ChiefReefer Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 I have had the AutoAqua AWC (Auto Water Changer) for a little bit now, and Im curious to see if/how other people use them. I initially set it up to change 10% of the water every Saturday. The other day I got thinking, and reset it to change out a little bit of water every day instead, still working out to 10% per week. I feel that this will keep the levels more consistent, and I may even dose through changeout water instead of ATO being that it will be exactly the same all year round. What does everyone else do/ think? Quote Link to comment
specore Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 I definitely think smaller and more frequent changes are ideal. Jealous of your setup, water changes are definitely not my favorite chore. 2 Quote Link to comment
1891Bro Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 This subject matter doesn’t concern philosophy in any way. Quote Link to comment
dandelion Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Smaller changes makes parameters more stable, but overall less effective in removing waste. Let’s say your tank starts off with 50ppm of “something” and it increases at a rate of 10ppm a day, a 20% daily change would slowly converge the concentration to about 40ppm. Whereas if you do 100% every 5 days, the number fluctuates a lot but the overall average would be 36ppm. I think it’s best if you can combine the two approaches. Daily small change plus maybe bimonthly big change. As much as I would love to have such a system, the problem with auto WC is 1) it cannot target-remove detritus 2) you’ll have to store saltwater, from which alk and calcium can precipitate out 3) another thing to potentially fail 😂 1 Quote Link to comment
ChiefReefer Posted July 31, 2018 Author Share Posted July 31, 2018 True on all of those points. when I bought it I was just looking for an ATO. It was only 100$ more so I couldn't say no. My tank is pretty small so the 3, 5-gallon pails that fit under the stand will probably last 2 weeks. Good point about the alk and calcium, ill check the water from time to time and see how much I'm loosing over the 2 weeks. Quote Link to comment
Aurortpa Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Goodness, they even have something to do water changes for you? 😮 That's awesome. 1 Quote Link to comment
banasophia Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Hmm interesting idea. I think I kind of like doing water changes though. Quote Link to comment
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