Water change organization & transport?

[West1]

Looking to pick at peoples brain on organization & cleanliness.

currently have 2 tanks, a reefer 525 & a IM20. The reefer is in our foyer and the im20 in our dining area. Under our peninsula, I store all water change & testing for ease of convenience. In our garage I have two 30gl Brute cans filled with DI and a 20gl brute under the peninsula where I mix water weekly.

my wife hates the fact that I store all my water test stuff and a 20gl trash can in the dinning area, which I agree is an eye sore BUT… it makes it easy for me to mix my water and roll it across the house to do WC’s!

I need to pick at your brains, how do you guys mix and transport water weekly without it being an eye sore and having the convince of access??

side note, I have no controller so auto WC is out the question.

 

[blaxsun]

What about setting up a AWC system in the garage?

 

[West1]

What about setting up a AWC system in the garage?

Don’t I need a controller for AWC?

 

[blaxsun]

Don’t I need a controller for AWC?

Yes and no (you can accomplish this with a doser that you can set a schedule for). Think of it this way: it's cheaper than a shoe closet...

 

[West1]

Yes and no (you can accomplish this with a doser that you can set a schedule for). Think of it this way: it's cheaper than a shoe closet...

Lol.
I have a couple extra dosing heads on my GHL stand alone, would running a primed line 30-40’ under the house work? I’d think that would be a lot of pressure on a doser to fulfill that?

 

[burban94]

For my AWC I use 2 BRS 50ml/min dosers and a KASA smart strip. It works just fine and hasn't let me down yet, and for a little added redundancy I added a float switch to them. I took 2 usb charger bricks, gutted them and connected them to a USB voltage booster that was then connected to a 12vdc relay. Believe it or not it all fits inside the BRS doser.

 

[West1]

Would purchasing 2 AC pumps with the same gph work if I put them on timers?

one in the mixed can to send to display and the second in sump to remove old water?
I’m thinking having the same length of tubing should get me pretty close?

 

[West1]

I think I have a solution!

drill an overflow in my sump and connect that to a sewer line w/P trap for old water.
Buy a AC pump to fill display w/whatever amount I chose.
I could do water changes with tank running!!

in my head this sounds amazing Lol.

feedback on this idea pls, I’m not a plumber so do tell of anything I’m missing.

my thought is to drill through the baseboard and possibly open my wall up.
Run abs pipe from sewer to the inside of a 2x4 wall so I can hide the drain and an easy repair if I tear down tank, move or sell the house vs. flooring repair.

 

[burban94]

Just throwing this out there, but wouldn't your AWC overflow be right where your normal operating level is? If so, it should work. The problem that I see is what happens when your return pump is shut off/loses power. The display water that enters the sump would then go right down the drain. It seem like this would be viable to do in the display versus the sump.

Or you could just overfill the sump with AWC water on a timer so that you don't completely overflow your sump by mistake, then have a float switch wired to a 12v pump send the excess water to the drain. Though I believe something like the 2 BRS dosers on KASA power strip would be the easiest/fastest setup. The wired in float switches that I added to mine aren't necessary, just added them for redundancy.

 

[West1]

Just throwing this out there, but wouldn't your AWC overflow be right where your normal operating level is? If so, it should work. The problem that I see is what happens when your return pump is shut off/loses power. The display water that enters the sump would then go right down the drain. It seem like this would be viable to do in the display versus the sump.

Or you could just overfill the sump with AWC water on a timer so that you don't completely overflow your sump by mistake, then have a float switch wired to a 12v pump send the excess water to the drain. Though I believe something like the 2 BRS dosers on KASA power strip would be the easiest/fastest setup. The wired in float switches that I added to mine aren't necessary, just added them for redundancy.

Good point on turning display pump off, didn’t think about that.
the idea was to add new water and let the sump overflow, gravity drain water.
How long have you used the brs dosers as awc?

 

[burban94]

For a while now. I would say at least a year. I run them on a 40b, though I'm not using them to help "clean" the tank. I'm running a softy tank and I use them for trace elements. Haven't had any issues.

