Automatic Water changes. It doesnt get any better then this.

[gettaReef]

I installed the Stenner 100DMP4 a week ago and do a daily 2 1/2 gallon change spread out over five 1/2 gallon changes. I installed it approximately in the center between the DT and new salt water holding barrel. it is a total run of about 60 feet with a 8 foot lift. So far works great. I also installed a low water detector in the salt water holding barrel and connected everything to the Apex so if something happens and I do not fill the holding tank it will shut off. I also have a high water level switch in the sump to shut it down should the water level raise more than 1/2" in the sump. The same switch also shuts down my ATO. Gotta love the Apex!

Sounds like a nice setup. Do you have any pictures of your stenner installed?

 

[Grizzle]

Sounds like a nice setup. Do you have any pictures of your stenner installed?

Not much to see other than the Stenner with four 1/4" lines coming off it. My DT etc is in my downstairs rec room and the holding tank is in the laundry room so I mounted the Stenner up in the floor joists out of the way. Ran an extension from it back to the Apex power bar.


180 Gal DT, 65 Ga Sump, AI Vega's , Super Reef Octopus 3000Int Skimmer, BRS Dual GFO/Carbon Reactor, Reef, Super Reef Octopus Bio Pellet Reactor, 3 x MP40's

 

[prsnlty]

Following

 

[walkabout]

OK been following this just for all who wants to know the 100DMP is $284.00 witch is a fixed rate per day. They have five model's available from 6 gallon per day to I think 100 per day,

Then they have an adjustable model witch is the 100DM this cost $384.00 and does basically the same thing but you can set it on the amount you need if you do not have a controller

I am going to get the 100DMP and put it on my apex, my build is a 200 gallon with a 50 gallon sump so I will set it to do 2.5 to 3 gallons aday

 

[walkabout]

FYI they use these styles of pump on dosing swimming pool chemicals so you may be able to go to your swimming pool store and see if I can pick one up there

 

[DRThompson]

100DMP4 - Buy Stenner pumps chemical feeders - $284.00
here's the link, google search lockewell if link doesnt work. They are in florida; free shipping. Current Prices for the fixed rate pumps are $284

 

[Grizzle]

100DMP4 - Buy Stenner pumps chemical feeders - $284.00
here's the link, google search lockewell if link doesnt work. They are in florida; free shipping. Current Prices for the fixed rate pumps are $284

That is where I got mine from. The pump comes with 2 extra pump tubes that you are suppose to replace every 6 months to a year and two 20 ft lengths of Suction / Discharge Tubing in 1/4" or 3/8". They also sell additional 3/8 and 1/4" tubing in 20 and 100' lengths.

You don't need a reef controller like an apex to control it. Any simple timer would work since no matter how long you set it to run its always going to remove the same amount of water from the DT as it puts back in.

Ray

 

[YodaHart]

That is where I got mine from. The pump comes with 2 extra pump tubes that you are suppose to replace every 6 months to a year and two 20 ft lengths of Suction / Discharge Tubing in 1/4" or 3/8". They also sell additional 3/8 and 1/4" tubing in 20 and 100' lengths.

You don't need a reef controller like an apex to control it. Any simple timer would work since no matter how long you set it to run its always going to remove the same amount of water from the DT as it puts back in.

Ray

It might be good to put a float switch in the saltwater reservoir and have that be another checkpoint on the apex. Only run the pump if there is actually water in the reservoir. Unless of course you can setup a way to automate the saltwater mixing, too! Filling the saltwater container wouldn't be an issue, but adding the salt is another problem.

 

[Grizzle]

It might be good to put a float switch in the saltwater reservoir and have that be another checkpoint on the apex. Only run the pump if there is actually water in the reservoir. Unless of course you can setup a way to automate the saltwater mixing, too! Filling the saltwater container wouldn't be an issue, but adding the salt is another problem.

That is exactly what I did. If you see my original post yesterday I put a low water float in the salt water reservoir and I also have a high water float in the sump that I was using for the ATO so set it to switch off the Stenner as well just in case. Now as you said if someone can come up with a way to automate the mixing of fresh saltwater!!

 

[walkabout]

You can do it but you would still have to remember to fill the auto salt fill reservoir

 

[gettaReef]

Does anyone have any examples of an auto "salt adder" to your sw mixing tote? The only one I seem to remember is a auto water change/rodi/ato/pH controller system called the Dialyseas, I think (very expensive). I don't think I'd ever use an auto system that actually adds the water and salt as I use a large 65gal polycarbonate container to store sw and rodi, and adding salt is easy, pre-measured, and fast, but guess I'm just curious

 

[walkabout]

LoL

 

[AquamanE]

LITERMETER III REVIEW BY EDDIE SOLER (AquamanE)

As many of you know this thread has proven many ways to make reefing easier for many. At the time of this response this thread has over >25,000 views. Dr. David Thompson started this when he choose to research different ways to perform Automatic water Changes (AWC).

As the thread progressed many had their own ideas with eBay pumps, medical grade pumps, and others very capable of performing the task. Dr. Thompson bought and currently uses a Stenner 100DM4 pump, and so do I. Mid-way through I was approached by Spectrapure to give the LM3 a try and post a “review”. So here it is.

I will use Dr. Thompson’s research on the Liter Meter 3 (LM3) as this will make it easier to review those important topics on the pump. My responses will be in a different color for easier reading.

He checked out the liter meter, masterflex pumps and Stenner pumps for this project. I can’t comment on any other pump since I have only used the Stenner and the LM3. Below where his thoughts on the LM3 after his exhaustive search, and my response.

LiterMeter PRO's:

Easiest to setup- No doubt easy to set up. Trying to be careful though I reached out to Customer Service at Spectrapure and they guided me through the whole process in 10 minutes.

