auto water change

[cono]

I found this on you tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3trXCXPbF_Y

any opinions on this ????

 

[lnevo]

This is exactly how i do a water change except my sump isn't plumbed to a drain or the water source. I run a hose to the toilet and I pump upstairs the new SW then I hit the switches on my Reef Angel and it does the rest. Works very nicely.

One day maybe I'll drill through the wall and run the plumbing through. The problem is I gotta figure out how to get everything through the finish part of my basement..

 

[cono]

trying to do it without controller

 

[duke62]

Dont make any sense? Its probably pumping out water that was meant for a water change. If it were taking water out of the sump and putting new water into the DT that would make sense but all I see is the new water being flushed out

 

[lnevo]

The water is pumped right toward the baffle by the return chamber, but yeah the drain pump is too close to the inlet. I pump new water into the sump chamber *after* the drain.

And cono I was commenting on the method not the implementation. The method is sound. His electronics seem to be sound though.

 

[cono]

It was an idea I had similar to btl reef

 

[tosiek]

Its pretty sound. The problem with the system is that he's relying on pump timing to judge the amount of water removed and mixing according to that. Doesn't look like more than a 10g water change too. Either way, he's fine with the amount added, but he has no idea if he's dumping more than he is supposed to. Could his pump be off by a half gallon or more in dumping? is he making 2-3 gallons extra just in case?

 

[lnevo]

He's not relying on timing. He has a float switch in the salt water reserve that tells it to stop. The inlet is faster than the outlet which is required in this setup as the inlet is acting as an ATO and using the same float switch.

Also he replaces exactly what he dumps so all you need to do is look at how much SW was used to know exactly what was dumped.

 

[duromega]

dont make any sense? Its probably pumping out water that was meant for a water change. If it were taking water out of the sump and putting new water into the dt that would make sense but all i see is the new water being flushed out

1+

 

[lnevo]

Keep in mind the whole system is still running so everything is still flowing through the sump. A continuous water change is still quite effective. Despite the flaw this guy may have in his setup (which may be negligible) the loss of effectiveness is roughly 26% for a 30% change.

http://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/EffectiveWaterChange.php

 

[ming]

The new water is going into the return section which would need to go to the DT first, then down the overflow into the skimmer section again to be pumped out. For the small amount of w/c he is doing, not much of the new water is going to be wasted.