Saaweeeet!

[Madmak]

Just did my first bucket-less 50G water change using nothing but my iPhone Apex App and 3 ball valves. It was magical!

Open a ball valve and my closed loop pump sends 50G to the drain, close the drain and shut down my closed loop pump, open up the ball valve coming from a Mag 12 in my mixing barrell and turn that pump on and it pumps 50G back in. All in under 10 minutes!

In 12 hours I can add salt to the new 50G of RO/DI water and I'm ready for another.

BTW, my mixing station is 40 feet away from my DT in my furnace room.

[Nano]

Ahh must be a glorious feeling, I'm still doing the 5g bucket lol

[Madmak]

Ya, I don't mind buckets for my nano or QT tanks but a 50G water change with buckets sucks. I had to carry them upstairs to dump them as well. This way rocks!

[lockrookie]

im jealous i have to lug 5-5g buckets up to a bigger bucket im thinkng of a way i can pump it up from basement but a mixing tank will hinder a future frag tank... anyways congrats.. and good job.

[Tderow30]

That is pretty unreal! My god that would be wonders to be able to do for a big tank!

[Madmak]

Thx, it's nice to have it finished up. It was worth the extra planning and the extra parts.

I'll miss the workout but won't have an excuse not to do timely water changes.

No extra pumps either, the closed loop pump doubles as the "out" pump as the inlet is low in the tank. The mixing pump doubles as the "in" pump and the water travels down the same 1/2" spa flex. Mid way I have it tied in to a 2" drain so I can send either tank water or mixing station water there.

I even set up a few Apex programs to prepare for a WC. One program brings the NSW up to temp and mixes it continuously for 24 hours prior to a WC. The other default program mixes for 30 minutes every 6 hours and keeps the temp only above 65F.

When I clean up my mess I will post some pics.

[Madmak]

Inside my 50G drum is the Mag12 pump and heater. Pump feeds the top bulkhead and returns to the bottom bulkhead and mixing outlets.

Plumbing on outside of barrel where I can send the NSW to the tank or recirculate it with the 2 ball valves.

The T where the line is tied in to a main drain. These ball valves send old tank water to the drain or NSW to the tank.


My mixing station as a whole with the Vertex RO/DI, the Apex Energy Bar 4, and the 50G mixing barrel.

I have a second barrel but not sure I need an extra 50G of RO/DI around yet. I may just tie on a 5G pail instead.

[MKLKT]

That's pretty sweet!