oxx155 Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 What is an AATOC and how do you produce 300 gallons of good RO water in a day? http://www.reeftek.com/reef-relief/index-products-aatoc.htm I am not sure if they sell them anymore, I wish they would as its the best auto-top-off that can handle a city water line pressure. I run my city water to it, then through the RODI, so it reduces waste, and only runs water when I need it. I have 2 - 100GPD+ RODI units from BRS. Its probably about a 30-40% water change every month. I would have to say its the best investment I have made in my entire system, even if it cost a little bit of money, it was way worth it. Overall picture of the setup City water comes in and branches to two AATOC's One AATOC feeds through a 5 stage RODI and into a PM Kalk Reactor and tops off the level of the entire system The other AATOC feeds into another 5 stage RODI and fills the reservoir once a month LitermeterIII pulls 10 gallons over the day out of the system and into a drain A Litermeter III second pump pulls 10 gallons over the day out of the reservoir and into the system I mark my calendar the day I turn the Litermeter III on and make sure to turn it off 29 days later to refill the reservoir with RODI water and salt (Instant Ocean, 7 bags) I find this keeps my system incredibly stable (except for PH, which I still have issues with bouncing around). I replace the tubing each year and other related items (RODI filters, Dart circulating pump, Litermeter parts, etc.) I really don't even think it takes me an hour a month to do all of this, but I have plenty of other things to do that keep me busy, LOL. Anyway, I have heard of many other ways of doing an Auto-Top-Off system, thats just my way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 I wasn't going to say anything about this but since the thread has got such a good back and forth going. I have 2 gift certificates from Genesis Reef for Xmas raffles!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted September 28, 2010 Author Share Posted September 28, 2010 Oxx, how do you keep your ATO from coming on when the litermeter is pulling and pushing your ten gallons a day? Do you have it set to come on a couple of times a day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 http://www.reeftek.com/reef-relief/index-products-aatoc.htm I am not sure if they sell them anymore, I wish they would as its the best auto-top-off that can handle a city water line pressure. I run my city water to it, then through the RODI, so it reduces waste, and only runs water when I need it. I have 2 - 100GPD+ RODI units from BRS. Its probably about a 30-40% water change every month. I would have to say its the best investment I have made in my entire system, even if it cost a little bit of money, it was way worth it. Overall picture of the setup City water comes in and branches to two AATOC's One AATOC feeds through a 5 stage RODI and into a PM Kalk Reactor and tops off the level of the entire system The other AATOC feeds into another 5 stage RODI and fills the reservoir once a month LitermeterIII pulls 10 gallons over the day out of the system and into a drain A Litermeter III second pump pulls 10 gallons over the day out of the reservoir and into the system I mark my calendar the day I turn the Litermeter III on and make sure to turn it off 29 days later to refill the reservoir with RODI water and salt (Instant Ocean, 7 bags) I find this keeps my system incredibly stable (except for PH, which I still have issues with bouncing around). I replace the tubing each year and other related items (RODI filters, Dart circulating pump, Litermeter parts, etc.) I really don't even think it takes me an hour a month to do all of this, but I have plenty of other things to do that keep me busy, LOL. Anyway, I have heard of many other ways of doing an Auto-Top-Off system, thats just my way. Nice product. I was looking for something like that. mostly to avoid to back siphoning between the ro reservoir and the kalk reactor. With my setup (55gal reservoir and aqualifter) I have to keep the kalk reactor above the 55g barrel and the sump. I'm gonna write them an email and see if it is still available. Thanks for the info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 I started my setup about two years ago when this came up and Oxx described his system. I PM'd him about it and he suggested i watch Ebay for a LitermeterIII, I found a two pump setup for about half the price of new. i do a 55g barrel a month (on my old 180), I keep a mag 7 running in it aerating the water. You can also check all the param's of your salt and boost as needed once a month. It really keeps all your Cal,Mag and other elements fresh in your system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxx155 Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 Oxx' date=' how do you keep your ATO from coming on when the litermeter is pulling and pushing your ten gallons a day? Do you have it set to come on a couple of times a day?[/quote'] The Litermeter pulls .417 gallons an hour (it pulls every 5-10 minutes, I don't know exact), so not enough to trip the leveling system. The other pump within just a minute or so pumps new water back in. It may be tricky for others with smaller sumps, but mine is 180 gallons, so the small amounts up and down aren't really seen. I still think that the Litermeter spreads out the pumping so much over the day that no one should have an issue with a leveling system being tripped. No matter what system/equipment used I definitely recommend to anyone that if you have a little money to spend on your tank and you are thinking what to do (skip buying that next fish) and create an Auto Water-Change system, it will be one of the single best things you do. Just my two cents. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 lol' date=' they are big. Actually the motor is. But you can mount 2 heads on the same shaft, so the unit is not so big. Like this one: [url']http://web1.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1361702[/url] The good of Masterflex is that if you decide to not doing automatic water change anymore and you want to get rid of the equipment, they keep a good market value. Hmmm thats cool. So the motor just runs both heads at the same rate, you just put the inputs and outputs where you want them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 Hmmm thats cool. So the motor just runs both heads at the same rate' date=' you just put the inputs and outputs where you want them?