Automatic Water Changing and Top Off System

Filtration Innovation · Sep 26, 2014

Hi, we're a team in a high school Project Lead the Way engineering design and development class and we're trying to create a marketable system that automatically changes aquarium water upon command and we need to get product specifications (rules the product must abide by) from current aquarium owners. These can be anything that you feel a water changing system should do or avoid doing, and please, don't make any assumptions. These specifications can be anything from incredibly obvious (i.e. product should not kill fish) to incredibly specific (i.e. product should not allow nitrate levels to exceed 40ppm). We need all of our specifications to be backed by apparent consumer demand, so any response, even an extremely obvious one, is beneficial to us. Thank you for your time.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 26, 2014

Well, I use a dual head Reef Filler pump to do autoamatic water changes many times per day, and the only drawback to it (IMO) is that it is noisy since it is a diaphragm pump. Similar systems using peristaltic pumps have no noise issues.

So I'll just take my system as a guide to what is needed:

1. Slow pumping, maybe 5-15 gallons per day, max when running 24/7.
2. No problem if it is on/off with a timer.
3. Draws water out of a trash can or sump without frequent priming and without drilling holes.
4. Pushes water sufficiently far to get to a tank or a drain, which might be 50 horizontal and maybe 10-15 feet vertical in most applications.
5. Not easily clogged by solid debris (maybe use intake filters).
6. Should be able to prevent siphoning somehow.
7, In and out run simultaneously.
8. Should be adjustable to match flow (if desired).
9. Internally cleanable with acid to remove calcium carbonate deposits.
10. No metal parts of any sort exposed to the water.

Filtration Innovation · Sep 29, 2014

Thanks so much, this will help immensely. If you think of anything else, feel free to either comment on here or pm us, and we'll keep checking this every few days. Thanks again!