Automating water changes??

[QiKsilver]

Well I was thinking of a way to help with the water changes. I live in an appartment so i can't start opening walls to add pipes and stuff but i wanted to make the whole WCing thing easier and faster... Here is my plan...

Basically it's a semi-automatic system, I wanted it to be cheap, safe and no glass drilling.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y204/Steve-Caro/Discus/TopOffSystem.jpg

Basically what i would have to do is refill the aged water bucket everyday and empty the dirty water bucket. Open the ball valve until 25% of the water is drained and the switch float will start the pump and fill the tank up to the second switch valve level. It will always have to be monitored and turned off while I'm gone, I would add an interruptor on the extension cord that power the pump, everything can be shut down by the power bar switch(Pump+Powerhead+Heater) to remove the aged water bucket.

I might replace the starting float switch by an interruptor placed in the aquarium stand, i would keep the upper float switch in case i turn the system on and forget about it to avoid a mess... Plus it's going to be even cheaper...

I was thinking that if I could find a kind of "extensible hose" to use as the siphon intake for the dirty water, i could use that same syphon to vaccuum the whole tank 2x week. You know something like the nosels they use on small plastic gaz tank? If some1 has an idea plz share it i can't think of anywhere i could find this.

[Greg Richardson]

I know i'm going to look to be very stupid here........but...LOL!.......once you prime the drain hose and as long as you don't take water level below hose level would I be correct that you never have to prime it again just a matter of hose being under water level on all wc's using valve to operate?

BTW.......I like your happy discus note!

[QiKsilver]

You are indeed correct as long as air doesn't make it's way into the outtake i would have to do the siphon only once. Open the valve, turn on the pump, close the valve... Done...

And no i don't think you are stupid lol :)

[ronrca]

Draining is the easy part actually and there is a way to maintain the siphon at all times. If you put the shut off valve under the tank level, your siphon will be maintained as long as you close it before it reaches the bottom of your pipe inside the tank.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ronr_ca/album?.dir=318a&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ronr_ca/my_photos

The filling part a little difficult and more parts plus low/hi water lvls. A float valve works great and if you can get a float valve with an electrical shutoff, your in business. I cant remember though if I came across off the top of my head. It may be easier to use a float valve with a timer instead. Just set the timer to shut off the pump.

[QiKsilver]

Yeah you are right i have to put it under the water level for the siphon to restart when i open the valve... hehehe i didn't think about that one lol. I knew the water wouldn't flow back into the tank until I open the valve but it's not going to make it restart lol. Thanks!

I don't want a a low level switch since it ccould jam in the open position and cause a flood. I want it to be manual. When i move to a house someday i plan to adapt it to be fully automatic, connected to the drain and the tap water going through a RO unit... But then again i'll be getting a new tank or two so i will have to adapt it to do all tanks one after another :)))

[ronrca]

Forgot to mention this as well. The easiest system to automate is the overflow system or drip system. All you need to do is build an overflow like the ones linked below. Put the pump on a timer and away you go. That would be fully automated from start to finish and the only way to get water on the floor is pipes coming loose.

The disadvantage however is that you'r not preforming a percentage wc and may require more water volume to achieve the same effect as a fill/drain setup.

Links:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=495728&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=503664

[QiKsilver]

Fully automatic system wouldn't be good cause my IN is a bucket and my OUT is a bucket. Even if everything is working nicely IF i forget to fill or empty the buckets, I'm done for it, flood disaster lol.

Umm i think i'll jsut buy a pump and a ball valve and some pipes and elbow and work with that.

Can't wait to have a house! Then i can drill the huge badass tank and have a sump system with salt water fish! YEAH BABY lol :) But that won't happen until a couple of years lol.

Thanks again!

[franco34]

hello, I have used this system for approximately 6 months. it is easy A to build, simple, effective and without any risk of flood! You can make it very easily automatic...
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/2813/pompe29dt.jpg

[QiKsilver]

Are you always leaving the valve for the fresh water intake open? If so is that what let's you dose the amount being drawn from the tank vs the fresh water?

[franco34]

no.....always leaving the valve for the fresh water off. i open it only for water changes. On this diagram, there is only the principle of pump, when you have has to open a valve, you closes the other then the pressure increases to make climb the water of the vat towards the filter... takes time to think of it and you will understand...;)

[Cosmo]

You can get a float switch w/ an electronic solenoid built in from Jehmco. You use it in conjunction with a relay box that the pump connects to. When the water level rises enough to raise the float, the relay box kills power to the pump. I have one setup on my 180 upstairs and it works great :) Just make sure you clean the float once in a while... had a black worm wrapped around the slide part once and the float didn't come up :( Other than that, it's worked like a charm.. you turn on the fill pump then walk away and it'll turn itself off :) :)

Jim

[Discusgeo2]

Patrick Ang over at the Guppy Club (Singapore) shows his automated Water system. It is very a nice setup and the details are shown very clearly. Check it out you may find some helpful ideas.
George
http://gcs.sgguppy.com/index.php?page=2

[ronrca]

Very nice rack! I cant quite make out however how its being automated, how the water from the reservior is going into the tanks? Of course I like the concept of selfcleaning and is using something similar to my setups which basiclly is 'sucking' out the debrie from the bottom of the tank. This simple mod to my tanks is the best thing I ever did. No more pythons or vacuuming.

[tdnine]

how about this

Two pumps same gpm and two timers set at diferent times but for the same length of time.

tdnine