[/quote'] Seems like that. The second head is attached with screw on top of the first one. If tubes are of the same dimension you will have the same rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 I just bought a masterflex 7531-10 off ebay. It should accept up to 4 pump heads. So I'll start tracking down a couple pump heads. I'll update this once I buy them and get stuff setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 Also a guy in this thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1266571 bought a couple pump heads and just connected them to gear motors. If you connect 2 together you can pretty much make a pump to do what we are looking to do. You know exactly how much liquid is pumped thru the pump head with each revolution, so you would just need to find the correct RPM motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 I just bought a masterflex 7531-10 off ebay. It should accept up to 4 pump heads. So I'll start tracking down a couple pump heads. I'll update this once I buy them and get stuff setup. You have 2 spare pumps heads... With a few hundreds miles of tubes you can do my automatic wc too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 You have 2 spare pumps heads... With a few hundreds miles of tubes you can do my automatic wc too haha the PNWMAS auto waterchange pipeline! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 Ok i found and purchased 2 pump heads 7017-20. According to the flow chart, since my pump does 100 RPM, and the pump heads use L/S 17 tubing, I'll get 280ml/min. I'm wanting to change the same amount of water I currently change every Sunday, which is about 15gal. So, if I can change 2gal a day, thats close enough. 3785ml in a gallon 3785/280=~13.5 minutes of running to change 1 gal. So i'll have it come on once in the morning for 13.5 minutes, and again in the evening for 13.5 minutes. Next up is getting the tubing. Then all I need to do is drill holes in my walls and floors to run the tubing and i'm set Total cost should come in around $200. And since my pump is brand new, it should outlive the tank and probably me!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 Ahhhhhhhh I'm done shopping Found 50' of tubing for $35 shipped. So total for my auto water change system is $205. Now I just hope it all works as planned (laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 Got the pump. I'm a little worried its not what I ordered. The pump is bolted to a plate, and there is a tag on the plate as well as on the pump itself. They are not the same. I wanted the 100RPM #7531. The tag on the pump says 3000RPM and its a Universal Magnatek company. Pump is nice though, brand new hardly a scratch on it. This is the tag for what i thought I was buying, its on the plate that the pump is bolted to And this is the tag on the pump itself I turned it on and tried to count the RPM of the crank or whatever. I stopped when i counted 30, and 18 seconds had passed so it can't be 3000RPM. Guess we'll see early next week when the pump heads arrive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 It really looks new. Let's hope it will work the way you want with the heads. Good find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uhuru Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 I started using a litermeter 3 for auto water changes about a month ago and will never go without it again. It changes 5 gallons a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted October 10, 2010 Author Share Posted October 10, 2010 Does anyone know if there is a standard rule for how much of your total water volume you should exchange each day, or is it more or less and individual preference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uhuru Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 It depends on your bioload and what corals you are keeping. Nice thing about the litermeter is you just push a button to change the amount. One thing to keep in mind is it is slightly less efficient to do multiple small water changes. So, if you were doing a 10% water change per week manually, you might want to shoot for 12 - 15% water change per week automatically (calculated for daily water changes of course). Oh and another kinda obvious thing to remember is you still have to siphon out detritus build up which depends on many factors as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 Am I the only one in this thread that jumped in both feet and got an automated water change system??? Guess i'm the guinea pig Got my pump heads and everything matches up!!! I'm so stoked. I would have paid double what I did to not have to do water changes anymore. I need to pickup a length of all-thread so i can mount the pump heads to the pump (the kit thru Cole Parmer is like $50), a few nylon barb fittings and it'll be up and running!!! I'll get pics of the whole shebang this weekend after its tested and running. A few pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 cool, can't wait to see it all setup. I plan on doing this when i finish my 500 setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyK Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 great thread here. I have been wanting to set up a continuos water change system for some time. It seems the best way to keep water parameters as stable as possible. I plan on doing a 6gpd. I just picked up a reef filler 2000 2 with a 30gpd head. Should work great for what I am doing. I will still do a normal monthly water change as well. Here is what I got. http://www.championlighting.com/home.php?cat=1113 I got it used at a good price and it is in great condition only used for a few months. I will follow along here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Nice, post up some pics when you get it up and running if you don't mind Looks like a nice pump I picked up a length of all thread and some nuts to mount the pump heads, total price of $2.78 instead of $50 so i'm happy there. Of course nobody in Eugene has 1/4" nylon barb fittings, so i couldn't get it running over the weekend :( I'm gonna have to order them online i guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algae Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Got the pump. I'm a little worried its not what I ordered. The pump is bolted to a plate, and there is a tag on the plate as well as on the pump itself. They are not the same. I wanted the 100RPM #7531. The tag on the pump says 3000RPM and its a Universal Magnatek company. I turned it on and tried to count the RPM of the crank or whatever. I stopped when i counted 30, and 18 seconds had passed so it can't be 3000RPM. Guess we'll see early next week when the pump heads arrive Did ya get this dialed in? If your rpm is too high couldn't you use a router speed controller from Harbour Freight, etc. that usually go on sale for $10-$15 bucks? I really like the idea of using Masterflex equipment with dual heads. The reliability is legendary for Masterflex. Very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 No, i need some barb fittings to attach the tubing to the silicon tubing in the pump heads. But i have all the hardware to attach the pump heads to the pump. The RPM won't be a problem, its definitely 100RPM. Set at 13.5 minutes will change roughly 1 gallon. So i'll setup my AC Jr to have it come on twice a day, changing 2 gal per day. I hadn't heard of Masterflex before looking to do this, but i can see now that this pump will probably last longer than I will. Its a TANK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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