opinions on my auto water changer design
- Thread starter clekchau
- Start date
It should be fine provided you have enough wattage in your heating. You will be using more energy to keep the tank warm, so just keep that in mind before you open the next bill 
Might be cheaper to heat the room than the tank if possible then just have one heater in your sump to warm cold water as it comes in. Otherwise you should be fine.
yes i'm heating the room as my parrots are in there, will not get below 70 degrees and also i just ordered 2 1000 watt jemcho heaters, just to be on safe side...
I would add a float valve to the sump to cut off the incoming drip water if the sump is full. It would basically work the same way as a toilet valve. When the float is up the water shuts off.
I agree. I am running two float-valve based auto water changers right now.
The basic principle is very simple - a small pump pumps out water which is refilled by the float valve. Some of the reasons I like this system:
Reliability - Float valves have been used for well over a hundred years and are very reliable. They don't depend on electricity and can last decades.
Ease of adjustment:; - A simple digital timer controls the amount changed per day. This can be altered at the push of a button.
Ease of positioning - Since a pump ejects the water it doesn't matter if your sump/tank is below grade.
Economy - A float-valve and ejector pump system can be set up for less money than a sump-pump and drip-emitter system. If yo can plumb your sump to a gravity-fed overflow it is comparable in cost.
Power Outages - When the power is out you don't change any water, but that is all. No potential floods.
This takes care of the power outage problem. However, if your float switch fails, then you could still have a flood. I can't think of a simple way around this with the parts you have chosen, other than to have another completely redundant float switch and solenoid valve or pump. What I mean by that is have another float switch above your original float switch, and have it either:
1. close a normally open solenoid valve (the valve will close when water reaches the backup float switch) OR
2. run a second pump (the second pump will pump when water reaches the backup float switch)
When I design my auto water changer it will be microprocessor based, which gives me much more flexibility.
Is this going to be a constant water flow of new incoming water? or just used to do water changes.
I do think 8gph is to much if the water is cold. Your heater will be constantly on trying to keep the temp down. If you can imagine your heater being able to heat the tank just by warming the water that passes over it with a constant supply of cooler water entering the tank will cool the tank down slowly.
Why does the water need to go to the sump first. Why not just straight from the chloramine filters to the tank controlled with a valve to control flow. Then you would not have to worry about any float switch not getting power or stuck.
I do think 8gph is to much if the water is cold. Your heater will be constantly on trying to keep the temp down. If you can imagine your heater being able to heat the tank just by warming the water that passes over it with a constant supply of cooler water entering the tank will cool the tank down slowly.
Why does the water need to go to the sump first. Why not just straight from the chloramine filters to the tank controlled with a valve to control flow. Then you would not have to worry about any float switch not getting power or stuck.
Does anyone else think 168% water change a week is excessive? If you're that overstocked you need to change that much I'd recommend getting rid of some fish. If not you're just wasting water. When I was in school they always taught and stressed there's only a limited supply of freshwater. I know water changes are necessary, but I'd suggest exercising some sort of conservation as well.
With a float valve in the sump the incoming new water does not have to go into the sump, it can be plumbed to go into the aquarium. The float valve just has to be in the sump because it is the sump you want to keep from overflowing. The water change system doesn't have to be intermittent like Dan F has configured his to be... unless you want it to be. The float valve is just there to shut off the incoming new water if the sump gets too full. The float valve can be located before the filters or after.
I would configure a continuous water change system to flush out enough water to keep my nitrate levels low. To me... any more would just be a waste of water and heat. But it is better to design a water change system to handle 168 gallons per week and cut down the flow to what ever is needed than to design it too small and not be able to keep the Nitrate levels in check.
I would guess that it will take a couple of weeks for the water change system to reach an equilibrium (depending on when the last major water change was done) on nitrate levels... after which you will want to reduce the flow of the water change system.
I would configure a continuous water change system to flush out enough water to keep my nitrate levels low. To me... any more would just be a waste of water and heat. But it is better to design a water change system to handle 168 gallons per week and cut down the flow to what ever is needed than to design it too small and not be able to keep the Nitrate levels in check.
I would guess that it will take a couple of weeks for the water change system to reach an equilibrium (depending on when the last major water change was done) on nitrate levels... after which you will want to reduce the flow of the water change system.
