# Auto Topup advice



## Katfish (29 Nov 2012)

All my bits for a mains feed auto topup have turned up today so ready to install.

But what I want to find out is can I just tap into my drinking water filter will that be good enough ?
This is the filter I have for my drinking water.
http://www.pozzani.co.uk/water-treatmen ... _info.html


----------



## foxfish (2 Dec 2012)

I just go straight from the mains myself but I am sure you can tap off from your carbon filter if you want.
I have forgotten to mention just how easy water changes become once you have installed your auto top up....
I use a piece of airline about 20, long & syphon strain down the sink (you could go out the window or into a big bucket)
I find the auto top up can easily keep up with the flow through the airline & it takes about 25 mins to fill a 5 gallon bucket so I just leave the syphon going on Sunday mornings for about 2 hours while I read the paper or look at the forum....no mess no stress   You can do this any time of day, light on gas on or whatever sate the tank is in.


----------



## Katfish (3 Dec 2012)

Ok thats sounds like a great plan 

I am thinking of getting some  white RO hose and running it straight to the drain outside (perm fix) as when I do my weekly W/C I am looking at just over 400ltr.

So based on your 5 gallon per 25mins I would need to have mine running for about 8hrs  This sound right ?


----------



## foxfish (3 Dec 2012)

I very often do smaller water changes rather than one big one, it just depends, if i am home, sitting down i somtimes feel I might as well just do a hours worth


----------



## Katfish (4 Dec 2012)

Ok I might be over thinking but I change around 400ltr a week 

Now if I could get this right that would work out around 58ltr per day or 2.4ltr per hour now if I could control the outlet to 2.4ltr per hour could I just leave the system running 24/7 ?  As in 2.4ltr of new water going in an hour every day all day ?


----------



## foxfish (4 Dec 2012)

Sure you could but, if you are going down that avenue you would be better using a bigger bore overflow pipe from the sump & just set the ball valve slightly higher than the overflow, that way you could let it run safely 24 7.
Another alternative would be to pump the water out via a small powerhead & some air line set on a timer.


----------



## Katfish (4 Dec 2012)

ok thats sounds a bit better that way but the pump would have to pump out at the same speed as the refiling 

The next question is though doing a little water change everyday will it have an effect on my EI dosing ?


----------



## foxfish (5 Dec 2012)

A power head connected to air line will only pump a certain amount of water & your mains supply will easily keep up with that!
You need to do some experimenting....
I would water change every night & dose the following morning.


----------



## Katfish (6 Dec 2012)

All bits now ordered for auto drain   10m of ro hose which is going to go outside to drain pipe which I will locate higher than the sump so I do not get syphon effect when pump stops pumping.

I have also ordered a flow adjustable pump so I can get the drain to the same speed as the refill.

I tested my refill today and I get 3ltrs per min out off it as it is running though the filter so my plan is to change 65ltr daily so have the pump running for 22mins every day  which would give me  455ltr of new water in my tank a week which would just be over 50%   or would it be better to change 10% every day so pump run for 30mins everyday and change a total of 630ltr water every week from a 900ltr tank ?


----------



## ian_m (6 Dec 2012)

Problem with most autofill/autochange systems is you have to cover yourself against all failure modes so that you don't flood your room/house.

Not too sure of your system, but I have read about systems with two pumps where the outtake pump jammed (some weed got stuck) and the refill pump just blindly pumped in more water (from tank on floor) and overflowed the tank. Solution there is to have a float valve on tank to stop the inlet pump. Failure mode here of course is the float valve jamming & outlet blocked & continual pumping.

What the marine people do is have a raised outlet/overflow pipe in the tank so that excess water in the tank goes to the drain. You then pump from your storage tank for x minutes to change y litres of water. You use a storage tank with float valve and its own over flow pipe so if valve jams the tank won't overflow. Failure mode here is blocked outlet pipe and still pumping in water.

You use a storage tank to pre-dose the water with dechlorinator & in the marine case salt and minerals as well via a dosing pump.

You could be clever with your planted tank water storage tank and alternately dose the water with macro and micro fertilisers before pumping into the tank ??? But watch out for the "salts" crystalising on things like float valves and jamming them.


----------



## Katfish (6 Dec 2012)

My fresh water is coming straight from the mains via a 4 stage filter then to this (Bubble magus aquarium RO reverse osmosis water auto refill shut float valve sump) so no pump.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271096127905? ... 1497.l2649

outlet is just going to be a powerhead which is going to feed r/o hose set on a timer to come on for 30 mins over a three hour period to an outside drain.

Water will only come into the tank if the water level drops this way due to the float valve


----------



## Katfish (14 Dec 2012)

Well today I got my auto water change working and I must say I am even impressed.

I have not fixed it yet as wanted to get it right b4 drilling holes though wall etc.

The hardest part was getting the r/o hose to fit a power head but I the end I made my own fitting out of odds and sods I had laying around.

In the end I opted to use a fluval 802 power head I had and this is giving me with a 3ft head to sink 24ltr per hour when I perm fix it the head will be less than a foot so should see a little increase in the ltr/ph but I would be happy with the 24ltr/ph as I would set this on a timer to come on at 2am and go off at 7am which would give me 120ltr water change per night and 840ltr per week which would be around 90% wc per week.

Then my plan is to ei dose at 9am so the salts have time to mix and get in the water column for lights on at 11am 

How dose this all sound ?


----------



## foxfish (14 Dec 2012)

It sounds fine but you will be better off dividing up your ferts into daily doses & dose macro & micro together.
Although I still dont understand the necessity of using RO water you might need to remineralize the the tank & keep a very careful eye on flow through the RO unit as it might not last that long before slowing down & wont be able to keep up with the tank discharge!


----------



## Katfish (14 Dec 2012)

I am not using RO though 

All it is, is a carbon drinking water filter


----------



## foxfish (14 Dec 2012)

Katfish said:
			
		

> My fresh water is coming straight from the mains via a 4 stage filter then to this (Bubble magus aquarium RO reverse osmosis water auto refill shut float valve sump)


OK that bit confused me  :?


----------



## Katfish (14 Dec 2012)

I got it wrong it a drinking water filter it has 

    Stage One
        Synthetic membrane spun-polypropylene filters remove suspended solids such as dirt and rust. 
    Stage Two
        Carbon of high quality with special silver impregnation dramatically reduces chlorine and dissolved organic pollutants such as agro-chemicals, solvents, THM's, TCE's, PCB's, etc. 
    Stage Three
        Ion Exchange system specific to heavy metals dramatically reduces lead, aluminium, copper, mercury, cadmium, iron, etc. 
    Stage Four
        Block Carbon ultra-efficient stage further reduces chlorine, dissolved organic matter and particulates, finally polishing the water.


----------

