Automatic WC help

[renato120]

Hey guys, Im so tired of doing WC every weekend. Im about to buy the DOS, but before that I have a few questions
How this it work on WC mode?
If I take too much water out it will trigger my ATO. I dont want this to happen.
For all of you that use the DOS for WC, Does it remove the water first, than AAD right after?
How much Do you change a day?
Besides the DOS, is that any other pump that will do the WC?
If you have videos please show me. Ideas are always welcome! Thank you

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

DOS looks like it'll do 2 at a time. I think you'd be better off adding a minute or two of new water and then have it start pulling out old water. I think people like the DOS because of how accurate the system and pumps are, but you could most likely program any cheap dosing pump to perform the same task. I think the amount changed per day depends on how large your tank is. I feel like the common thing I've seen is people basically distributing their normal 10%-20% water change over the course of the week instead of all at once.

 

[renato120]

DOS looks like it'll do 2 at a time. I think you'd be better off adding a minute or two of new water and then have it start pulling out old water. I think people like the DOS because of how accurate the system and pumps are, but you could most likely program any cheap dosing pump to perform the same task. I think the amount changed per day depends on how large your tank is. I feel like the common thing I've seen is people basically distributing their normal 10%-20% water change over the course of the week instead of all at once.

I need to do figure out where to place containers..... Im still searching to how to do this

 

[ihavecrabs]

I utilize two BRS 50ml/min dosers. I have a DOS; however, I'll be using it for 2-Part dosing as I feel I'd much rather have higher reliability and accuracy dosing 2-Part than on a water change. This is because the overall system will be much more sensitive to dosing rather than slight salinity swings (which would take a very long time).

Food for thought!

And as far as your question on the DOS, it does pull water out at the same time as it adds; however, is fully customizable. If done in small amounts, I don't see why you couldn't add a delay for the removal to start after the addition, or even add first and then a delay to remove (check skimmer level and ensure it doesn't overflow thought).

 

[Radman73]

I've used the DOS for AWC and likely will again soon. IIRC the pumps ran at the same time. This shouldn't be an issue unless you run both DOS lines to the exact same spot. My recommendation would be to pull water from where the water enters the sump and add water to where it gets pumped back to the display. It generally does such a low amount at a time that you don't need to worry that you're pulling out what you just put in.

As for how much, that all depends on you and your tank. On my 60 cube I generally changed out between a quarter to a gallon today as I experimented quite a bit. In my experience, less was more.

 

[2Wheelsonly]

Hey guys, Im so tired of doing WC every weekend. Im about to buy the DOS, but before that I have a few questions
How this it work on WC mode?
If I take too much water out it will trigger my ATO. I dont want this to happen.
For all of you that use the DOS for WC, Does it remove the water first, than AAD right after?
How much Do you change a day?
Besides the DOS, is that any other pump that will do the WC?
If you have videos please show me. Ideas are always welcome! Thank you

One thing to note here when using the DOS; those pump heads are rated for a certain number of hours of operation; heavy use from WC will cause extra wear and tear causing accuracy to suffer. You want to ensure that buying replacement heads is factored into your cost of ownership. You never want an auto WC to "screw up" while you're out of town or anything!

There are lots of sample programs on the apex official forums; I assume you have a controller if youre looking at the DOS. I struggled with the accuracy myself but I think that was because my tube to the sump was over 20 ft long due to my WC station being on the back wall of my fish room.

 

[renato120]

I utilize two BRS 50ml/min dosers. I have a DOS; however, I'll be using it for 2-Part dosing as I feel I'd much rather have higher reliability and accuracy dosing 2-Part than on a water change. This is because the overall system will be much more sensitive to dosing rather than slight salinity swings (which would take a very long time).

Food for thought!

And as far as your question on the DOS, it does pull water out at the same time as it adds; however, is fully customizable. If done in small amounts, I don't see why you couldn't add a delay for the removal to start after the addition, or even add first and then a delay to remove (check skimmer level and ensure it doesn't overflow thought).

Good thinking! My skimmer always overflow when its too much water in the sump.

 

[renato120]

One thing to note here when using the DOS; those pump heads are rated for a certain number of hours of operation; heavy use from WC will cause extra wear and tear causing accuracy to suffer. You want to ensure that buying replacement heads is factored into your cost of ownership. You never want an auto WC to "screw up" while you're out of town or anything!

There are lots of sample programs on the apex official forums; I assume you have a controller if youre looking at the DOS. I struggled with the accuracy myself but I think that was because my tube to the sump was over 20 ft long due to my WC station being on the back wall of my fish room.

Thank you so much guys! Good info here.

 

[BoomCorals]

I use DOS for AWC on my entire system. Works great. Removes and adds at the same time so no drop in water. Remove water from where the drains are in sump and add water to return section of sump. This way you aren’t removing water you just added. You tell it how much to change per day and it will run the calculated amount necessary every 10 minutes, 24 hours a day, splitting up that amount evenly.

 

[renato120]

I use DOS for AWC on my entire system. Works great. Removes and adds at the same time so no drop in water. Remove water from where the drains are in sump and add water to return section of sump. This way you aren’t removing water you just added. You tell it how much to change per day and it will run the calculated amount necessary every 10 minutes, 24 hours a day, splitting up that amount evenly.

Awesome! Thank you so Much