Auto water changes- options

[User]

Thinking of moving away from weekly (lol, I wish...) 10% water changes (300 g system, 30g change) to a smoother 4 gallons a day (1 gallon every 6 hours) and thinking through diy options.

1) i like the genesis renew and could very easily reproduce the metering buckets, overflow safety etc and integrate the float switches and pumps into my current apex suite.

2)Thinking of a DOS but don’t like how loud it is, or the slow pumps, or need to calibrate flow every few months and change tubing 2x year

3)Float switches /optical switches and pumps controlled via apex - essentially genesis renew but no metering, just pump out to ‘water-low’ sensor in return chamber, pump back in until ‘water normal’. Double floats for safety.

Autoaqua AWC system (essentially stand alone version of option 3 above)

Dual head Stenner pump (don’t like the $$)

Anyone have pros/cons for a diy system they set up? Any advice re safeties and salinity drift?

Cheers

 

[biecacka]

I use the DOS. It is loud but it works fine for me. I do about 2 gallons a day. Sometimes you can find stenner or masterflex used for the applications but DOS works as advertised. I’d be leery of float switches maybe interfering with The ATO

Corey

 

[User]

Yeah- any float switch and pump method would need the ATO to be **** off first. Very easy if it’s on a controlled outlet. Some ATOs default to ‘dispense’ when first switched on, which I think is incredibly stupid- but mine doesnt.

I think my main gripe with the DOS is that it only does two things. Dose, or AWC. At least with a pump based system, I can add another valve to move water to another point if needed, and not spend 6 hours waiting for it to move 5 gallons of water. If I want to drain my 40b fuge into a QT or something.

Saying that- I already have like 4 transfer pumps of various sizes, so I probably wouldn’t do that. I just hate the idea of siending $300 and having very limited (but extremely good) functionality for that cost.

 

[Jay Z]

No issues with auto aqua for me. Been running 6 months straight. I do a 3/4 gallon change out every 8 hours.

I keep my salt mix tank at 35.5 to offset what the skimmer uses. If It creeps up over 35 in the tank I just thin out the salt mix some. After some time you will know what your tanks needs.

 

[CL_]

Do you know - is the dos quieter if you use a lower flow rate? If so, would 4 gallons over 8 hours each night be better than 4 gallons over 2 hours?

 

[User]

Do you know - is the dos quieter if you use a lower flow rate? If so, would 4 gallons over 8 hours each night be better than 4 gallons over 2 hours?

It’s a rolling- compression peristaltic pump but with a stepper motor. Normal peristaltic pumps increase in sound pitch as speed increases. I’m not sure how the stepper motor volume increases, since they don’t have variable rotation rates. It just steps more per unit time to achieve more flow.

The sound level was a surprise, to be honest. I expected quieter. It’s the lack of use variety that bothers me more, particularly at that price point. Plus it still needs calibration periodically.

 

[User]

No issues with auto aqua for me. Been running 6 months straight. I do a 3/4 gallon change out every 8 hours.

I keep my salt mix tank at 35.5 to offset what the skimmer uses. If It creeps up over 35 in the tank I just thin out the salt mix some. After some time you will know what your tanks needs.

You feel like it was worth the ~$220 compared to a diy option?

I guess the fact it’s also an ATO is cool too. Although, I did watch the product video on that and thought I saw the ATO reservoir decrease in volume as the refill pump was going. I’ll admit I made a snap decision to be wary of it right then, even though it very well could have been a trick of the light

 

[biecacka]

I change 2 gallons over the course of a day and when it runs you can hear it. But it’s not the end of the world for me. I bought it used so the price was right.

Corey

 

[User]

I change 2 gallon solver the course of a day and when it runs you can hear it. But it’s not the end of the world for me. I bought it used so the price was right.

Corey

Yeah, I feel like if I could get a used one for 150-175 I’d be all over it. Hard to justify full retail when I can put together an apex controlled renew clone for $100 and it won’t need any adjustments in future.

 

[biecacka]

If I was DIY capable I would have done that. And still maybe would and use my DOS for something else....

