DIY Fish Room Auto Water Change System

Detailing how I built an auto water change system for my basement fish room. In this video I discuss the requirements for the project, the supplies needed, show the assembly and installation of the system.
Links to the supplies needed for this project:
kit.co/stevepoland/fishroom-a...
Drain project video:
• How I Upgraded the Dra...
-------------------------------------------------
SUBSCRIBE!
kzbin.info...
LET'S CONNECT!
stevepolandaquatics.com
EQUIPMENT RECOMMENDATIONS!
kit.co/stevepoland/aquarium-gear

[@seanstenson1358]

This video is still so helpful. I've watched it so many times setting up my fishroom. Wish there was some new videos 😂. Thank you

[@sydneysangels]

Same here!

[@AnhLe-rf4uf]

This is the best, most well-explained video of this water change system that I've seen! Thank you!

[@pleconation840]

This is one of the best video walk-tho on a water change system

[@CandBLawnCare]

So funny Steve. I was in the process of doing this exact type system before I moved. I had the shower valve install and used it for individual tank changes. I just had a baby and needed to spend less time in the fish room. So I planned on an automatic change system to spend more time with the family. I was gonna use a sprinkler also. Super nice to do changes and fish room maintenance without even being in there. Good job.

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+LVcichlids thanks! The point of this was really to spend more time with the family and not have to downsize. It was just getting to be too much.

[@CandBLawnCare]

Steve Poland Cichlids I completely agree. That was my exact purpose as well.

[@cubanreefer1582]

My friend hopefully you don't live in a freezing temperatures place, am a plumber and I recommend always use CPVC inside the home it can hold up to 300 psi I believe and even more in cold water. Nice Job by the way ,very nice layout

[@DJ_LittlePea]

This all definitely makes your water changes so much easier ... you've done a great job Steve and you explained it all so well 🤗🤗

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+PsychedelicBabe thanks PB!

[@AdamTillontheWeb]

Excellent video! Thanks for being so concise too. Super clean work

[@kongvue5160]

Awesome job. I've bred fish before and always had to do water changes manually. I couldn't expand anymore due to the amount of labor in changing water and the crazy time consumption. This was 15 years ago or so ago. This makes me think of going back into the hobby and also a second source of income. This is a great setup.

[@FrankieKennethL]

Wow. What a,world of information. My head is still spinnin' haha. Will be watching several more times to fully digest. Thanks for the detailed run down

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Cichlid Soldier no problem, glad you liked it Frankie

[@Tghg991]

Awesome system, the one I'm working on used to be very similar and ran into similar issues you discussed at the end. Awesome videos too, great detail

[@MileHiFreshwater]

I am so glad I found this, as I am currently working on building a fish room!

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Mile Hi Freshwater cool, let me know if you have questions

[@DoNnEgRoW]

Love your videos, instructional, clear and rigth down to the point! Thanks

[@BigDaddyRic]

You made this really ready to understand man I appreciate it alot. Keep up the great work bro

[@chrissmithsiklidguy2500]

Nice video Im a big fan, all your videos are always well thought out...and your tanks and fish stocks are always amazing. Nice job Steve..

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Chris Smith / Siklid guy thanks, much appreciated!

[@reggieshpcichlids5060]

Great video and system. Good job Steve!

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Reggie's H&P Cichlids thanks Reggie

[@jacobchrem2536]

very cool and convenient system thanx for sharing Steve!!

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Jacob Chrem thanks Jacob

[@DannysAquariums]

Wow man! Awesome video again! I wish I had a big fish room! Your tanks are looking so nice! *_Keep up the good work and thumbs up!_*

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Danny's Aquariums thanks Danny

[@DannysAquariums]

+Steve Poland Cichlids your welcome!

[@PseudoAccurate]

Great breakdown and well-produced video. Thanks for sharing.

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+PseudoAccurate thanks!

[@viknesvaran768]

Great video with well organised content! Great work mate! 👍🏻

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Viknesvaran thanks!

[@ReeferGil]

Congrats on 100k

[@floydsfishes2856]

well done Steve! great job explaining your project definitely one for the books

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Floyd Conrad thanks Floyd, glad you enjoyed it

[@MichaelsFishRoom]

Looking good Steve!

[@65FullMoon83]

Brilliant Steve!

[@anxiousaquatics5958]

Great vid! Please keep em coming!

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Anxious Aquatics thanks, I will try!

[@RuyVilela]

Very detailed video. Thanks for sharing.

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Ruy Vilela thanks!

[@chuck3788]

Very well done Steve I really need something like that too...Thanks

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+chuck thanks Chuck

[@alenb2979]

Great Set-up Steve. You are giving me some great ideas for when i move into my new house.

