LETS talk AWC Auto water change system

[Reeferside]

Hey all,

Like many of you, life catches up to me (and I'm also lazy) so I need to take a step back in regards to maintenance my tank.

Anyways, I want to set up an Auto water changer.

Now, there are many things out there that I've read about..

LitermeterIII .. Apex DOS ..

I've been looking at the Genesis Renew system. Basic and Pro version.

I've recently come across this different company called reefloat.

Here's their website:
http://www.reefloat.com/index.php/pr...-changer-units

Now, it's not an extremely big tank (120 gallon + 40 gallon water in the sump_, but I don't mind spending a couple hundred more in regards to having a better system that won't be likely to fail on me.

I'm thinking maybe a couple gallons a day and a larger 10 gallon~20 gallon change once a week. Who knows.. I might change my mind in the future in regards to the schedule of the AWC.

Talk to me!! What do you have, what have you seen, what is good, what is bad, what works, what's cheap

Lets get this discussion going.. Looking to buy and set up something soon.

So far the Apex DOS system seems to be the cheaper and easier of them all. I'll have a container where I mix my saltwater next to my tank so that's not an issue. The drain will be at least 10 feet (if not more) out of my living room and into the front yard where I have a small drain. .

Also.. in regards to draining salt water. This may be a newby question but is it safe to dump your SW down your sink drain in your house? I'm not sure what kind of pipes I have (afraid of rusting the piping over time) so I've always dumped the water onto the street/cement/lawn.

If so, I could run the drains into the the sink and that would probably make my life a lot easier.

Thanks in advance.
hope to read some good stuff

 

[Greatreefer]

I'm the first one.WOOT!
=P
I too am looking to incorporate one of these into my system.
Hey reeferside:
Have you heard of joey king diy on YouTube? He was given a challenge from BRS to create a diy automatic water change system from scratch.
However, in looking at your list.. I don't think this is something you'd be interested in.
As for me?. I don't have one all I have is an ato " tunze ozmosolator" that I've been trying to connect to my apex controller. I have also been interested in picking up a auto water changer device and would probably, if and when the budget allows go with the DOS. Because it integrates into the apex controller and can be controlled if I'm out of town.
However, the one you found looks amazing as well.

 

[Reeferside]

I'm the first one.WOOT!
=P
I too am looking to incorporate one of these into my system.
Hey reeferside:
Have you heard of joey king diy on YouTube? He was given a challenge from BRS to create a diy automatic water change system from scratch.
However, in looking at your list.. I don't think this is something you'd be interested in.
As for me?. I don't have one all I have is an ato " tunze ozmosolator" that I've been trying to connect to my apex controller. I have also been interested in picking up a auto water changer device and would probably, if and when the budget allows go with the DOS. Because it integrates into the apex controller and can be controlled if I'm out of town.
However, the one you found looks amazing as well.

I've taken a second look at the link I posted and I think it's the worst one out of all the one's I've listed.

You should keep me posted what you choose to utilize for your water changer device. I'll take a look at Joey King btw.

Anyways, anyone else got some input??

 

[tazzxx]

I have and love my apex gold w dos setup to do awc!!!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I use a dual head Reef Filler system on a timer for automatic water changes. I make up about 88 gallons once a month and that's all. It is noisy, so not suited to a living room or bedroom, but works well in a garage or basement.

I change 1% daily, spread over many 15 minute periods each day, sendign the water down a drain.

 

[Reeferside]

I use a dual head Reef Filler system on a timer for automatic water changes. I make up about 88 gallons once a month and that's all. It is noisy, so not suited to a living room or bedroom, but works well in a garage or basement.

I change 1% daily, spread over many 15 minute periods each day, sendign the water down a drain.

Very interesting. I'll look into this. Thank you for your input

 

[Reeferside]

I have and love my apex gold w dos setup to do awc!!!

So how do you go about this? What do you love about it?

 

[tazzxx]

Instead of using the dos for calc and alk I have a 50gl of premade water in the basement that gets pumped up at 2 gls in the am and 2 gls in the evening. Old water get removed from tank and dumped into the yard drains. W good salt my parameters are spot on always!

 

[benapilot]

I have a couple SpectraPure LM3-MPM pumps ($119- just basic peristaltic pumps) for my auto water change on my 46 gallon reef tank. One is in my laundry room where I have a 20 gal aquarium for fresh saltwater. It pumps down three feet through the floor, about 20 feet horizontally through the crawl space and back up two feet into the sump. The other pump is next to my sump and it draws water out and sends it down into the crawl space where it's tapped into a bathroom drain pipe.

They run 16 minutes each (which equals about a gallon) every M-W-F. I've had the system up for about 5 months now. It's so nice not having to carry buckets back and forth!