# DIY Automatic Water Changer



## joeyballz (Jul 1, 2008)

*DIY Automatic Water Changer*
When I setup my 220gal tank and I wanted the maintenance to be as easy as possible; so, I added an automatic water changer to the tank during setup. There are dozens of ways to do this, some easier, some cheaper and some maybe better; below is how I chose to do it. I was also fortunate enough that my tank is built into the wall backing to an unfinished laundry room.

*Requirements*
Completely automated[/*]
Scalability - the ability to adjust the amount and frequency of water removed [/*]
Safeguard concerns for the fish and my house:[/*]

Temperature [/*]
Chlorine [/*]
Completely draining the tank [/*]
Flooding my house[/*]
*Parts List*

Drain Pump - Rainbow Quite One 1200 
Shut-off valve (2) â€" Â½â€


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## dkreef (May 23, 2008)

wow fanasy set up.

can i tag along here cuz i have a new 270gal +120gal sump set up and also wanna set up a automatic water changer.

i have a 50gal water holding tank that replenishes sump water for evaporation when float switch in the sump goes above water line.

my plan was to replace 10gal per day for auto change. 70gal/week = 25% water change a week

1. timer kicks in then pump in sump will pump out 10gal water.
2. this liquid doser will dose 1ml per day to remove chlorine and chloramine using seachem prime (1ml of prime for 10gal)
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumP ... doser.html
3. Water from holding tank will fill sump using auto pump
4. water hose outside is connected to water tank and fill by floatvalve when water level in holding tank goes down.

does it sound good? any problems?


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## joeyballz (Jul 1, 2008)

If you are using a holding tank you can probably save the ongoing expense of dosing by adding and air stone and UV filter. That will handle chlorine and chloriamines. You don't really need the airstone with a UV filter but it may be nice to have some flow in the holding take. 
You could also put a UV inline (with clean incoming water) and fore go the need for a pump and the associated electricity to run the pump. Just connect the UV to the same power trigger the fills the tank so the UV only runs when water is flowing.


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## dkreef (May 23, 2008)

UV will eliminate chlorine and chloramine?
i do have a UV sterilizer that i was planning to use to filter tank water thru.


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## joeyballz (Jul 1, 2008)

Yes
http://www.uvsciences.com/index_files/Page607.htm
I have one for the tank, but I'm thinking about adding one inline for the incoming water


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## joeyballz (Jul 1, 2008)

oh look a double post


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

dkreef said:


> UV will eliminate chlorine and chloramine?
> i do have a UV sterilizer that i was planning to use to filter tank water thru.


 I called a relative who is a chemist at the water plant. Chlorine and chloramine are not photo-reactive chemicals, so should be unaffected by a ride through your sterilizer.


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## joeyballz (Jul 1, 2008)

I'm not a Chemist. With that being said, I'll hold my opinions to myself. There is lots of info on the web about UV sterilizers working to remove chlorine and chloramines.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

joeyballz said:


> I'm not a Chemist. With that being said, I'll hold my opinions to myself. There is lots of info on the web about UV sterilizers working to remove chlorine and chloramines.


 Funny, my relative told me to check the web too, but to expect the opposite results you've found.

http://www.aces.edu/waterquality/faq/fa ... eIndex=150

http://www.springdalewatergardens.com/a ... h2o.html#3

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com ... water.html

http://aquariumuvsterilizer.blogspot.com/

I tried "UV sterilizers working to remove chlorine and chloramines" which should bias the search toward reports of it working, but with 7,750 sites, I checked about a dozen and found nothing yet saying that UV does anything to remove chlorine. With that many, I'm sure someone can find a few sites that think it does. But I am sure with that kind of diligence, you can find sites that believe the Earth is flat, or that electricity does not exist and tiny angels operate our computers and appliances.


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## dkreef (May 23, 2008)

well to make it simple id rather use the prime dosing with eheim doser and use UV for tank only.


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## joeyballz (Jul 1, 2008)

Mcdaphnia said:


> http://www.aces.edu/waterquality/faq/fa ... eIndex=150
> http://www.springdalewatergardens.com/a ... h2o.html#3
> http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com ... water.html
> http://aquariumuvsterilizer.blogspot.com/
> ...


I don't want to be passing along information that is incorrect so I looked at all the ones you posted and none of them said anything about UV vs. chlorine/chloramine.

Search Google for "UV Chloramine" every link says it does work. Try this one, its a study done by two Universities, not information from a manufactor.

http://www.kieferpool.com/pdfs/Duke_LP_ ... _MP_UV.pdf
IMPACT OF CHLORINE AND MONOCHLORAMINE ON ULTRAVIOLET
LIGHT DISINFECTION

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Duke University, Durham, NC
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

humm, old thread. i hope this gets an answer.

Im planning making an auto w/c but im stuck will only one aspect. 
I live in vancouver where the pH is 7 and kH is less than 1ppm. 
Its terrible Cichlid conditions. but *** managed with buffers.

Now the question. With an Auto W/C system. How on earth can I add a buffer to this system? Or am i S*** outta luck and need to stick to doing my 150G manually.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

The major problem with using information from the internet is that it is so often wrong. Most anybody can write and publish an article saying anything. I worked water treatment, both treating water to drink and from the water softener end and at no time did anybody say chloramones were removed by UV. Are you sure you are reading that report correctly? Reading through it rather quickly it seems to be a report on the way chlorine or chloramines effect UV sterilation rather than the effect UV has on chloramines. Long and difficult paper which I think might be prone to being misread.

But there is always a chance that it does work. Even if we agreed that UV does remove chloramine, how are you going to monitor how well it is working as the UV bulb degrades and stops working? Unless you plan to replace the bulb on a routine basis, it would seem you would be risking your fish at some undetermined point in time. Is there a test an average equipted person can use to determine how much UV the bulb is producing? I've used test sets to measure RF and digital signals, even visible light but I've never seen one to measure UV.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

dsouthworth-- for an auto change system needing buffers mixed I should think it might be necessary to have a reserve of water which you treat and then auto pump to the main tank. That would also ease the question of water temperature.

I also have a question on the original post in picture one. I see lines for hot and cold incoming water and a line for outgoing water but I don't see any temperature sensing equipment. Am I missing something or how does the mixing valve compensate for the variations of temperature of the incoming water. Just mixing X gallons of hot with Y gallons of cold will not be very stabil as the temperature of both the hot and cold water changes hourly. And in the winter in cold areas it REALLY changes.


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