Joined
·
114 Posts
Hey all,
I've been planning on building an automatic water change/top off (AWC/ATO). My 55 currently is a drilled, "sumped" tank. I discovered airline bulkheads on amazon and was thinking of how they could possibly be useful. Here's how. There would be a 5 gallon bucket or some other reservoir for clean, dechlorinated water. On the side of this bucket, there is a Tom's aqualifter pump, which is connected to a timer for 1 hour per day or 1 hour minutes per week (this is just a variable, up for change). When the timer switches on, it pumps water from the clean water reservoir into the display tank. This will put out about 3.5 gallons of water per each on period. Because the tank has 3, 1 inch bulkheads on it (Bean Animal over flow), it can certainly handle 3.5 extra gallons per hour, without overflowing (My return pump is rated at about 600gph). The excess water will first fill up the display tank level to where the overflow sets it (in case it isn't already at the set water level). Then it will flow down the overflow into the sump, where it will just make the water level rise to the level of the bulkheads (X number of those airline bulkheads or just a plain ol bulkhead idk) in it. The water will then overflow from the sump, down the airlines or some sort of tubing connected to the sump, and into a drain. That's it. All you have to do is just fill the reservoir with tap water and dechlorinate it everyday or whenever the reservoir is low.
This is just a plan. Please feel free to point out any pitfalls or risks you may see. I currently do not have the resources to set this up. I would not want to spend my money on something that does not work. Although it would be cheap, it's still money and with these unpredictable times, an extra dollar or twenty may come in handy.
Thanks for any help,
Shak
I've been planning on building an automatic water change/top off (AWC/ATO). My 55 currently is a drilled, "sumped" tank. I discovered airline bulkheads on amazon and was thinking of how they could possibly be useful. Here's how. There would be a 5 gallon bucket or some other reservoir for clean, dechlorinated water. On the side of this bucket, there is a Tom's aqualifter pump, which is connected to a timer for 1 hour per day or 1 hour minutes per week (this is just a variable, up for change). When the timer switches on, it pumps water from the clean water reservoir into the display tank. This will put out about 3.5 gallons of water per each on period. Because the tank has 3, 1 inch bulkheads on it (Bean Animal over flow), it can certainly handle 3.5 extra gallons per hour, without overflowing (My return pump is rated at about 600gph). The excess water will first fill up the display tank level to where the overflow sets it (in case it isn't already at the set water level). Then it will flow down the overflow into the sump, where it will just make the water level rise to the level of the bulkheads (X number of those airline bulkheads or just a plain ol bulkhead idk) in it. The water will then overflow from the sump, down the airlines or some sort of tubing connected to the sump, and into a drain. That's it. All you have to do is just fill the reservoir with tap water and dechlorinate it everyday or whenever the reservoir is low.
This is just a plan. Please feel free to point out any pitfalls or risks you may see. I currently do not have the resources to set this up. I would not want to spend my money on something that does not work. Although it would be cheap, it's still money and with these unpredictable times, an extra dollar or twenty may come in handy.
Thanks for any help,
Shak