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Alen B great, glad you got something out of it

[@gregjonesonline]

nice one! great job capturing all the steps, easy to follow

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Greg Jones thanks!

[@BearNecessitiesOfLife]

I gotta say that's impressive! I have 7 tanks currently and am planning out a similar system but on a smaller scale. This is super super helpful! :)

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Bear Necessities awesome! It really works on any number of tanks which was part of the appeal for me

[@FoisyAquatics]

AWESOME VIDEO! This is sooooo helpful for setting up my own system!

[@PlantedAquaria]

This video helped a lot! Thanks so much for this, we are building or store's fish room right now and using this method!

[@adriancampos4027]

Nice. Thanks for posting this. I will be trying something like this in the near future.

[@hotrodvdub]

Really nice setup.

[@joshualindsey77]

Awesome job and great project

[@keepthemgold1]

That is a great idea to use a sprinkling system!

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Richard Stock I can't claim it as my original idea but I'm trying to bring it to the masses

[@rorylennon]

Hi Steve that big aquarium is looking good. When I used a chlorine filter for the first time I thought the fish were behaving less nervous and they were growing and breeding much better...

[@bernhardkawell68]

Thx for a look behind..very nice explained. .thanks that for

[@viran101]

Great video thanks

[@egmac100]

Excellent work on this project. Word to wise...make sure to buy extra solenoid valve assemblies as in a couple of years the manufacturer changes the specs and you will have to cut out the bad bad valve as opposed to just replacing the gasket/seal/valve.

[@Morpheus852]

Very well explained, feels easy to redo your project. Now I just wish I could hide the pipes in the living room haha.

[@Niesty-1103]

Thanks so much this video is so informative can't tell how much,nicely presented ,in your debt😥😥😷😷THANKS!!

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+jemetta cooper awesome, glad you found it helpful

[@ChristianPostier]

You have a great Instructional Video voice!

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Christian Postier thanks!

[@MrCeo1978buddy]

great vid would love to try rhis system in the future with my tank

[@reidsmith3002]

really nice build

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Reid Smith thanks!

[@Coronakenify]

nicely done.

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Corona Ken thanks!

[@randy1817]

Sweet set up..

[@gromeroskwelch]

Genius, your videos are excellent

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Greg Saveall thanks Greg!

[@fishdad1chadh227]

That's going to help a lot Great video

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Chad Hardesty great to hear, thanks Chad

[@ChrisLocke1969]

top-notch video... kudos!

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Chris Locke thanks!

[@h.d.mech.mortenson2098]

Awesome video !

[@jeremybasch]

Impressive Video! Thanks for sharing

[@StevePolandAquatics]

Thanks Jeremy. Would love to come film your fishroom sometime if you're willing.

[@jeremybasch]

Steve Poland Cichlids certainly

Great video and an awesome project.

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Ivan Kolić thanks!

[@camerazeye7923]

great info Steve. u have give me some things to consider

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Cameraz Eye hit me up if you have questions

[@camerazeye7923]

Awesome. Thank you so much.

[@lifehappened8216]

wow this impressive system and i hope to be able to do the same with my tank.

[@wyzemann]

You know you're a complete blockhead when you come away from a video as thoroughly informative as this one, only to have learned how to properly apply the infamous teflon tape to the threaded piece of pipe. Oh, how I've been doing it all wrong, Thank You, Steve.

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+wyzemann hey we're all always learning new things

[@fishroombum3771]

Nice work and thanks for sharing. Know that another fishkeeper will be using ideas from this video when I design my fishroom auto-water change solution.

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+MR Oz great, that’s what I did. Let me know if you have questions

[@fishroombum3771]

Thanks Steve. I have been watching all of your videos for years. Just one question, how do you initiate the drainage process? Sure it seems pretty straight forward, the water drains via gravity , but how to get that started seems to be missing somewhere? As far as RaiBird systems are concerned I don’t see how they would “initiate s siphon” they are used only for the filling of the tanks and filtering out the impurities in the water as the tanks are filling up. So, is your system a semi-auth fill . I want to try and get this going but I’m stuck on now the actual drainage of the tanks works. Thanks and keep up the great videos, I am looking forward to seeing more. MrOz!

[@StevePolandAquatics]

Thanks for watching all this time! The new water just displaced the old water via the overflow in each tank. So there isn’t really anything to initiate on that side. It’s not a 100% efficient water change but the automation makes it worth it.

[@fishroombum3771]

Thank you so much for answering so swiftly, looking forward to more of your videos, they're truly a pleasure to watch. Cheers!

[@jlathem56]

Awesome tutorial.

