Automatic Water Changing and Top Off System

[Filtration Innovation]

Hi, we're a team in a high school Project Lead the Way engineering design and development class and we're trying to create a marketable system that automatically changes aquarium water upon command and we need to get product specifications (rules the product must abide by) from current aquarium owners. These can be anything that you feel a water changing system should do or avoid doing, and please, don't make any assumptions. These specifications can be anything from incredibly obvious (i.e. product should not kill fish) to incredibly specific (i.e. product should not allow nitrate levels to exceed 40ppm). We need all of our specifications to be backed by apparent consumer demand, so any response, even an extremely obvious one, is beneficial to us. Thank you for your time.

 

[jaddc]

Great project -- I can offer this link for one perspective:

 

[DuffyGeos]

What high school?

[Origami]

Here are some (off the cuff) design requirements for you:

 

The apparatus shall remove an amount of tank water and replace it with an equal amount of change water. (Assume change water quality, including temperature is acceptable.)

 

The amount of water changed in any water change operation shall be user-defined / controlled. 

 

The apparatus shall complete the water change operation within (TBR) minutes from the start of of the water change operation.

 

The water change shall be initiated on command. 

 

There shall be two command interface options to initiating a water change operation: Manual and automation-compatible.

 

There shall be a means(both manual and automation compatible) to immediately abort a water change operation that is in progress.

 

The apparatus shall be capable of being set up or taken down in less than 5 (TBR) minutes.

 

The apparatus shall be easy to operate and to learn to operate.

 

The apparatus shall be capable of remaining set up or connected to the target system (tank) for long periods (>30 days) without adverse effect on the water quality of the target system.

 

The apparatus shall be capable of aborting a water change due to excessive time or other indications of component failure.

 

The apparatus shall provide a visual indicator of operation.

 

The apparatus shall power up in an idle state (i.e. not start a water change until it's initiated).

 

The apparatus shall provide a visual indicator of aborted water changes.

 

The apparatus shall provide a means of resetting visual indicators to their nominal state.

[Filtration Innovation]

Thanks guys, these replies are extremely helpful. If you think of anything else, feel free to comment. Any specification, no matter how small or tedious it may seem, is important for our project. Thanks again! 

[Filtration Innovation]

What high school?

Colonie Central High School in Albany, NY.

[DuffyGeos]

Good luck with you project.

 

How did you hear about WAMAS?

[TrueTricia]

Thanks guys, these replies are extremely helpful. If you think of anything else, feel free to comment. Any specification, no matter how small or tedious it may seem, is important for our project. Thanks again! 

 

In addition to all the great comments Tom gave, here's another one.  Apparatus shall be able to detect when corresponding water containers are full/empty.  This is not a requirement, so much as an ideal.  I wouldn't want to have trash water overflowing into my space, nor would I want the water change to initiate if there's no clean water to add to the tank. 

[DuffyGeos]

Here is the direction I went.

 

http://genesisreefsystems.com/