Automatic Water Changes Via Wet Skimming

[frisky_polyp4250]

I have seen a lot of better-known reefers such as the BRS team, Jake Adams from Reef Builders, and Mr. Saltwater tank, talk very highly of automatic water changes - usually implemented with a Neptune Dos or some other two-way pump tuned to automatically take out a certain percentage of water from the tank and add new saltwater back in. This method seems great, except for the fact that it uses a LOT of saltwater (3-5% daily in a 200g tank adds up quick!). This got me thinking, would it be plausible to someday implement an auto water change system where the water leaving the tank was "wet skimmed" out so that it would contain a higher concentration of contaminants? I am thinking that the metric for adding the same amount of water that you are removing would have to be some function of the weight of the water removed since the water level should still be accommodated by the auto top off to keep salinity constant. I am a DIYer at heart, so just wondered if this was plausible to attempt. Has anyone else tried something like this before?

 

[Larry L]

This method seems great, except for the fact that it uses a LOT of saltwater (3-5% daily in a 200g tank adds up quick!)

It shouldn't use more than you'd normally change, compared to doing fewer but bigger changes a few times a month. Take a look at "Figure 1" in @Randy Holmes-Farley 's article here: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/

That chart compares a bunch of schedules using 30% change per month as a reference. Changing 1% a day removes impurities at just about the same rate (within a few percent) as changing 15% twice a month (or 30% once a month). Changing 3-5% daily seems excessive to me.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

I have seen a lot of better-known reefers such as the BRS team, Jake Adams from Reef Builders, and Mr. Saltwater tank, talk very highly of automatic water changes - usually implemented with a Neptune Dos or some other two-way pump tuned to automatically take out a certain percentage of water from the tank and add new saltwater back in. This method seems great, except for the fact that it uses a LOT of saltwater (3-5% daily in a 200g tank adds up quick!). This got me thinking, would it be plausible to someday implement an auto water change system where the water leaving the tank was "wet skimmed" out so that it would contain a higher concentration of contaminants? I am thinking that the metric for adding the same amount of water that you are removing would have to be some function of the weight of the water removed since the water level should still be accommodated by the auto top off to keep salinity constant. I am a DIYer at heart, so just wondered if this was plausible to attempt. Has anyone else tried something like this before?

I’ve thought about doing this, but was not sure how to implement it. I’ll be curious what others think. I think it’s a good idea.

 

[frisky_polyp4250]

It shouldn't use more than you'd normally change, compared to doing fewer but bigger changes a few times a month. Take a look at "Figure 1" in @Randy Holmes-Farley 's article here: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/

That chart compares a bunch of schedules using 30% change per month as a reference. Changing 1% a day removes impurities at just about the same rate (within a few percents) as changing 15% twice a month (or 30% once a month). Changing 3-5% daily seems excessive to me.

Wow, what a good read! Yeah, it looks like doing a 1% water change on a daily basis is equivalent to doing a single 26% water change monthly. According to the article, that would keep the Nitrates less than 5 ppm over time even on tanks that would otherwise run at 100 ppm Nitrate, which seems like it would be on the extremely high end of WC free tanks. It sounds like running a continuous water change system taking out ~1% daily would really eliminate any reason to try implementing the continuous water changes with wet skimming. The minimal resources that would be saved just wouldn't warrant the complexity of implementing a system like this. I guess that is probably why nobody in the industry has really implemented something like this before (to my knowledge). The only use case I could still potentially think of would be someone that might be growing out corals or fish and would benefit from an ability to have a heavier feeding hand for fish and coral. Thanks

 

[frisky_polyp4250]

I’ve thought about doing this, but was not sure how to implement it. I’ll be curious what others think. I think it’s a good idea.

The article that Wrasse-cal posted makes me think I should just implement a standard continuous water change system and take ~1% out daily rather than 3-5%. I don't currently have any type of nitrate or phosphate issues, so the whole idea would just be to make my life easier over time. It looks like I would probably never get the payout on a system like this.

 

[Erica-Renee]

I think implementing this thru a skimmer would be a very Bad ideal . Skimmers are prone to over flowing even when adjusted to run as they were manufactured to. Pushing them to pull more out faster and run at a higher level will make them much more likely to over flow and end up draining your tank . Causing even more issues.

I am looking into best approach to auto water changes myself.. I am thinking two pumps will be how i do it . One in the sump and one in the mixing tank. Controlled by Float switches ..

 

[Mrx7899]

I think implementing this thru a skimmer would be a very Bad ideal . Skimmers are prone to over flowing even when adjusted to run as they were manufactured to. Pushing them to pull more out faster and run at a higher level will make them much more likely to over flow and end up draining your tank . Causing even more issues.

I am looking into best approach to auto water changes myself.. I am thinking two pumps will be how i do it . One in the sump and one in the mixing tank. Controlled by Float switches ..

If you have an apex the easiest way to do automatic water changes is with the dos. I ran two lines to my storage tanks and two to my sump and that's it. I set it change 3.5 gallon a day. The apex does all the math for you right now it changes 92ml every 10 minutes.

 

[Erica-Renee]

If you have an apex the easiest way to do automatic water changes is with the dos. I ran two lines to my storage tanks and two to my sump and that's it. I set it change 3.5 gallon a day. The apex does all the math for you right now it changes 92ml every 10 minutes.

That is one way to do it for sure . But not the most cost effective . I do have dosing pumps that i thought about using .Running on Reef-pi controller and have tested that it will work well. Also my Water tanks are above the top of my sump. I could also use water control valves and macro code to shut off the ATO During the water change times.

My mind is still going and will do some testing on which way is best for my System. Fully running i have almost 1k gallons of water .