Automatic Water Changers

[Bazinga]

My tank has been up for 6 weeks and am looking at automatic water changers to install in sump tank.

Goals --> Mix up saltwater monthly with daily water changes totaling >30%/month, 

Constraints--> water storage is 1.5 m away from tank. Saltwater storage on ground, fresh water may be at 1m height

 

I've sort of finalized on 2 options - the AutoAqua Smart AWC touch and peristaltic pump systems (Kamoer X2S or Neptune DOS)

I like how the AutoAqua uses external pumps but dislike the dependency on the 2 optical sensors to detect when to stop draining and start refilling.

The Kamoer/Neptune system enables a preset volume/frequency which seems to give me some peace of mind.

 

What do you use or suggest?

[shiraz]

Automating certain repetitive processes always makes the hobby more enjoyable!

I’m planning for my reef tank too and have also planned to have auto water changes and have decided to use the peristaltic pumps, likely the Ecotech Versa or Kamoer F4.

Main consideration was that I don’t need to put additional pumps everywhere with the Smart AWC or other similar products. My reservoir is also about 10m away with 2.6m head and the impeller pumps likely won’t be able to handle the distance.

What are you planning to use for auto top off?


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[R0B]

Congrats on thinking about an AWC it would imho certainly improve the quality of your tank, however there are a few things to consider with both options

You said about relying on sensors, well the Autoaqua smart AWC has an additional timer safety feature so it won't overrun hence not reliant on sensors alone. The good point about the use of float sensors as the primary control is that they allows the system to replace exactly what it pulls out irrespective of what pumps you use for either input or output, so there is no need to calibrate pumps to match volumes. (I believe autoaqua also offers additonal plug version so you can use higher power pumps as needed but I think those small pumps are surprisingly strong)

By Neptune/Kamoer I assume you mean a dosing pump system like the neptune dos, ghl maxi or a 4 head dosers as opposed to an aquarium controller (neptune apex) and dosing pump setup, as they aren't cost comparative. Obviously a controller could do all this and much much more.. which is something to consider if you were going down that path anyways.

A dosing pump setup only really uses a timer so you have less safety features in unlikely event anything goes wrong. With a doser you will have to semi regularily calibrate the dosing heads to draw and expel water at same volume to avoid a salinity drift over time. Further you need to avoid activating the ATO (Oh that reminds me, you will still need to have a seperate ATO with this option). Furthermore unless you have a large headed system or continuous dosing pump (like versa) the normal dosers aren't really designed for large volume migrations. That said I used a cheap Jebao doser doing awc for years and it worked just fine (two heads for output and two for input to avoid any issue if a head wasn't calibrated, and loads of little changes every 30-45mins to avoid the ATO triggering)

That said, both options have other benefits. The Auto aqua AWC also acts as an ATO system so you save money by not getting a seperate ato (or selling your current one haha) whilst a quality doser obviously can also be used for adding supplements if you have spare heads.

Personally I have always liked the look of the autoaqua system, and think it is well thought out little system. But it is costly so I saved my pennies and got a controller instead.

Good luck. Let us know what you decide to go with.

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[Bazinga]

Thanks for the inputs. Leaning toward the Kamoer X2S. On top of the 2 dosing pumps, it has an ATO, similiar to the AutoAqua.

The downside of AutoAqua is that it depends on the set distance between the 2 optical sensors. Having that in sump, if I do say a 15% water change, the water level in sump drops, whilst the pumps continue operation. Eventually that water volume drops to a point where there is no return flow to tank and no overflow back to sump? A little unsure on how that works out.

Just placed an order for the Kamoer. Hope that works out! Else you will see me posting on marketplace soon.

https://www.theaquariumsolution.com/product/8258/371

 

[shiraz]

Tell us how it works out. Probably need to lower the % of water change to like 5% each time since it can be set so that your return compartment doesn’t run dry.

If your return pump and ATO can be controlled, then switch those off during the water change might help.


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[Bazinga]

9 hours ago, shiraz said:

Tell us how it works out. Probably need to lower the % of water change to like 5% each time since it can be set so that your return compartment doesn’t run dry.

If your return pump and ATO can be controlled, then switch those off during the water change might help.


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Def. I intend to set that to small daily changes totaling 30-40% / month

 

[R0B]

Thanks for the inputs. Leaning toward the Kamoer X2S. On top of the 2 dosing pumps, it has an ATO, similiar to the AutoAqua.
The downside of AutoAqua is that it depends on the set distance between the 2 optical sensors. Having that in sump, if I do say a 15% water change, the water level in sump drops, whilst the pumps continue operation. Eventually that water volume drops to a point where there is no return flow to tank and no overflow back to sump? A little unsure on how that works out.
Just placed an order for the Kamoer. Hope that works out! Else you will see me posting on marketplace soon.
https://www.theaquariumsolution.com/product/8258/371
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What an interesting new product! That should work well given they have combined with an ATO. Looks like a great choice.

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[shiraz]

On 9/14/2020 at 10:48 PM, Bazinga said:

Def. I intend to set that to small daily changes totaling 30-40% / month

 

How has the auto water changes worked out so far?