Anybody have a set up to do automatic water changes??? post post!!! your set up please
Anybody have a set up to do automatic water changes??? post post!!! your set up please
I think many of us use a "flow through" type design, where new water is constantly being added... but
I used a design that I haven't seen used a lot here, it's my variation of Onishi design. It has a "trough" with
a series of pipes that use air to remove the waste (and water) on a timer, and a simple stock tank filler to
replace the water that was removed.
I have it set to flush about 20 gallons every 3 hours...
The basic design:
How the pipes look during the build...
About done...
The timer and air pump...
So far it's worked great.
Set one up 7 years ago and it is still performing well, amount of time on timer determines amount of water change.
Pond has automatic overflow, water drains to street, every night at 1 am my system runs water and declorinater for 30 mins.
Used following materials:
120 VAC to 24 VDC power supply, purchased Ebay
Christmas light timer, purchased Home Depot
120 VAC relay two contact, coils wired to Christmas light timer, one contact to be used to open Asco valve other contact
used to start metering pump, purchased Ebay
LMI metering pump adds declorinater to water as it is pumped into pond, purchased Ebay
Asco brass safety valve 24 VCD coils, normally closed, if valve fails water will not flow into pond, purchased Ebay
20 gallon plastic container, small drum with cover to house declorinater
ok so what I was thinking. Put a small pump on a timer say a small mag drive 1200 gph along those lines in my 300 g filter/veggie box that feeds waste line (turns on for 30 min per day/week). Then a auto refill on float valve to do the refill in the main pond. So the idea is mag is draining and float is refilling at the same time.
Make sure to use a float switch as an emergency pump shut off. If something goes wrong with the timer you don’t want to empty the pond or if on city water put too much chlorine water into the pond. Throttle the make up water so it is slower than the discharge water.
That's basically what I do. I have a sump pump in the bottom of my vortex SC on a timer (and safety float switch) for a once a day clean out. Since I'm using well water thats not pressurized, I hve my well pump on a timer also to refill what the cleanout lost. But, I also have that timer set to add small amounts 20 times a day for sort of a flow through effect (drips out of my overflow).
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Cheers,
Ci
I have an auto fill and auto level that are just a little off level from each other. Flow about 125 gallons per day, everyday in a 5000 gal pond
Installed one 7 years ago have not had issues with it at this time, have not had to do manual water changes. Made mistake and left on for 3 days, worked fine no issues with Koi, automatic dechlorinater worked fine. Once pond is full, pond water is automatically diverted to drain and recycled into drinking water, Lake Houston. System runs 30 mins every night adds approximately 200 gallons to a 8,500 gallon pond.
Here is a list of material I used:
Automatic Timer, 120 Vac output, purchased Home Depot
120 VAC to 24 VDC power supply, purchased Ebay
Relay 120 VAC coils, 2 contacts, purchased Ebay
Asco valve, brass safety valve normally closed, 24 VDC coil, if valve fails water will be shut off, purchased Ebay
LMI metering pump used to pump dechlorinater into tap water as added, purchased Ebay
30 galon plastic drum for dechlorinater, purchased at resale location
Dechlorinater, sodium thiosulfate
System need to be wired in a fail safe manor, so as if there is a failure of equipment or power it will shut OFF.