cheap and easy DIY auto top off

[rsd]

I just completed an auto top off system that was super easy and cheap... thought I would share what and why I did it.
Why: My tank evaporates about 5 gallons per week, so I need to top off once a week at least. i am about to leave on vacation for 10 days and don't want to have to explaine to family and friends how to top off my tank without causing any problems.
What I did:
I bought an $8 float valve that you would use in an outdoor pond from an LFS in my area. The purpose for the valve (as intended by the manufacturer) is to hook a garden hose to it... when the water level gets low the float lowers and alows water to flow.
I put the smallest adaptor to the float valve (so an airline could fit) and then ran that airline to a 5 gallon bucket that will sit atop my sump with the fresh water in it.
Inside the sump I used some light diffuser (the plastic grid stuff that people use as shelves in their aquarium) on end and secured the float valve to it and the diffuser to the plumbing in the sump.
When the water level goes down, the valve opens and allows a small, slow flow of fresh water into the sump... just like if I was home.
Works awesome... and will avoid any mess ups by those who do not have a PHD in "my tank".
I will post photo's later.

 

[gregvabch]

i recently built one myself, which was also very inexpensive. i got the float switch off of that place, you know, where everybody bids on stuff? anyway, it was cheap. then i took some pvc junction tubes, drilled holes in them, glued them together, and mounted them to a scrap piece of plexiglass that i cut into an X shape. i got a cap that fits inside the pvc tubes, drilled a hole in it, and the float switch screws into and mounts tightly onto the cap. spliced the float switch inline with a powerhead that sits in my resevoir. i'll post pics when i get home from work in the morning if anyone is interested. RSD, hope you don't think i'm trying to steal your thunder

 

[insight]

definitly post pics please, thanks!

 

[gregvabch]

full shot...it's not pretty but it's going in the sump

 

[gregvabch]

shot of the float switch unscrewed from the cap. i drilled a hole in the middle of the plexiglass because i plan on sealing the cap in as well. i will still be able to unscrew the switch and remove it through the bottom for maintenance/replacement.

 

[rsd]

No thunder lost here.
I like the design.. however I am alittle to aware of howmany people lose their homes and such to fire. I avoid doin alot of DIY with electrical. I grew up with a master electrician so it is not due to lack of experience... just a cautiousness about wire/salt water/ and me leaving for long periods of time.
The nice thing about the set up I finally got around to doing is this:
Gravity feed, no electrical parts to fail.
That old k.i.s.s. method.
Although, I do like your design.

 

[moraym]

I just completed an auto top off system that was super easy and cheap
Wow, definitely cheap, good price RSD.
But it'll have to be easier to help a technically inefficient guy like me:yes:, or maybe I just need some pics, I learn by sight. So keep the info and pics coming, sounds like a good set-up.

 

[rsd]

Here are a few pics of the set up.

 

[rsd]

The previous was looking into the top right portion of my sump at where the float valve is located... behind a screen that keeps all calerpa and aptaisia from the intake of my pump or tangling the float.
This is looking through the glass at the set up.

 

[rsd]

Also, on the previouse image you can see that I have the tank labeled at the fullest point... the shallowest I like to see, and that it is labeled in 2 gallon increments of evaporation/fill.
This photo is of the whole sump. On the left is a partition that keeps about 5 gallons of water and maintains the same water level no matter what. Here is where I keep my heater, the intake for my skimmer, and where all the little bubbles get trapped... in is also the input side of the sump/fuge.
The next portion is a variable level section. It houses 1-2 inches sand, calerpa, misc LR, and a screen I grow sponges on... it is partitioned from the pump input, float valve, and Power head (to turn over the top of the water) with your basic tank divider mesh... that keeps gunk out of my pump intakes.

 

[bbreaux1]

i use a float switch for my water top off and as a safety device if my over flow fails and the water gets too high in the main tank it will shut off the pump in the sump and sound an alarm so i know something is wrong. the only difference is they are both wired to relays so that the float switch is on 12v dc current instead of having 120v running through those small wires on the float switch i got the plans for them online if you want the link just email me bbreaux1@yahoo.com