Mechanical Flow Meters

[fishybizzness]

I was just wondering if anyone has used these flow meters on their aquarium. Looks like it might be a good simple way to monitor flow on a return or uv. Only drawback i see is that it has to be mounted vertically. Just wondering if anyone had any feedback. Thanks

 

[MnFish1]

If I were going to do this, I would use one of the digital ones (Like Apex). But I wouldn't do it...

 

[Reefer Reboot]

What material is the guide rod that runs down the center made of? If it's metal, then no.

 

[Montiman]

My experience is that almost all of these use a steel rod that rusts. If someone could make one out of titanium then I would get one.

 

[DaddyFish]

Item description almost says it's all plastic. Buy one and let us know for certain if there's any metal inside.

 

[schuby]

I use two Neptune paddle-wheel, 1" flow-meters. i have one on each return pump. There is some flow-loss, but I want them for peace-of-mind: I want to know there is flow in my tank. Long ago, I forgot to turn my return pump back on and in the morning, almost all my fish were dead. Other than that, they show me when my flow has reduced and pumps/filter-floss need to be cleaned. Based on my flow-meter data in Apex, I can say with confidence that ChemiClean cleans my pipes and improves my return flow-rate.

 

[DCR]

We use these devices (called rotameters) in industry. Unless the fluid is very clean, the glass tends to foul and become unreadable rather quickly. I suspect the bio-fouling would be pretty severe in an aquarium.

 

[fishybizzness]

All great points. If the guide rod is in fact made of plastic it might be useful for setting the flow initially on something like a uv and then removing. It could be plumbed inline and when you remove it, could be replaced with a piece of pvc with a union on each end. It could then be swapped out occasionally to verify that the flow is in the range. Just a thought...

 

[mrbacony]

Did you ever try out any of those flow meters? I too am looking for a cheap, DIY solution for measuring flow through a UV sterilizer.

 

[fishybizzness]

I haven't. I did see a cheaper one being used on eat sleep reef on YouTube. It can be used for setting up something like a uv but I wouldn't use it long term because it doesn't seem that heavy duty.

 

[mrbacony]

Thanks for that! I don’t need anything long term. Just to setup and then remove.

 

[fishybizzness]

Let us know how it works!

 

[mrbacony]

Here’s what I ended up getting off Amazon. It does gallons per minute so I was able to determine my gallons per hour. Very cool and works great. I was able to find out my second head off the manifold is giving me 102 gallons an hour on full bore