What do you use for AWCs?

[JoshH]

Just like the title says, I'm contemplating doing a small AWC set up for my tank at some point and would love to see others set up's and how they went about doing it, also what's the best way to run it? I have seen a lot of stenner pumps be used as they change the exact same amount every time. But in doing this and pulling dirty water out at the same time as the clean water coming in is it not as efficient as removing the dirty water first and then replacing it with clean water after? I was debating going with a GHL doser for my set up, any thoughts?

 

[reefwiser]

I use a Stenner pump my lines are in different areas so the water pulled out is not an issue. I use GHL dosers have 4 now I consider them way to slow for water change use. GHL is making a new unit that is coming out soon which will be good for AWC. Now saying all this you must understand that these type of pumps make a lot of noise so they need to be remote and not in your living room or where you will hear them running. Mine is in my garage and the only time I hear the change happening is when I cut off my return pump for a minute during the change. Also AWC does not stop tank maintenance you still need to preform vacuuming of the sand bed or bare-bottom and blow off your rock work to get out the waste that settles in your tank.

 

[Gablami]

Masterflex 7234-80 with a 2 channel easy load head. I started out with trying to use a dos pump, but it was really noisy. Not only can a masterflex function as a continuous AWC, you can also boost the pump speed to dispense large amounts quickly. I could have it pump at a rate of 10 gallons per hour and change 50 gallons and stop.

 

[Mark Derail]

If I had a house with a basement, and the sump in the basement, I would do SAWC (semi-automatic).
You still have to manually make your own SW with mix, so it could never be 100% automatic.

In a 40g or 60g food-safe bin, prepare SW ahead of time, put a 100w heater & air-stone in it, and it would be right by the sump.
(if higher than the sump, then it could be gravity fed instead of a small pump + timer)

The sump would be drilled at the top, with gasket/tubing that goes to the basement drain, fed by gravity. Bonus, sump can never cause overflow damage.

You then start a small pump (with a 1-6 hr timer) in the tub, that pumps into sump just in front of the return pump to the main display.
The main display overflows into the sump, which being too high, overflows to the drain right away.
(A tiny pump is best, as you don't want to overflow fresh SW out of sump)

IOW the sump overflow hole is right by the sock in the first section. Return pump in the last section.

So a WC could be left to do it's thing on it's own, the only problem being the tiny pump running dry in the tub eventually, hence a 1h-6h timer.
Gravity-fed would be ideal.

Oh how I miss my house/basement. Oh well, next one will be renovated specifically for the ultimate low-maintenance SW setup!!!

 

[abecker]

Has anyone tried these? http://www.reefloat.com/index.php/products/auto-water-changer-units

 

[JoshH]

I use a Stenner pump my lines are in different areas so the water pulled out is not an issue. I use GHL dosers have 4 now I consider them way to slow for water change use. GHL is making a new unit that is coming out soon which will be good for AWC. Now saying all this you must understand that these type of pumps make a lot of noise so they need to be remote and not in your living room or where you will hear them running. Mine is in my garage and the only time I hear the change happening is when I cut off my return pump for a minute during the change. Also AWC does not stop tank maintenance you still need to preform vacuuming of the sand bed or bare-bottom and blow off your rock work to get out the waste that settles in your tank.

I had read about there noise and that's my issue with them, I don't have a basement set up as of yet although by the time I'm ready to implement this I just might. I might hold out for the new GHL unit, my set up isn't exactly a massive one so I wasn't sure if what the current GHL doser puts out would be good enough. And with my desire for an AWC set up I definitely understand its not a system to replace regular stirring of the sand bed and other maintenance.

If I had a house with a basement, and the sump in the basement, I would do SAWC (semi-automatic).
You still have to manually make your own SW with mix, so it could never be 100% automatic.

In a 40g or 60g food-safe bin, prepare SW ahead of time, put a 100w heater & air-stone in it, and it would be right by the sump.
(if higher than the sump, then it could be gravity fed instead of a small pump + timer)

The sump would be drilled at the top, with gasket/tubing that goes to the basement drain, fed by gravity. Bonus, sump can never cause overflow damage.

You then start a small pump (with a 1-6 hr timer) in the tub, that pumps into sump just in front of the return pump to the main display.
The main display overflows into the sump, which being too high, overflows to the drain right away.
(A tiny pump is best, as you don't want to overflow fresh SW out of sump)

IOW the sump overflow hole is right by the sock in the first section. Return pump in the last section.

So a WC could be left to do it's thing on it's own, the only problem being the tiny pump running dry in the tub eventually, hence a 1h-6h timer.
Gravity-fed would be ideal.

Oh how I miss my house/basement. Oh well, next one will be renovated specifically for the ultimate low-maintenance SW setup!!!

Oh how I wish I had a set up that warranted a basement sump
One day though and that's more than likely the route or a similar route I will be going.

 

[reefwiser]

The new GHL Unit used the same pump heads that the Neptune DOS uses which is known for being loud too. Small dosing pumps are made for dosing a few mil-liters at a time. When I use my Stenner I change out 2 cups a water an hour. by turning it on for 3 minutes at a time.

