Awc auto water changer experiences?

[hybridazn]

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/auto-water-changer-autoaqua.html

So give been eyeing up this piece of equipment for my setup. It is a ATO and auto water changer in one, too good to be true right? Just wanted to see if anyone has this and what they think of it. One of my concerns from the get go are the pumps, how do they hold up? How far will they pump? I will be using a food grade barrel for a water holding container, will the pump be able to pump up, over and thru some 1/4" tubing well enough?

Thoughts?

 

[Crabs McJones]

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/auto-water-changer-autoaqua.html

So give been eyeing up this piece of equipment for my setup. It is a ATO and auto water changer in one, too good to be true right? Just wanted to see if anyone has this and what they think of it. One of my concerns from the get go are the pumps, how do they hold up? How far will they pump? I will be using a food grade barrel for a water holding container, will the pump be able to pump up, over and thru some 1/4" tubing well enough?

Thoughts?

Don't use it, but this system must be manufactured by Coralvue. Which if it is they have amazing customer service if you ever have issues with it. It appears to use the same pump as their Smart ATO which is a great little pump. No issues with it yet. So far the kit seems to have great reviews on BRS's site. Following along to hear others input

 

[hybridazn]

Don't use it, but this system must be manufactured by Coralvue. Which if it is they have amazing customer service if you ever have issues with it. It appears to use the same pump as their Smart ATO which is a great little pump. No issues with it yet. So far the kit seems to have great reviews on BRS's site. Following along to hear others input

Any particular reason why I shouldn't use it?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Any particular reason why I shouldn't use it?

Only thing I could think of is if your reservoirs are to far away from the tank. Those pumps are low power rated at 72-74 gallons per hour and can only handle a head height of 6 foot. That'd be the only thing. Otherwise I'd say if it'll work perfect for what you want to do, i'd give it a shot

 

[hybridazn]

Only thing I could think of is if your reservoirs are to far away from the tank. Those pumps are low power rated at 72-74 gallons per hour and can only handle a head height of 6 foot. That'd be the only thing. Otherwise I'd say if it'll work perfect for what you want to do, i'd give it a shot

True the pumps are my only concern, but I don't think it would be hard to wire in replacements?

 

[Crabs McJones]

True the pumps are my only concern, but I don't think it would be hard to wire in replacements?

Nope, in fact one of the reviews on brs's website a guy did just that.


"BRAD would recommend this product to a friend
I have the AutoAqua AWC on my 120 gallon African Cichlid aquarium. The controller is great but the pumps are not useable and I had to purchase different replacement pumps from Amazon. The new pumps are great and only cost $11.99 each. The tiny pumps that came with the system do not have enough power to pump from my water makeup tank up to my aquarium. I measured the pumping height one pump and it could only pump up to around 14 inches (So much for the 6.5 feet advertised.) The original discharge pump from the aquarium to the drain took an hour and twenty five minutes to pump only 3 gallons. (not even close to the advertised 74 GPH) In summary - the controller is fantastic but the pumps are crap. I do not understand why they would engineer such a great controller with under powered pumps."

 

[hybridazn]

Nope, in fact one of the reviews on brs's website a guy did just that.


"BRAD would recommend this product to a friend
I have the AutoAqua AWC on my 120 gallon African Cichlid aquarium. The controller is great but the pumps are not useable and I had to purchase different replacement pumps from Amazon. The new pumps are great and only cost $11.99 each. The tiny pumps that came with the system do not have enough power to pump from my water makeup tank up to my aquarium. I measured the pumping height one pump and it could only pump up to around 14 inches (So much for the 6.5 feet advertised.) The original discharge pump from the aquarium to the drain took an hour and twenty five minutes to pump only 3 gallons. (not even close to the advertised 74 GPH) In summary - the controller is fantastic but the pumps are crap. I do not understand why they would engineer such a great controller with under powered pumps."

I saw that review as well. I wonder if the tunze metering pump would work?

 

[hybridazn]

Bumping for some more insight.

 

[Fourstars]

I don't have this but I did consider it. I don't like the fact it has optical sensors. Always have to clean them from hard deposits to get them to read level. I'm Going to use a dual head Stenner pump

 

[hybridazn]

I don't have this but I did consider it. I don't like the fact it has optical sensors. Always have to clean them from hard deposits to get them to read level. I'm Going to use a dual head Stenner pump

I def see your point with the sensors, I've had pretty good luck with optics though. My tunze ato has been running strong for 8 years with the optic. I clean it maybe once every couple years haha.

If I went with this setup I would def buy another optic from Neptune to place higher in the tank as a safety precaution to shut down the ato/awc in case of a overfill.

 

[chomoney]

If you are considering that unit, plus upgraded the pumps, any reason you are not considering just using a DOS w/ Apex? Might be a few more bucks, but the price is getting awfully close to a DOS at that point.

 

[ReeferNoob]

I’ve been using this setup for about a week. No complaints so far. Pumps seem ok, but my refill containers are only about 2 and 3 feet away. And the drain line pumps thru my wall to the outside of my house, also about 3 feet. They are the same pumps that come with their Smart ATO, which I was using previously with no problems either.

