Kathy and I are doing a water change right now and we're not home! Cool, huh? I bought a Reef Filler two-headed pump from Champion Lighting. It removes water and replaces it at the same time. It's has two 30gpd (yes, per day) diaphragm pump heads that run off the same motor. If I had a continuous source of saltwater, we could do a continuous water change. The main downside I've noticed so far is the pump IS REALLY LOUD so we can't run it at night or while watching TV or during a conversation, etc.
That's great Joe, I know you both really needed one. Is this diaphragm pump in a closet? if so maybe line the closet with some sort of sound proffing material?
Joe - can you go over how the pump makes the water change. Is it continuous? I know that you have explained it to me in the past but now that I see a picture I need you to go over it for me again. I still have not worked out how I am going to go about changing water on the big system and need to understand what you are doing to see if I would benefit from what you are doing.
One pump head is for pumping "dirty" water from the skimmer section of the sump to the kitchen sink drain. The other is for pumping new saltwater from the bucket to the return pump section of the sump. 1...Open valve so RO/DI water fills the bucket. Float valve shuts off RO/DI flow when full. 2...Add salt and turn on mixing pump. Go to bed. 3...Turn on water change pump and go to work. 4...Turn off water change pump when we get home. (I still need to get a float switch to turn the pump off automatically.)
am I wrong but does the water change pump run all day while you are at work? Does the pump run dry if so what keeps it from burning up.
So far it hasn't run dry although my understanding is it won't hurt a diaphragm pump to run dry for short periods.
Are these Brute trash cans safe for mixing new saltwater? http://www.trashcandepot.com/product_info.php?products_id=31{1}3 I'm curious what the "Gray, White and Yellow are USDA Meat & Poultry Equipment Group Listed and assist in complying with HACCP guidelines" means. Does anyone know if this indicates that it has anti-microbe coatings or something that would be bad for our purposes?
If I had as much room as you and your DIY skills, I would build a rack to hold three large water containers vertically one above the other so the water could gravity feed from the top down as needed using appropriate float valves and ball valves to control the water flow. Top: RO/DI water -- Have a float valve to constantly keep this one full. Have a ball valve to allow water to drain down to the next level when you're ready to make saltwater. Middle: Salt water mixing -- Have a chute to add salt. When water's ready, open ball valve for water to flow to bottom level. Bottom: Ready for water change (or constant change) -- have a float valve to regulate flow from salt water mixing container above.
I have plans to set up something sim. with this type pump, but the idea I got is from what Randy Farley the chemist thats on reef center does. Basically I will set up two brute trash cans, one will have Di water made up and the other with salt water. the reef filler would be set up to change out 1% of water a day. Just set it up on a timer to come on once a day long enough for the 1% change. When the salt water gets low in the can you just transfer your Di water over and mix a new batch. I've had plans for this for awhile but just had to much else going on to work on it, but I think it would work really well.
The flow on the Reef-Filler is adjustable so you could slow it down and let it run constantly. This would work if you can block out the noise.
Yes the brute trash cans are great for our purposes. I have tree of them. One is in the sump room for top off water, one on my water cart, and another on my stand in the garage for mixing saltwater. Nice thick bottom, so dragging it around is not a big deal like it is with the cheapo cans from wally world.
We've changed about 100g of water using Coralife salt since my first post on June 11. Algae is disappearing, the skimmer is producing more skimmate, pH is higher and more stable, etc. The Reef Filler is absolutely the best investment we've ever made. The lack of water changes have kept our tank from flourishing and fighting algae has been a losing battle. Now our water changes are virtually automatic and easy. We plan to do two 10g water changes a week from now on which is approx 30% a month. It takes about two minutes of Kathy's time including adding salt and testing the specific gravity of the saltwater.
