Hellooooo Automatic Water Changes....

[Zackb911]

In my opinion half the fun in this hobby is with tinkering...

Even though I only do 5gallon water changes every 1-2 weeks on my Solana, it's a pain in the a**. Hence I couldn't resist the temptation to give this a try. It's a Cole-Palmer Masterflex variable speed pump with 2 heads. I picked it up used off of ReefCentral. For those that aren't familiar they're industrial/medical grade peristaltic pumps, commonly found used on eBay for ~$100+.

Right now I'm just playing with it in the living room but the plan is to set it up in the basement. I'll have a 30g Brute Trash barrel with pre-mixed salt water, the old water will pump to a utility sink across the basement.

The plan is to run it ~2 hours at night from 2-4am and change 1/2g of water every night. With such a slow change I won't have to worry about temperature being off, salinity, it will keep the parameters far more stable, etc.

Now all I'll have to do is fill up the Brute barrel with salt water every couple months

Here's a good thread for those curious:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1981464&highlight=continuous

 

[SteveDola]

Its a great idea and Ive seen a couple of people set up Litermeters a similar way however I wouldnt want to look at that in my living room everyday and I know the other half would have none of that...thats why the ones Ive seen use a remote area for storage (usually a basement/closet).

 

[Zackb911]

Neither would I... It's all going in the basement. I was just a testing it out/metering it in the living room

 

[metalfab]

This is by far the best automated improvement I have also made. Fished the lines to my basement. Water changing as I type right now. I go through alot of salt cause changeing water is so easy now. More time to enjoy your tank

 

[Zackb911]

Looks like I'm on the hunt for another head as the ones I received are slightly different... One is a 7017-20 and the other a 7017-21 so they flow slightly different amounts. Oh well, off to eBay I go. (Edit: Just bought another 7017-21 for $35 on eBay!)

Hopefully it will all be up and operational next week

 

[PSU4ME]

great idea!

 

[letoan]

Here's mine using the litermeter. Sorry, been doing some organizing, everything is a mess.

 

[inverted]

Cool. I've always wanted to get a ReefFiller dual head pump for this purpose. Even with the slow rate, it's still not a bad idea to have a salinity monitor as backup, to shut off the pump (or at least float valves). However, many people do fine without.

 

[Ruge13]

That's a mess? Huh.... damn so the rule maker in my house WAS right... I have some reorg to do

 

[letoan]

Zack, I've been looking for those masterflex as well, do you know how often you have to change the tube if pushing around 2g/day?

 

[dcforester1]

I have the same cole parker, and a couple extra heads. Someone on here can get them if you are interested PM me. I took that one step further, and added a third to it, and had it tied into my ATO. So every time my ATO called for water it did a water change. It wasn't working to well because over time it ran off. This is why I just bought a LiterMeter, and set it up to do the same thing. It is a lot more $$$ but it stays true. You might have better luck than I did. I was pulling from my basement to the second floor, and I think that was part of my problem. It is a great idea ,and good luck with it. I think tinkering is also a big part of this hobby for me as well. If you get a controller you can really let your imagination run wild. I have water sensors, high water alarm, low level alarms, skimmer alarms....... well you get the idea

 

[dcforester1]

Here's mine using the litermeter. Sorry, been doing some organizing, everything is a mess.

Those tanks are great, I am going to have to stop by sometime and see them

 

[letoan]

Those tanks are great, I am going to have to stop by sometime and see them

Anytime Derek.

 

[Zackb911]

Zack, I've been looking for those masterflex as well, do you know how often you have to change the tube if pushing around 2g/day?

Not sure, probably depends on a lot of variables. I have heard some people say they've had theirs running for years without ever replacing it. It's only a few inches of neoprene that is needed and that gets "rolled" in the head, the rest of the line is cheap polyethylene from Home Depot <$3 for 25ft.

 

[Zackb911]

I have the same cole parker, and a couple extra heads. Someone on here can get them if you are interested PM me. I took that one step further, and added a third to it, and had it tied into my ATO. So every time my ATO called for water it did a water change. It wasn't working to well because over time it ran off. This is why I just bought a LiterMeter, and set it up to do the same thing. It is a lot more $$$ but it stays true. You might have better luck than I did. I was pulling from my basement to the second floor, and I think that was part of my problem. It is a great idea ,and good luck with it. I think tinkering is also a big part of this hobby for me as well. If you get a controller you can really let your imagination run wild. I have water sensors, high water alarm, low level alarms, skimmer alarms....... well you get the idea

What do you mean ran off? I have a Tunze Osmolator for top-off so I'm good there and a controller for everything else.

I plan on running this on a digital timer in the basement for timed water changes while I'm sleeping.

 

[The_Godfreys]

Don't know if we talked about this when you were here but this is exactly what i am using. Found a variable speed 2 head cole parmer here on the forum and it works great. I use the Norprene tubing which has the longest predicted life but have not used it long enough to have a problem. Check out: http://www.coleparmer.com/TechLibraryArticle/773 shows the different tubing types. For $45 I got 50' of tubing which was enough for both my Auto W.C and my 2 part dosing without any other fittings. If it wears out I'll get some cheap tubing to fix it up. My pump only needs to run about 15 minutes at the setting 3 to change a gallon so I think the 4000 hour life expectancy should last longer than me.
I run this on my Apex. Still do occasional small W.C. just to clean the bottom of my sump.

 

[dcforester1]

The amount I was sucking up from the basement was not the same as the amount I was putting back in. My new water was in the basement, and I think the hose collapsed just enough to make it not the same that was being put back in. So basically if I sucked out 1 gal, I was putting in 1 1/2. so my salinity would run off. Thats where the liter meter is different. You calibrate it to the amount you want to remove, and it counts the revolutions it makes so that it is always the same amount.

I have wanted to do this since I started a reef, and know some people that do it with great success.

Good Luck Derek

 

[Zackb911]

The amount I was sucking up from the basement was not the same as the amount I was putting back in. My new water was in the basement, and I think the hose collapsed just enough to make it not the same that was being put back in. So basically if I sucked out 1 gal, I was putting in 1 1/2. so my salinity would run off. Thats where the liter meter is different. You calibrate it to the amount you want to remove, and it counts the revolutions it makes so that it is always the same amount.

I have wanted to do this since I started a reef, and know some people that do it with great success.

Good Luck Derek

Ahh gotcha... Hopefully that will be avoided with stiff enough tubing. If too much goes in my Tunze alarm will go off anyway.

p.s. still kicking myself for not snagging that miracles tank from you