current AWC program I'm on.
Here's a quick vid showing the RO/DI water moving from the ATO tank to the salt mix tank, while the waste water tank is draining:
RO/DI:
The RO/DI unit is mounted to the wall in the fish room. It's fed from under the kitchen sink upstairs. It travels through the floor into the area above the ceiling tiles in the basement and through another wall to get there. I have a splitter route off after the RO portion for drinking water, which has its own storage tank. Very very cool since our old pipes create some pretty unpleasant drinking water. The DI water goes to the ATO tank (drilled with float switch).
I'll touch on how my tank, sump, ATO, AWC and waste water systems are plumbed.
I'm using the stock RSR plumbing in the stand. I see people commonly complain about the Reefer plumbing. Lots of comments on noise, gate valve complaints, etc. I have pretty much zero issues with the stock plumbing. Most complaints I've seen have come from owners of the v2 plumbing, so perhaps the v3 is improved? I'm not sure how. I believe it's largely the same components.
With the v3 RSR plumbing, the return pipe is routed to the front (closest) right corner of the wet side cabinet. I did have gurgling for several days after initial setup. But after several tiny, tiny adjustments, it is absolutely dead silent. And it's required no adjustments in 3 months.
Water flow:
Return from overflow > Filter sock chamber (2 filter cups, 2 filter socks – stock RSR setup) > Refugium > Skimmer chamber > Bubble Wall > Return chamber with COR15 pump. Plumbed back up to tank output via vinyl hose.
AWC:
I'm using the Smart AWC Touch for auto water change. This system is stellar when it comes to it's simplicity. Controlled by high and low optical sensors. Easy to control water change volume. I'm currently running 2.5% total volume water changes every other day.
Sensors are installed in the return pump area, and this is also where the waste and new saltwater pull and replace from. These lines (I believe 3/8") route through the back of the cabinet, through the wall, directly into fish room.
ATO:
The ATO is incorporated into the Smart AWC Touch. The ATO is function uses the AWC high sensor to detect when topoffs are needed. As most know, ATO function is paused during water changes.
Issue: One big issue I've had with the Smart AWC Touch is that the brain has failed me 3 times. Only the ATO port fails. The ones I've had fail have done it within a few weeks. I'd move on to another option but they just keep shipping me new units for free. My current version has been running strong for about 3x as long as the others. I haven't heard of this happening to others, or in any reviews.
Fish Room:
There are 3 x 20g long tanks in the fish room that handle ATO, Salt Mix, and Waste Water duties. The Smart AWC Touch feeds each of these through the plumbing that routes through the wall. The ATO tank has a MJ12 that feeds the salt mix tank and is controlled by a American DJ rack power switch. The salt mix tank is stirred by 2 MJ12's creating a circular motion. The waste water tank has a high powered sump pump plumbed to 1 1/2" pipe that routes out of the fish room through a wall, into my furnace room, and up and out of the house to the outside. The sump pump moves a full tank in about 8 or 9 seconds.
The entire process is fully automatic, aside from adding new salt. I generally just keep the salt mix tank full by adding new salt and water every few days. I could go 1.5 weeks or so without doing anything essentially, following the current AWC program I'm on.
Here's a quick vid showing the RO/DI water moving from the ATO tank to the salt mix tank, while the waste water tank is draining:
RO/DI:
The RO/DI unit is mounted to the wall in the fish room. It's fed from under the kitchen sink upstairs. It travels through the floor into the area above the ceiling tiles in the basement and through another wall to get there. I have a splitter route off after the RO portion for drinking water, which has its own storage tank. Very very cool since our old pipes create some pretty unpleasant drinking water. The DI water goes to the ATO tank (drilled with float switch).