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automated water exchanges

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deno
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i'm looking at getting automated water exchanges setup. is there any alternatives to the liter meter?

thanks,
deno

kinetic
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Also wondering the same thing. My Liter Meter III really sucks.

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iCon
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I've seen some set ups using an Apex controller but too complicated for my needs atm

SF - Go Giants!

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.

Coral reefer
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Pretty sure you could do it with several float switches and timers. Otherwise, what about having a bulkhead at a certain spot in your sump that will act like an overflow and go to a drain. Then you could just pump in a certain amount of water everyday or week or whatever. The extra would go through the bullhead overflow. Not as good as a remove water then refill style, but it seems pretty simple.

Mike

GreshamH
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http://www.genesisreefsystems.com/

http://www.genesisreefsystems.com/products.php?cat=9

I see people taking about the above, but that is all...

kinetic
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GreshamH wrote:
http://www.genesisreefsystems.com/

http://www.genesisreefsystems.com/products.php?cat=9

I see people taking about the above, but that is all...

Oh looks so good. Way more suited for water changes than the Liter Meter III. Glad someone came out with something specifically for this. I'm thinking of trying it out. Will probably just run it on a test "tank" for a few days to make sure it doesn't bust anything.

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SoulFish
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seem you could just use two $20 home depot timed sprinkler connections. One is set to drain for 1 minute once a week and the other set to fill once a week for one minute, and runs directly after the drain one shuts off. Just use standard hose fittings and runs on AA batteries and cost $40 total.

Basically the timers just open the valve to either drain of gravity fill. And time is how you measure the fill or drain rate.

Orbit Water Timmer

iani
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First you don't want to use anything with brass with salt water. Also the drain and fill hose will not have the same flow rates. 1 min will not be the same for both.

GreshamH
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iani wrote:
First you don't want to use anything with brass with salt water. Also the drain and fill hose will not have the same flow rates. 1 min will not be the same for both.

You may be able to remove that outer brass fitting (doubtful), but who knows what the interior is like.

I know from using other units like this, some require a certain PSI to operate (gravity fed from a short drop wouldn't be enough).

http://www.orbitonline.com/products/Timers/01/01/04/1727/

I don't see anything about min PSI though.

GreshamH
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SoulFish wrote:
seem you could just use two $20 home depot timed sprinkler connections. One is set to drain for 1 minute once a week and the other set to fill once a week for one minute, and runs directly after the drain one shuts off. Just use standard hose fittings and runs on AA batteries and cost $40 total.

Basically the timers just open the valve to either drain of gravity fill. And time is how you measure the fill or drain rate.

Orbit Water Timmer

You need to sell that better.... needs a video and music

Laughing out loud

kinetic
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yeah, the video and music really sold me. I'm a sucker for cheesy marketing.

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