So i want to use 2 drive ports to power 12 v pumps to do auto water changes. Both pumps will be upstairs under the tank by the sump. I want one to pull water from the sump and send it to the basement and the other to pull new salt water from the basement to the sump. Anyone know if they are pumps that will work for this and be used by the drive ports?
Water Change Pumps
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Danny
HYDROS Expert
You best bet would be hydros dosing pumps. They come with a connector to hook them to a drive port. They run at 43ml a minute. I am not sure how much you want to replace each time. I run my pumps 3 times a day for around 2752ml a day water change. I have a Hydros dosing pump I am trying out on my ATO. So far it has worked great but it has only been running a couple of months. The DI storage is in the garage. The pump is there also. The tank is in a room 35 ft away from the garage. The tubing goes up through the attic and down the wall to a wall plate then to the stand and the sump. The three pumps on the lower shelf unit are the ones in use. The one on the bottom shelf to the left is the AWC pump it has dual heads. The one to the right is the Hydros pump and it is the ATO pump. The one above the Hydros is the pump dosing All For Reef. The three pumps in the upper shelves are spares for the time being. That shelf assembly is for my second tank which has not been setup yet.
So if i run each pump simultaneously with floats to monitor the sump level at 3 times a day for 45 min each time i should be changing out about 1 gallon a day. I would imagine i would have to disable my ato while these pumps run as well as i am just doing a water change. This should work correct?
Danny
HYDROS Expert
If you use the water change regimen that is built in it runs the drain pump for either a specific time or to a water level sensor. Then it refills to the top off water level sensor. It halts the ATO while this is in process. I have a dual head pump for AWC at the moment and cannot use the water change regimen. I think it would be closer to 30 minutes each time for three times a day for a gallon a day.
Thank you for the help. I am assuming the water change feature only works with the hydros dosing pumps?
Danny
HYDROS Expert
No, I think you can use other pumps. But when you are draining to a lower position and pumping that far up you need a pump that will not start a siphon and one that can pull the water up form that distance. Even with a dosing pump you will need to be careful. The pumping up from basement is not an issues as much as pumping it down to the basement. If for any reason that pump starts to siphon it could start draining you system without the pump running. You will need to use the ATO built into the water change regimen for ATO which means three pumps on drive ports.
So the Hydros x4 controller with only 2 drive ports will not work? I cant use the sense or 0-10v port for the ato? If thats the case, the whole concept of buying this setup is useless as i would have to buy another controller at $300.
Danny
HYDROS Expert
It would not cost $300 to get two more drive ports. The X2 controller only is 159.99. You would need a buss cable which is 9.99 for a 6ft one. A 1ft one is a little cheaper. You would also need a terminator which is 4.99. Then all you would need to do is start a collective and they would share all inputs and outputs just like a single controller. They are also coming out with a 8 outlet wired controller that would work using a power pack with the pumps. I would hesitate in using a wifi strip for this because if you loose wifi signal during a water change it could leave a pump running or not complete the water change. I have a X4 and 2 X2's for a total of 6 drive ports in my collective. All 6 are in use either driving pumps or solenoids for the RODI.
According to this post, https://www.coralvuehydros.com/product-support/hydros-control/add-automatic-water-changer-awc/ it seems the dosing pumps can be connected to wifi outlets as the system resumes schedule when power is restored. Seems only 1 drive port is necessary for the ato. Atleast that's how i understand it.
Danny
HYDROS Expert
I have had the wifi strips loose communication before. It does not happen very often on my setup but if that happens the strip will stay in whatever state it was in when communication is lost until communication is resumed. Usually the communication will resume in a minute or two but I don't want to risk it. That is why I suggested the XP8 if you want to power them with AC power since that controller is wired to the others forming a collective. I know that could have an issue also but not near as likely as the wifi power strips. The wifi strips are great as long as there is some kind of backup with heaters and such. In fact I have a backup on my heaters regardless of how it is connected to the controller. That is one of the main reason for tank crashes from a heater that got stuck in the on position. I have the thermostats set on the heater 3 degrees higher than the Hydros set. That way if one were stay on because of an issue with the hydros then the heater thermostat itself will take over until I can intervene. I also have the total heater wattage split between two heaters. I guess I may be over cautious but I have had tanks since the 70's. The way I look at if it can happen plan for it to happen when setting things up.
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