How much Auto water change is enough?

[Paul Thomas]

What would you consider to be the min amount of water to change out on a daily basis in 200 Gal system if automating?

 

[((FORDTECH))]

What would you consider to be the min amount of water to change out on a daily basis in 200 Gal system if automating?

I do 3.5 gallons a day in my 250 gallon system

 

[Paul Thomas]

I am only doing 1 gal per day now. Until I have time to route the waste water I have to empty 5 gal buckets every week. Was winding if its a waste of time at this rate?

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I am only doing 1 gal per day now. Until I have time to route the waste water I have to empty 5 gal buckets every week. Was winding if its a waste of time at this rate?

1 gallon a day equals 7 a week and 14 every two weeks. So at that you are doing 7% water changes every other week or 14% a month. It is kinda low for what it’s worth but something is better then nothing

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I’m pretty sure most do at least 10% a week so 20% every other week

 

[dwest]

1% per day is a good starting point.

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

I do 2 gallons over night in a 120 + sump. Figure about 150 system volume

 

[DiefsReef]

I do 2 gallons over night in a 120 + sump. Figure about 150 system volume

Was researching AWC and had this exact question myself. Just so happens I have the same setup, 120 with sump aprox 150 volume. So at 10% a week we end up about 60 gal per month.. Cool! Hope this doesnt hijack the thread but the only other question I have is where to put the water in and out lines? Was thinking water out at sump skimmer area, and in at the sump return pump section.

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

Was researching AWC and had this exact question myself. Just so happens I have the same setup, 120 with sump aprox 150 volume. So at 10% a week we end up about 60 gal per month.. Cool! Hope this doesnt hijack the thread but the only other question I have is where to put the water in and out lines? Was thinking water out at sump skimmer area, and in at the sump return pump section.

I ran hard r/o style line 90 QDs into a suction cup with the 1/4 line holder. My out is next to my skimmer in chamber one and my in is between the baffles after fuge/into return. I saw it as “the dirtiest water would be right before skimmer and the new water is sent directly to display”, I can take some pics if you need help!

 

[muzikalmatt]

Given that most people recommend 10% weekly water changes, I think 1.5% per day is probably a good place to start. That equates to 10.5% weekly.

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

Was researching AWC and had this exact question myself. Just so happens I have the same setup, 120 with sump aprox 150 volume. So at 10% a week we end up about 60 gal per month.. Cool! Hope this doesnt hijack the thread but the only other question I have is where to put the water in and out lines? Was thinking water out at sump skimmer area, and in at the sump return pump section.

Also the reason I chose roughly 2 gal a night (it’s actually 8000ml) is it ends up being a 55 gallon barrel a month, so every month on the same day I do a new barrels worth of mix along with my other duties. I have gotten my maintenance schedule down to 1 big long day a month haha

 

[DiefsReef]

I ran hard r/o style line 90 QDs into a suction cup with the 1/4 line holder. My out is next to my skimmer in chamber one and my in is between the baffles after fuge/into return. I saw it as “the dirtiest water would be right before skimmer and the new water is sent directly to display”, I can take some pics if you need help!

Also the reason I chose roughly 2 gal a night (it’s actually 8000ml) is it ends up being a 55 gallon barrel a month, so every month on the same day I do a new barrels worth of mix along with my other duties. I have gotten my maintenance schedule down to 1 big long day a month haha

Thx for the response! No need for pics. This was what I had in mind and seems most people are doing basically the same. I've got 2 tanks I'm going to setup awc on. 1 is a 120 with sump and the other is a RS Emax cube with sump at about 70gal total volume. I've got a hugh mixing station in my basement and always just make a box (160gal) of water at a time. At this point maint seems never ending, hence the reason for awc

 

[biecacka]

I used to do 2 gallons a day on my 240. I recently moved and just set my AWC back up for 1 gallon a day. For now the load is so light it doesn’t matter much. Plus, I am curious down the road if I will even notice much difference. Between a fuge of chaeto, skimmer, CaRx, filter socks, and carbon as wanted/needed I feel like before I had great nutrient export. Just seeing how much my numbers will be different from 2 to 1 gallon a day. If it’s needed, I’ll up it, if not then I’ll keep it and use less salt.

corey

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

I used to do 2 gallons a day on my 240. I recently moved and just set my AWC back up for 1 gallon a day. For now the load is so light it doesn’t matter much. Plus, I am curious down the road if I will even notice much difference. Between a fuge of chaeto, skimmer, CaRx, filter socks, and carbon as wanted/needed I feel like before I had great nutrient export. Just seeing how much my numbers will be different from 2 to 1 gallon a day. If it’s needed, I’ll up it, if not then I’ll keep it and use less salt.

corey

I was actually considering the same. I left my AWC/dosing pumps off for my wedding a few weeks back and left em that way til I got home a week later. No change really.. I’m probably just throwing cash down the RO filter but let me know if you see any difference!

 

[Paul Thomas]

thanks for all the good input. Ivd up'd to 2 gal per day for now. I going to route my exhaust line so I don't have to empty soon then I'll up it to 3 gal per day. I also do a large water change so I can clean sand every 2 -3 months.