Designed for auto water changes- The LM3 can be used for more than just AWC’s, it can be used for other precise dosing such as 2 part, trace elements, etc.. It also has a very nice module for feeding Kalkwasser.

Best peristaltic pump in the industry (aquarium)- I don’t know if it’s the “best” peristaltic pump, not being an engineer, but it is definitely an “aquarium” pump. Many of the others mentioned are industrial chemical pumps (Stenner), ink press pumps (eBay), medical grade pumps (Masterflex). So this is definitely a pump geared toward aquarium use.
Excellent customer service - read comments, blogs, recommendations from friends, Reef Central forum messages- Dr. Thompson used the mentioned process’s for this comment. I experienced it first-hand. My multiple calls to Spectrapure where always answered immediately and by knowledgeable folks in the CS department.

Quietest of the 3 choices- Again can’t opine on anything other than the LM3 vs. Stenner. Some on here have called the Stenner a “jet engine”. I wouldn’t call it that loud but it is DEFINITELY loud. The LM3 is VERY quiet. The fact that my AWC pump sits in a closet, I can hear the Stenner (although acceptable to me), the LM3 I would not know it was working if I didn’t sit there in front of it and listen, or check the fresh SW bin to make sure it was being emptied every day.

LiterMeter Cons:

-more expensive new, though readily avail used at lower prices- Spectrapure has recently drop their price of the LM3. For how long? don’t know.

-Not apex compatible- This is a matter of semantics. While you control the amount changed by the Stenner with a Controller by letting it know how many minutes to stay on, you don’t need to do this with the LM3. You program how many liters (gals) you want to change per day and the LM3 does it. It calculates its own rates and divides that by 150 and does it all day long FOR you. Some may consider this a CON since you have no control over this, but if all you want is x # of gallons changes per day, it happens. Regarding safety features, all we do with a Stenner is program the controller to shut off if the fresh SW bin is empty, or the sump is getting overfilled. It’s just an ON/OFF feature in controllers. Why can’t that be done with the LM3 with the same float switches used for any other pump. Ex. If fresh SW bin empty “plug#5”=off. No different.

-Require periodic calibration for accuracy- I found this to actually be a PRO. The LM3 requires a calibration so that it can take into account line lengths, head pressure etc. to determine whether one pump needs to be faster or slower than the other to deliver the same volume. It then adjusts its flow rate and time to deliver both sides equally. You can’t do that with the Stenner, it’s a fixed rate by both heads equally, regardless of line pressure, length or head. CS at Spectrapure tells me you only need to do if you change lines, tubing on pump, or maybe once a year. It took me 10 minutes.

-Not designed for continuous use- Don’t know that I agree with this either. The LM3 divides your requests by 150 and performs this all day 150 times. I ran it for 1.5 months with Zero issues.

CONCLUSION: The LM3 is a great pump. For the purposes of AWC I don’t see many drawbacks other than (now) just a slight increase in price, and the fact that you are stuck with 150x per day whether you want that or not. But again, is this really a draw back? I will warn though that although this pump is capable of many other things including precision dosing and ATO capabilities, if you are using for AWC that is all you can do with it. In the future you decide to stop AWC, then you continue to have a multifaceted pump, unlike the Stenner. All you can do with it is AWC. All this being said the LM3 is backed up by a 5 year warranty, much more than the others. Couple that with excellent customer service, you have a winner. I recommend it as an excellent choice for AWC pump. Try getting that and/or technical service from an industrial chemical pump company about your aquarium needs, or an eBay guy that pulled it off a printing press with ink.

 

[DRThompson]

Great write up Eddie! Special thanks to Spectrapure for the donation of a LM3 to our club.

 

[Sacohen]

Very informative Eddie. Thanks for the research and write up.

 

[gettaReef]

Yeah, thank you for the write up AquamanE. Some good stuff in there and very informative. Helps me a lot esp since I'm considering the LM3 and Stenner. I also am considering the D0S from Neptune Aquatics. I've heard great things about the D0S, and it appears that would be a great AWC system as well. There's many options!

 

[AquamanE]

Yeah, thank you for the write up AquamanE. Some good stuff in there and very informative. Helps me a lot esp since I'm considering the LM3 and Stenner. I also am considering the D0S from Neptune Aquatics. I've heard great things about the D0S, and it appears that would be a great AWC system as well. There's many options!

Yes I saw the DOS at MACNA Denver- Look very promising, but remember you HAVE to have an APEX to run this. Price will likely be comparable to the other options here. Release date they where unclear about, but might be within the next few months. The WAVE, their new propellar pump isnt coming out till next year.

 

[gettaReef]

Yes I saw the DOS at MACNA Denver- Look very promising, but remember you HAVE to have an APEX to run this. Price will likely be comparable to the other options here. Release date they where unclear about, but might be within the next few months. The WAVE, their new propellar pump isnt coming out till next year.

Yep, and fortunately I do have the Apex controller with 2 EB8's (which has just been sitting on my desk for the last 4 months due to me being super busy and very picky about finding the most efficient and clean way of organizing all the electronics in a new shelf from IKEA....I have lots to do!!). Although the D0S is new and info regarding it has just recently become available, do you see any advantages or additional features it has over the stenner and/or the LM3?

 

[walkabout]

I see an overpriced item, don't get me wrong I LOVE my apex but you can buy two dosing pumps for half the price from BRS and you can hook them up to the apex, if the price was lower I mite think about getting one, I like the stenner, I don't have it yet but will be gating it soon

 

[Sacohen]

2 dosing pumps will never run at the same exact speed and if you are trying to do a AWC where you are removing and replacing water at the same time, it's critical to replace the exact same amount as you remove.