 

[DarthSimon]

I use an Apex Dos and it does a wonderful job at doing my continuous water change.... I have the mixing stations in basement right below tank... Not sure if your invested into Apex at all? If you are it's a no brainer. Rather straight forward setup.... Couple of Optical Sensors in your mixing station to turn on and off the fresh water coming in, and your good to go....

 

[benjammin03]

Nope, in fact one of the reviews on brs's website a guy did just that.


"BRAD would recommend this product to a friend
I have the AutoAqua AWC on my 120 gallon African Cichlid aquarium. The controller is great but the pumps are not useable and I had to purchase different replacement pumps from Amazon. The new pumps are great and only cost $11.99 each. The tiny pumps that came with the system do not have enough power to pump from my water makeup tank up to my aquarium. I measured the pumping height one pump and it could only pump up to around 14 inches (So much for the 6.5 feet advertised.) The original discharge pump from the aquarium to the drain took an hour and twenty five minutes to pump only 3 gallons. (not even close to the advertised 74 GPH) In summary - the controller is fantastic but the pumps are crap. I do not understand why they would engineer such a great controller with under powered pumps."

Any idea what kind of pumps he might have used? I actually just bought one off of ebay tonight for my 210 gallon + 100 gal sump. I'm worried the pumps will take a long time to do a water change and I was hoping there was an easy upgrade. Also, I read that a small change daily is better than weekly, so if I these pumps can do 5 gallons fairly quick, maybe I don't need to.

 

[Twolabs443]

I have the AWC installed on my tank in my office at work. Tank is an IM Micro 30. I have been using it for 2 months without any issues or complaints. Equipment replaced a Smart ATO. Sensors seem to be accurate and reliable. I have it setup to replace 1/2 gallon a day. The little pumps seem to work great for their size. Pumps out in maybe 30 sec, I have it set to slowly fill to allow some acclimation time and avoid temp swings. Price is pretty reasonable for what it does. Most quality ATO seem to cost $150 or more just themselves and you get an ATO and automatic water change with this. If you already have an aquarium controller or plan on getting one it might not make sense. As far as failsafes it has a couple good electronic ones. It keeps track of the normal refill time and will stop filling if that amount of time is surpassed by a large margin, and the same thing applies for the ATO feature.

 

[blackway168]

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/auto-water-changer-autoaqua.html

So give been eyeing up this piece of equipment for my setup. It is a ATO and auto water changer in one, too good to be true right? Just wanted to see if anyone has this and what they think of it. One of my concerns from the get go are the pumps, how do they hold up? How far will they pump? I will be using a food grade barrel for a water holding container, will the pump be able to pump up, over and thru some 1/4" tubing well enough?

Thoughts?

There is an extension parts of Smart-AC-Socket if you need a more powerful AC pump.

 

[Dj City]

Hello.
I know this thread is somewhat old but I need a little help.

I purchased the smart awc + and I can't figure out how to program it.

I have a 15 gallon nano reef tank and I want to do 1 water change every day.

I do not have the auto top off hooked up. Only the two pumps for the auto water change.
Manual mode works beautifully but I need it to be automatic.

How do I program it to do just 1 water change a day everyday?
Can I set it to do the water change at a specific time every day?

Your help is very much appreciated.

Thank you,

Chris

 

[legendOfDragon]

Hello.
I know this thread is somewhat old but I need a little help.

I purchased the smart awc + and I can't figure out how to program it.

I have a 15 gallon nano reef tank and I want to do 1 water change every day.

I do not have the auto top off hooked up. Only the two pumps for the auto water change.
Manual mode works beautifully but I need it to be automatic.

How do I program it to do just 1 water change a day everyday?
Can I set it to do the water change at a specific time every day?

Your help is very much appreciated.

Thank you,

Chris

Not sure if you still need help but to set up to auto change 1 per day, you can set program to one day. The machine won't always to water change at the same hour because it need to perform ATO before water change.

 

[octopus444]

Nope, in fact one of the reviews on brs's website a guy did just that.


"BRAD would recommend this product to a friend
I have the AutoAqua AWC on my 120 gallon African Cichlid aquarium. The controller is great but the pumps are not useable and I had to purchase different replacement pumps from Amazon. The new pumps are great and only cost $11.99 each. The tiny pumps that came with the system do not have enough power to pump from my water makeup tank up to my aquarium. I measured the pumping height one pump and it could only pump up to around 14 inches (So much for the 6.5 feet advertised.) The original discharge pump from the aquarium to the drain took an hour and twenty five minutes to pump only 3 gallons. (not even close to the advertised 74 GPH) In summary - the controller is fantastic but the pumps are crap. I do not understand why they would engineer such a great controller with under powered pumps."

CoralVue has a 110v ac switched mod that plugs into the LowVoltage trigger so you can hang any pump off the brain ><><><> . https://www.coralvue.com/smart-ac-socket

 

[aarbutina]

I just installed this system on my invert quarantine system last week. I am happy with it so far. The tank sits on my work bench and I have a couple home depot buckets that sit on the floor as the supply/waste. No issue with head pressure. I may really impressed with the system so far.