Aquarium monitoring system/in-line declorinator

[Willyy]

So, Last year I designed a tank with fast and easy maitenence being a student Im almost never home during the semesters. Drip system, k1 filter, external deep sand bed, and efficient mechanical filtration cut down water changes to weekly https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/semi-self-sustaining-sa-tank.698640/
That worked during the grow out stage but now my boys are huge! And they have been wreaking havoc on the bioload. so I’ve stepped up to 25g a day drip and 2x ~70 gallon changes a week. The tank is a 125 w 40b sump and 20g DSB. Along with this I installed a carbon filter 1/4in line for slow cold filling, problem is it’s pretty slow with an 180 gal system- even with my 29s. I turn it on all the home and forget only to find a huge mess later on.
So I’ve began total automation with an array of tempature ,ph ,flow and moisture sensors to monitor parameters and automatic water changes. I’m using a diy peristaltic configuration to dose watered down Na2S2O3 right into the tank. I have chloramines at 2.2ml/g so I’m not too worried about the leftover .2 of ammonia, I’m sure the plants love it. Now I can also see my tanks power consumption over time. 72w w/o heaters over 300 with. Thinking of ditching warm water geos for some Uruguay eatcheaters or crenicichla. Only think holding me back is a grow out 7 wk old motoro- so cute. There’s some pics of the hardware. In the software stage now and it’s a real ***** to configure so much :/

 

[fishdance]

If you have a drain, you can slow drip 24/7 to displace water. The drainage pipe does not need to be large as your input is low if you dont have a floor drain nearby. You can also use add a bell siphon which will automatically start and stop if a power failure dumped a lot of water into your sump quickly. The siphon being able to pull water out faster.

The simplest most reliable inline chlorine /chloramine tester would be a small holding tank before your main tank which contains a couple of fish. A bucket would do. - The coal miners used to use canaries to monitor oxygen levels (same principle )

 

[Willyy]

If you have a drain, you can slow drip 24/7 to displace water. The drainage pipe does not need to be large as your input is low if you dont have a floor drain nearby. You can also use add a bell siphon which will automatically start and stop if a power failure dumped a lot of water into your sump quickly. The siphon being able to pull water out faster.

The simplest most reliable inline chlorine /chloramine tester would be a small holding tank before your main tank which contains a couple of fish. A bucket would do. - The coal miners used to use canaries to monitor oxygen levels (same principle )

There is already a drip system in place with two 10in carbon blocks, lasts a few months with decent filters. I used a dual pvc overflow to accompany the slow drip and larger volumes. This is just to automate my weekly 50% change on top of the 175 gallons that run thru the drip each week.