Water Changes
Did a water change tonight so I thought I would put up a couple of pics showing how I do them on my tank.
On my last tank I got sick of having to turn off the syphon, return pump, ATO, etc. to do a water change, so on this tank I designed the plumbing so that I could change the water with out turing anything off. I needed to do this with out the water level in the return section of the sump changing so that the ATO didn't kick in.
My IBC is outside so first of all I run a hose from the IBC to the tank.
Secondly I turn off a valve and remove a section of pipe that goes in to the sump.
This is an old pic with the pipe still attached and valve on.
Pipe removed and hose attached.
The water level is consistent during the water change because the water is going out of my backup pipe, so any water that goes in the tank forces the same amount of water out of the tank. This leaves the sump to run at its normal operating level.
This is an old pic of the weir, the water is exiting the tank through the larger pipe on the right. I have since added strainers to both pipes.
While the water change is happening I give the sand bed a good stir up so the tank ends up looking like this for a while.
After a couple hundred litres has been pumped in, I just turn off the valve and re attach the pipe, pack up and i'm done!
Doing it this way causes a little of the new water to be wasted but I will take the convenience over the small water loss.
On my last tank I got sick of having to turn off the syphon, return pump, ATO, etc. to do a water change, so on this tank I designed the plumbing so that I could change the water with out turing anything off. I needed to do this with out the water level in the return section of the sump changing so that the ATO didn't kick in.
My IBC is outside so first of all I run a hose from the IBC to the tank.
Secondly I turn off a valve and remove a section of pipe that goes in to the sump.
This is an old pic with the pipe still attached and valve on.
Pipe removed and hose attached.
The water level is consistent during the water change because the water is going out of my backup pipe, so any water that goes in the tank forces the same amount of water out of the tank. This leaves the sump to run at its normal operating level.
This is an old pic of the weir, the water is exiting the tank through the larger pipe on the right. I have since added strainers to both pipes.
While the water change is happening I give the sand bed a good stir up so the tank ends up looking like this for a while.
After a couple hundred litres has been pumped in, I just turn off the valve and re attach the pipe, pack up and i'm done!
Doing it this way causes a little of the new water to be wasted but I will take the convenience over the small water loss.