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+jlathem thanks!

[@mayae.7951]

This video is awesome AWESOME!!!!!!!

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Mireya M. Thanks!

[@mbunaterritory508]

Steve if the fish business ever gets slow you can come help me plumb! haha nice work man. The shower valve as a substitute for a mixing valve is clever as well, a cheaper and just as effective route.

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Mbuna Territory thanks Harry! I'm just figuring out all of this plumbing as I go. Glad to hear I didn't screw anything up.

[@danannen2012]

Fantastic job! Have you considered using longer fresh water supply lines to bring the end of the tubing toward the bottom of the tank, under the water? That might further minimize the amount of new water being removed.

[@51inches]

great video....your a talented guy......very interesting video........

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+DANIEL VENDITTI thanks!

[@jaedynkyle]

So how much/long do you have timer set for for changes? 10% a day? Or just for time periods? And how has it changed your siphoning schedule for each tank? Great work Steve, certainly one of the more thorough and informative youtubers out there!

[@MrCeo1978buddy]

great vid

[@ravescience2000]

nice:) good work:)

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Rave Science thanks!

[@StevoHoppa]

Awesome Steve! I don't have a basement to setup in, but I do have a crawl space. So I wonder if I could modify this to run from my water source in the garage, under the house, to my fish room? Thank you for sharing! This is very reactive and inspiring!

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Stevo Hoppa thank you sir. For the record, if your wife asks, I said no. But the beauty of this is that you could run it anywhere. If you go through the crawl space you may want to insulate the pvc depending on how cold it gets in there.

[@JimHanelyfishing]

Steve. I’ve had my similar system running for about 2 months now. I run about 40 to 50 gallons a day through the filters...how often should they be changed?

[@CJSAQUARIUMS]

HELL OF A JOB MAN! this video could have been 1hr long and i would have watched.. Only question is Have is how did you automate water being removed from the tanks? Not sure if you said that or not in the vid...

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+CJ'S AQUARIUMS thanks CJ. The tanks all have overflows that lead to a drain so the old water just flows out as the new water flows in. Really dig what you've been up to lately btw.

[@CARMONA33177]

Wow Steve, very informative video, Good job!!! P.S. Do you happen to have a parts breakdown lists?

[@skiboyscuba]

Nice!

[@t-bonestanks1966]

Like your videos👍🏻

[@Val_Halla777]

Great setup and video!..Nicely done! Too bad this those solenoid valves won’t work for saltwater ..perhaps o could design a similar system using motorized gate or ball valves. I’m thinking something like this: I drill and install a drain valve in my sump’s return chamber (with motorized ball valve controlled by my Apex controller)..then once return pump is switched off, the top level of water from display tank that fills up that chamber (until siphon break) can be drained out with the motorized drain valve. New saltwater is then filled using a timer and the motorized valve would close after timer stops the new water input..to ensure exact same water level is achieved before the main return pump switches back on. I’d think this would be fairly simple and failsafe right? In the event the motorized ball vale fails I’d make sure the amount of changed water would cause a flood. Thanks for video and the inspiration! Cheers

[@Theatersounz]

you're very clever Steve :>)

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Dave Woodley thanks!

[@gotohydroponics7719]

Not to be a party pooper but I would use clear pvc primer as well. It makes a difference especially if that preventing your basement from flooding. It really does add holding power.

[@jeremyniewinski4196]

AQUARIUM CO-OP!!! 👍🏻

[@Fiddlefarmer86]

Steve, can you show how you plumbed this system to/from your 220? Excellent video, as usual...keep up the good work!

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Lucas Fletcher I just have a length of irrigation tubing going up through the wall to that tank.

[@josephtoth5500]

Hi. At time stamp 9:10, what is that clear plastic strip called and/or where did you get it? Love the detailed video.

[@knwr]

I was trying to figure out how this system performed everything for a water change, then I realized not everyone runs saltwater tanks... Very jealous of this system.

[@stephenboone8230]

Can you do a video showing how your auto water changer runs on your 300 gallon tank? Like how do you automatically start the draining of your tank to do the change?

[@franktrempe5706]

Nice setup ! I'm currently building a system like this for my fishroom . But I had an issue , my PH is too high for the fish i keep . Did a cartridge exist or something else could resolve this? PH out of the automatic system is 7,6 , want it around 6,8 . Thanks!

[@binklez90]

Steve, this was an AWESOME video. Probably one of the best you have made. Really instructional and I enjoyed it a ton. In the future I am planning to do one of these systems and I will be sure to look back at this video. A couple of questions: 1. How long did this take you and 2. If you don't mind, can you give a ball park of price?