 

[JOKER]

Stenner here. I actually drilled a hole in ceiling next to tank, a hole in the utility room ceiling, ran PVC in attic, ran my tubing and apex cable in the PVC. I can change up to 50 gallons a day if needed, but I change 2 gallons daily. No need to heat or airate water in storage tank. Actually heating and aeration cause precipitation long term. I love it. I get to enjoy the tank so much more. I added a 1/2" line to fill my ATO but it takes longer than just taking a jug to fill so I don't use it.

 

[JoshH]

The new GHL Unit used the same pump heads that the Neptune DOS uses which is known for being loud too. Small dosing pumps are made for dosing a few mil-liters at a time. When I use my Stenner I change out 2 cups a water an hour. by turning it on for 3 minutes at a time.

Well that's a little unfortunate, I expected more from GHL than using the same stuff as Neptune lol Might be worth sticking to the Stenner and tossing it into the basement I guess. On that note, any issues with back siphoning using the Stenner?

 

[reefwiser]

No never any issues. The pump that GHL and Neptune use is a standard issue part you can buy on industrial parts site. If they used some special part you would not be able to even buy the pump. Every piece of equipment in the Aquarium hobby is sourced from some where else. I remember when we first started using T8 lights the companies where buying standard color T8 tubes and buffing off the model numbers and stamping fancy "color names on the bulb's Now days they just buy big lots of t5 bulbs with their fancy names already stamped onto the tubes.

Good thing about the GHL unit it is stand alone so you can program it itself and doesn't require a controller.

 

[JoshH]

From what I've read the Neptune's are much louder than the GHL dosers which wouldn't make sense if they used the exact same pump/heads. But I'm only speaking from what I've read and have no personal experience in the matter and I'm not spending $1000 to see for myself the difference's lol And being a SA doser has its huge benefits as well as its price is much more reasonable.

 

[JoshH]

Never had a single issue with my sterner, I bought used off eBay and put New tubes in it , been running for a few years now on same tubes, it's a bit noisy , but you can find ways around that, I used to do small amount threw the day ,now I change all at once before lights on, the reason for the all at once it's less wear on motor and relays , also if something is off or plugged I pick it up faster now with apex the small changes are hard to detect when somethings off, now it's buy time I change 2.5 hours a day now, 75ish mm a minute. I haven't checked in a while as it will drift some , I pay it no mind

I noticed that you use clear tubing, do you have any issues with build up??

 

[JoshH]

I use a Stenner pump my lines are in different areas so the water pulled out is not an issue. I use GHL dosers have 4 now I consider them way to slow for water change use. GHL is making a new unit that is coming out soon which will be good for AWC. Now saying all this you must understand that these type of pumps make a lot of noise so they need to be remote and not in your living room or where you will hear them running. Mine is in my garage and the only time I hear the change happening is when I cut off my return pump for a minute during the change. Also AWC does not stop tank maintenance you still need to preform vacuuming of the sand bed or bare-bottom and blow off your rock work to get out the waste that settles in your tank.

How do you have your lines set up so the pump is only removing dirty water and not some clean along with it? My system is rather small so the lines can't be VERY far apart.

 

[d2mini]

I use a GHL Doser 2.1
It runs 150x/day. There is a couple minutes between water out and water in. Plenty of time for water to circulate.

 

[JoshH]

I use a GHL Doser 2.1
It runs 150x/day. There is a couple minutes between water out and water in. Plenty of time for water to circulate.

This is almost exactly what I'd like to hear. What kind of turnover volume do you get at that rate??

 

[d2mini]

This is almost exactly what I'd like to hear. What kind of turnover volume do you get at that rate??

For my 120g tank (plus sump), i'm changing out about 2.25g per day i think.

 

[JoshH]

For my 120g tank (plus sump), i'm changing out about 2.25g per day i think.

Oh wow that's plenty for my setup, really I was only looking for 0.5-1 Gal daily. I didn't think that the GHL Doser could change over that much.

 

[d2mini]

Oh wow that's plenty for my setup, really I was only looking for 0.5-1 Gal daily. I didn't think that the GHL Doser could change over that much.

Yeah, and it can do more.
Has to be the 2.1 with the blue heads. They are heavier duty. And still plastic rollers, so you would need to plan on having some maintenance kits on hand when they eventually wear out.
Should last quite a while though.

 

[JoshH]

Yeah, and it can do more.
Has to be the 2.1 with the blue heads. They are heavier duty. And still plastic rollers, so you would need to plan on having some maintenance kits on hand when they eventually wear out.
Should last quite a while though.

Thanks for all the info, I think you've got me settled on a solution But I would still love to hear how others have there AWCs set up

 

[LoneStarReef]

I plan on using 2 Apex PMUP’s to draw water out of my sump as well as pump water back in the tank from my saltwater storage tank (and use the Apex to control it all). The lines are only 1/4 inch tubing and I am going to run the old SW line through my attic to under the sink in the bathroom across the hall. I will then attach the 1/4 inch tubing in to my drain line. Don’t have it hooked up quite yet but I believe it will work well.

Thanks for all the info, I think you've got me settled on a solution But I would still love to hear how others have there AWCs set up

Thanks for all the info, I think you've got me settled on a solution But I would still love to hear how others have there AWCs set up