# automation



## kuskus78 (Nov 15, 2010)

Does anyone have their tanks setup with automation? To read and check water quality and temp, then make changes to water automaticly to. I am going to school for this and wanted some ideas for water changes, to add water if it gets low and so on....

Picture or diagrams or ideas would be awesome.

Thanks, John :fish:


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I've gone into some auto water change and found it did not suit me and the way I enjoy my fish.
I need a certain amount of interaction to feel they are MINE.


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## Cursor (Jan 4, 2005)

I use an apex controller from Neptune systems that is quite nice.


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## Cyclesafety (Feb 8, 2010)

I use an Aquacontroller Jr to monitor pH and to control heater, fan, filtration flow, and UGJ's. Pretty expensive toy that three year's on I mostly ignore. Automatic water change would be nice, but I still need to vacuum the gravel.


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## Will1983 (Dec 6, 2009)

i think until you can trust the automation you will probably still check everything manually

how about looking into plumbing in a drain to the sewer and a supply from your hot water tank so all you have to do is turn some taps to conduct a water change.


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## Jowlz (Dec 19, 2008)

I use a Reef Keeper. It controls lights, heaters, etc. I have it set up with a pair of 120V parker solenoids. One is plumbed to a rough shower valve, that is set to 77-78. The other to a drain line off of my sump. Once a day, for 1.5 minutes, both valves open. This acts as an auto changer and also an auto top off.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

I have thought about doing an automatic ongoing water filtration system (if that even exists...if not, my invention! or idea at least :lol: ). I would have an RO unit feeding water to a tank or container on the side, here the water would buffer and then drop into my display tank at a slow but efficient rate. I would have an overflow plumbed to the outside of the house or directly into a drain. Obviously, you would need some powerheads to agitate the new water coming in so it mixes and pushes dirty water out. I don't think it would be too expensive for a decent size tank (55 gallons). If you were to change the water of a 55 gallon tank weekly and do a 10% water change every time, that would equal to 5.5 gallons a week. lets say you get about 1.5 gallons of water evaporation, that is 7 gallons a week. So, you would set your RO flow to 1 gallon per day. Well, you get the idea but it does not seem bad at all, even if you were to double on the flow in my example... How many gallons do you use to take a shower or to wash your hands in one day?... i think 2 gallons per day on fish would be cheap...

Anyway, this has always been an idea of mine and I am sure somebody had already thought about that before. So, I have not actually tried this idea but I don't see why it would not work.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Oh yeah, any objections? :-?


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## Manoah Marton (Feb 17, 2009)

dude that sounds sooo awesome. not that I'll ever have the resources to do it :wink: Sounds like a really cool idea though.


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## Jowlz (Dec 19, 2008)

mightyevil said:


> Oh yeah, any objections? :-?


It's very doable. It's pretty much as my current set up, except my well water is PH 8.4 and good hardness, so I just use that instead of RO water. My drain runs out of my sump, but you could have it come straight from the tank. Since mine is in a sump, I need the drain to have a valve, since during a power outage, the sump needs to fill....

I don't think you need an extra power head, if you introduced the water at the opposite end of the tank from the drain.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Jowlz said:


> mightyevil said:
> 
> 
> > Oh yeah, any objections? :-?
> ...


Hmmm... I think your system still requires your assistance right? or did I miss something? What I mean is to have the RO unit constantly (24/7) feeding water to your aquarium so you don't ever have to touch your aquarium again. Now, I am aware that you will have to mess with your aquarium every now and then but that would be for other types of maintenance. With the setup I am talking about, "theoretically" you won't even need filters or a sump since you are getting a clean flow of water all day long. You don't even have to worry about power outages because the RO unit would depend on water pressure to function (you would need to tap into your water pipes of coarse, but you do that anyway when you install an RO unit to your kitchen)


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

here is a quick draft on paint of the setup...


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Manoah Marton said:


> dude that sounds sooo awesome. not that I'll ever have the resources to do it :wink: Sounds like a really cool idea though.


I don't think it would be difficult or expensive to do this at all actually...


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## Jowlz (Dec 19, 2008)

Ahhh... Gotcha.... Yes it is totally different. Mine is completely automatic. It doesn't really need assistance. Picture your setup, but with well water, and working off a sump instead of directly into the tank. The reef keeper opens 2 valves. One opens and turns on the water. One opens the drain. They only open for 1.5 minutes, then close. A few gallons new come into the sump, and the sump is automatically topped off.

The RO idea is very interesting.. I have read online somewhere of people doing something similar to what you are doing but with well water...letting it trickle all day, and if I recall some of the fish breeders do it that way, but I can't recall an RO set up with a buffering system. Might be cool to give it a try....

Edited: Wrote a whole paragraph on the need to micro-dose trace elements and buffer... Then noticed your buffering chamber.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

> Ahhh... Gotcha.... Yes it is totally different. Mine is completely automatic. It doesn't really need assistance. Picture your setup, but with well water, and working off a sump instead of directly into the tank. The reef keeper opens 2 valves. One opens and turns on the water. One opens the drain. They only open for 1.5 minutes, then close. A few gallons new come into the sump, and the sump is automatically topped off.


I see, your setup seems interesting. So the drain valve is located in the sump, right?



> The RO idea is very interesting.. I have read online somewhere of people doing something similar to what you are doing but with well water...letting it trickle all day, and if I recall some of the fish breeders do it that way, but I can't recall an RO set up with a buffering system. Might be cool to give it a try....


Yes, I have read that breeders do something similar but they (or at least the ones I have read) have new water coming in directly from a water source like a lake or river...



> Edited: Wrote a whole paragraph on the need to micro-dose trace elements and buffer... Then noticed your buffering chamber.


 :thumb:


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## fatcat660 (Nov 29, 2005)

Sounds like a great idea very doable. My tank is in my basement behind the bar my sump pump crock is only a few feet away I could drain right into that. I am thinking seriously about this. =D>


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## trigger (Sep 6, 2002)

I just use a system to dimm the tubes mimicing sunrise and sunset. as a plus that system also controlls the temperature. All the rest is handywork


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