Corey

 

[hart24601]

If you watch ebay you can find some good deals on masterflex pumps. I have two easy load dual head adjustable speed pumps. I got them both years apart for around 200 each, right now there is one for 400, but the amount of them listed and the price varies quite a bit. The one I have been using for years now on my FW discus and altum tanks swapping around 30-60g a day (more when they were young).





For my reef I also have a float switch at the bottom of the brute. It’s the long wire float from autotoppoff, just dangles down the inside from the rim and it shuts the system off if the water in the brute is gone, so it’s a failsafe when I forget to fill the container it’s not removing water and not pumping any new in. The pump is plugged into that float plug is on a digital timer to run several times a day for a few min. Can adjust the amount changed by adding time to each ‘on’ or adding another time on program.





Simple, robust, has low water control and can be relatively inexpensive.

 

[Johnseye]

I have a Genesis and if you want to move that kind of volume per day that's the route I'd go. Using a peristaltic pump for high daily volume will put it to hard work and eventually cause problems and failure. I used a Spectrapure Litermeter with my 120g, but when I moved to 260 I introduced the Genesis.

 

[User]

I have a Genesis and if you want to move that kind of volume per day that's the route I'd go. Using a peristaltic pump for high daily volume will put it to hard work and eventually cause problems and failure. I used a Spectrapure Litermeter with my 120g, but when I moved to 260 I introduced the Genesis.

Did you go for the storm ATO too, or something different?

I’m just wondering if I should DIY a complete package with ATO and use my current IM hydrofill ATO on my coral QT

 

[Johnseye]

Did you go for the storm ATO too, or something different?

I’m just wondering if I should DIY a complete package with ATO and use my current IM hydrofill ATO on my coral QT

I got the Renew Pro bundle. I use kalk in my ATO so the Renew wasn't practical. Plus I had been using the Spectrapure for both ATO and daily changes. I went to the Genesis Renew for changes and Neptune ATK for ATO.

I'm about to revive my coral QT. Haven't added new coral in 3 years, just let the stuff grow. I'm going to see if I can get the Spectrapure running again, if not then another ATK. Its' been solid and dependable so far.

Question is whether you can depend on it. When you go on vacation is there a chance it will fail. That's my litmus test.

 

[User]

Question is whether you can depend on it. When you go on vacation is there a chance it will fail. That's my litmus test.

Dude- why would you say that!! Lol

I’m going on 16 days vacation in 4 days, and I have minimal redundancies. Just fingers crossed my system runs the same flawless way it has been for the past 8 months. Last minute trip due to scheduling and didn’t have time to set up all the backups I wanted.

It’s cool though- I figured out a way to make the Hydrofill work with the diy renew. Virtual outlet cascades to the rescue.

 

[Danj]

I’ve been running a DOS for about a year now, but my tank is only 130 gallons. For me it’s way too loud to run at any flow rate except when i can guarantee everyone’s asleep and their doors are closed. So it runs from 2am-5am, and changes out 1.8 gallons in that time - which on my tank averages out to 10% weekly. It’s definitely screaming at that flow rate, so I think if my tank were more than twice the volume, as yours is, I’d be looking at another solution. Or at the very least I’d find some more hours for it to run (like when the house is empty during the day, etc). Anyway for my tank, considering I’m able to work around its shortcomings I’m totally happy with it and will never set up another tank without auto water changes. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

For what it’s worth, even when I had it running evenly spread out throughout all 24 hours, it was much quieter but still very noticeable (read: annoying) in my living room while we’re trying to watch TV.

 

[Johnseye]

Dude- why would you say that!! Lol

I’m going on 16 days vacation in 4 days, and I have minimal redundancies. Just fingers crossed my system runs the same flawless way it has been for the past 8 months. Last minute trip due to scheduling and didn’t have time to set up all the backups I wanted.

It’s cool though- I figured out a way to make the Hydrofill work with the diy renew. Virtual outlet cascades to the rescue.

Have a great vacation. I'm sure everything will be fine and I'm sure you have someone capable watching over things for you.