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Thread: Auto freshwater W/C

  1. #1
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    Auto freshwater W/C

    Hello,

    I have a 135G freshwater tank that I'm trying to automate water changes. I have seen the optical water level sensors, and that is something I'd love to work with one day, but for now I'm just trying to workout the water removing aspect of the system. I have already plumbed a line into my tank with PEX using a thermostatic valve to get the temperature correct. I just use a shutoff valve to turn it on and off. It's been the best thing ever! The next step is adding a syphon that I can turn on and off with a switch. Any ideas how I can do this? I added a floor drain in, so currently I manually syphon the tank into the drain. What I want is a pump that I can hardwire with a switch (Or a plug is fine because I can wire a switch onto a plug). I want the intake and exhaust pump tubes to be roughly 1" diameter and the pump needs a 1 way valve so that the sewer gasses cannot come up through the tube when the pump isn't in use. Most freshwater folks simply don't go to these extremes, so I'm having a lot of trouble finding good information on reliable pumps.

    Once I have that sorted out the next step is to automate using the optical sensors to refill and a timer on the pump.

    Exhaust.jpg

  2. #2
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    You are going to need a way to break the siphon as well or block siphon with a solenoid.

    Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by zombie View Post
    You are going to need a way to break the siphon as well or block siphon with a solenoid.

    Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
    My thought was that once the water gets low enough to allow air into the tube the siphon would stop. I just want the pump to stay on for a few seconds, long enough to start to the process. After that it would turn off and the water would just run passively down the tube. Thoughts?

  4. #4
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ricky View Post
    My thought was that once the water gets low enough to allow air into the tube the siphon would stop. I just want the pump to stay on for a few seconds, long enough to start to the process. After that it would turn off and the water would just run passively down the tube. Thoughts?
    That would work, but it will drop the water level all the way down to the pump. I would keep the pump on for more than just a few seconds (but shorter than the time to run dry) to make the timing of the sequence a bit more consistent.

    Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

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