 

[burban94]

I have them wired together through the float switch. When my drain jug is full then neither pump will run even if they have power. But to keep it super simple you could try this:

PUMP 1: On at 5:00 to fill sump
Off at 5:15

PUMP 2: On at 5:30 to bring sump back to level
Off at 5:45-5:50

This would give you 15mins for the new water to cycle and mix with the old water before being emptied, though not a necessity. Also I would put the pump 2 intake right at the very surface of your normal sump operation level, that way you won't over pull when emptying your sump if that makes sense.

 

[blaxsun]

Lol.

Happy wife, happy, well...

 

[Eggs]

Good point on turning display pump off, didn’t think about that.
the idea was to add new water and let the sump overflow, gravity drain water.
How long have you used the brs dosers as awc?

For the sump overflow idea, you may be able to use a valve on it and keep it closed unless you’re doing a water change.

I’ve thought about doing this to a sump for the same overflow idea for water changes: drill a hole on the side of the sump at the water level, add bulkhead and pvc to the outside, then you could install a valve to keep closed when not doing a water change. If you need to adjust sump water level, a pvc elbow could be used on the inside of the bulkhead.

 

[xiaoxiy]

Why not consider something like a litermeter, Ecotech Versa or the Kamoer X2SR for a non-controller based AWC?

 

[West1]

For the sump overflow idea, you may be able to use a valve on it and keep it closed unless you’re doing a water change.

I’ve thought about doing this to a sump for the same overflow idea for water changes: drill a hole on the side of the sump at the water level, add bulkhead and pvc to the outside, then you could install a valve to keep closed when not doing a water change. If you need to adjust sump water level, a pvc elbow could be used on the inside of the bulkhead.

My only hesitation after pondering on the ideaw is in the event of a clogged sewer. That would be instant death-reef.

Why not consider something like a litermeter, Ecotech Versa or the Kamoer X2SR for a non-controller based AWC?

I haven’t looked into any of those brands. I’d need something that does 15-20glns within 30-45min.

 

[Bpb]

I’m in a similar situation. Wife hates fish equipment visible at all. Even hates it in the garage but is reasonable enough to know I have to keep it SOMEWHERE.

My tank is in the home office. Opposite end of the house from the garage. About 100 feet away down hallways and such. No basement. So water changes have to be done manually. AWC is completely impossible, as the tank is in a room with no closet, and located on an exterior wall, which is against the front elevation of the house, so going through a wall and storing stuff outdoors isn’t possible either.

I do the same as you. Brute can on wheels. I just don’t leave it in the house. I keep it in the garage. On water change days, I use buckets to fill it, just inside the door, then wheel the full can to the tank room, mix up salt. And perform the water change there. Then I haul everything back to the garage. It is a pain but a necessary one. I kind of see it like
Mowing the lawn, or pulling weeds. Just part of life’s weekly maintenance.

Not to hijack the thread but that’s my own situation, similar to yours. Love to hear thoughts

 

[doubleshot00]

Store everything in the garage. Get a sump pump and pump out what you need for the water change in a 5 gal bucket (or 2). Take the pump back out and take with you and pump out salt from buckets to tank and vice versa. Bring towels. Takes me 20-30 min do do 2-3 buckets for my 90.

My stuff is between kitchen and living room. No mess no clutter. KISS

 

[dantimdad]

I am following this.

I have a dedicated fish room and I have an apex and dos plumbed to do AWC in the future, but, for some reason in the back of my mind it's nagging at me that there is an easier and better way to do this.

 

[Jon's Reef]

Here are 2 ideas:
1. Move everything to the garage. Get a retractable hose reel and 2 long 1” hoses. One hose to drain, one to fill.
2. Use your existing ghl dose to do continuous water change. Dosing pumps have no problem with horizontal runs. Instead of doing one big change, have it do 1 gallon per day. The new water goes in near the return pump, the old water comes out near the entrance to your sump.