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+binklez90 I did this slowly over a few months. If I added everything together it was probably a few hundred dollars.

[@lyricdick6085]

Awesome project ! Great info and plumbing knowledge ! Is that what you do for your day job?

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+Evan Dick thanks! No, I have a desk job. I've just been learning the plumbing as I go and trying to share so that others can do the same.

[@penguiin12]

not sure what it is but something is telling me this guy really likes fish

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+pinguiin guilty

[@JimHanelyfishing]

Steve. Finally figured out that my leaks are coming from the threaded pvc connectors between each filter. They seat all the way to the filter housing and thus don’t ever really get tightened. I’ve looked at your video but don’t see what you used to connect the 3.

[@woodensurfer]

A check valve generally does not relief pressure. If there is little flow, a check valve is not tight enough to have any impact on pressure. (no matter how clogged a pressurized system is, the pressure is the same). If there is significantly fast flow, the pressure drop (due to friction) is experienced in the other direction-- the other end of the check valve. What reduces pressure is a pressure regulator. Lower pressure is safer for a fish room for less chance of leak or rupture, but feed into an RO unit (if present) has to be high to get the rated GPD per the membrane.

[@StevePolandAquatics]

This system has both check valves and pressure regulators. The check valves aren’t intended to affect forward pressure.

[@ChrisCorpse669]

So do you have to remineralize the water? Or do the carbon filters not affect that? Looking to use a system like this but don't know if the filters would strip my nice hard water of all its trace elements. Would rather not have to dose buffers etc.

[@JimHanelyfishing]

Steve. I’m building this system for discus tanks. What fittings did you use to connect the filters together? Trying to see but looks like a fitting that’s threaded on both ends. I want to keep the space between them to a minimum

[@gewglesux]

I keep looking at that White lipped Cichlid... Man they're beautiful. This is a beautiful system. Thanks for the video. I forgot to ask.... How did you support the 220 UPSTAIRS? Do you have supports from the basement?

[@TimsBitsnPieces]

Question, why did you not put one pressure reducing valve on your incoming supply to the water change system which then alleviates the need for 3 extra units and using one on each circut?

[@artursm15]

Nice setup !! how do you drain your tanks automaticly ? !

[@nathanbrown8515]

He answered that question during the first minute of the video

[@inventoryking]

Sweet video Steve. Do you have float switches in the tanks allowing the water to stop flowing in during the water change?

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+inventoryking no it's all scheduled through the rainbird timer. The old water is overflowing the whole time (unless I've taken some out doing routine maintenance).

[@powerfool650]

It's been awhile, curious how the filters hold up with warm water running through them as opposed to the cold incoming city feed.

[@James-ye7rp]

The description on the filter says it works when at 0.5 gallons per minute. How do you keep below that mark? If using more flow, wouldn't you need more filters in parallel? Perhaps there is a larger version that handles more flow.

[@jonathanheron8895]

do you add any chemicals ?? or you just regular tap water even tho your fish need ph of like 8.2??? how do you adjust for that or do you ???

[@sergeantseven4240]

This would be great, if I had a basement.... lol

[@fareedz1561]

what is your lpm? i have a koi pond, im planning to just remove the chlorine but is the carbon filter u show good for 1 litrepm? my pond 15ton which i have to change 10% of water..

[@freegaming9820]

Thanks, it is helpful. But, I didn't get it how the old water will move out of tank.

[@MASSAquariums]

Nice brothah

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+MASS Aquariums thanks Mike

[@jaysaquatics7195]

hello steve loving your video on your water change system i no it's along time ago but i'm attempting to do the same type of system could you please send me a list of supplies used especially the shower valve i'd really appreciate it thank's

[@StevePolandAquatics]

kit.com/stevepoland/fishroom-auto-water-change-system

[@sethallah]

Great video! I have one question though: as far as I know, running warm water through the sediment/carbon filter may change the filter filtration properties. Have you noticed any differences in your water quality?

[@StevePolandAquatics]

+sethallah haven't noticed any issues

[@StevePolandAquatics]

Links to the supplies needed for this project: kit.co/stevepoland/fishroom-auto-water-change-system

[@xriscarter4728]

Steve Poland Cichlids Thank you for not only the great video but I love the extra work you put into making the kit list. I feel it is do handy and unique it really sets you apart.

[@ryanhern6357]

Great Video! Apologies for chiming in, I would love your initial thoughts. Have you heard about - Proutklarton Protecting Aqua Plan (should be on google have a look)? It is a smashing one off guide for getting prepared for a mega drought minus the normal expense. Ive heard some extraordinary things about it and my cousin after many years got astronomical success with it.