DIY doser/ auto top off

[innercirclepro]

I dont have much room under my sump so I improvised and used a 3 gallon water just and a valve to make a slow drip. i can then add calcium ph buffer ect into that 3 gallons and let it slowly drip and it will also help with evaporation. 3 gallons isnt much of a holding tank but it helps especially becuase you can mix you stuff there.
heres a pic of it.
and one of my tank while im at it

 

[wattsupdoc]

Looks good. You can also get a little valve in the sprinkler section to dial it in a little better if need be. I used them for a long time on my 65 and my 135.

 

[innercirclepro]

thats what i was looking for! they have that in 1/4 inch? im making them same system to water my basil outside. id like to use somthing a bit more accurate.
let me ask you somthing.. i tested r/o water calc <100 alk < 4 dkh ph<7.4 i started to dose it while it was in the 3 gallon bucket to match my sea water is this wise and a regular practice?

 

[wattsupdoc]

I don't understand exactly what your saying.However many people dose calcium and alkalinity in a similar fashion as you are doing. Many use R/O water saturated in pickling lime, while others use a commercially available kalkwasser additive. Either is fine to use if used properly as long as your PH is a little on the low side. You should not be adding any kind of PH buffer, that will effect your alkalinity. So do not adjust your top off water for PH, instead add it slowly. If you are having PH issues and your alk/calcium is on target, then address PH some other method. But don't worry about your top off water. Most PH issues can be easily solved by getting adequate ventilation and surface agitation to the tank.
If your calcium is 100 ppm, you need to get that up, way up. To 380-450 range.

 

[innercirclepro]

Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
http:///forum/post/2804043
I don't understand exactly what your saying.However many people dose calcium and alkalinity in a similar fashion as you are doing. Many use R/O water saturated in pickling lime, while others use a commercially available kalkwasser additive. Either is fine to use if used properly as long as your PH is a little on the low side. You should not be adding any kind of PH buffer, that will effect your alkalinity. So do not adjust your top off water for PH, instead add it slowly. If you are having PH issues and your alk/calcium is on target, then address PH some other method. But don't worry about your top off water. Most PH issues can be easily solved by getting adequate ventilation and surface agitation to the tank.
If your calcium is 100 ppm, you need to get that up, way up. To 380-450 range.
my calcium and ph are fine. what i mean was i was curious so i tested the r/o water to see where it stood. i was just jurious the effects on my tank calcium at 420 after adding r/o water . wasnt sure how much 1 gallon of r/o would dilute the 90 gallons in the tank... do you see where i was goign with it? thats why i wasnt sure if i should be adding sonthign to ther r/o water i used. for now i just use reef complete calcium and reef builder for alk. maybe i can try kalkwasser...
[/U]

 

[cmaxwell39]

Don't worry about trying to match tank parameters with top off water. When water evaporates out of a tank that is all that leaves. All of the "stuff" (salt, calcium, alkalinity, trace elements, ect.) dissolved in the water stays in the tank, essentially slightly raising concentrations of these things. When you add RO water back into the tank you are actually just returning the tank back to the balance it had prior to evaporation.