Make up water

[cofishguy]

Hey all,
I looked in the archives and didn't find an answer to my question, so maybe its never been asked before. But anyway here it is. How much evaporation is normal in an 80 gallong tank. I seem to be putting in about 5 gallons/week of fresh RO water for make up. Is this normal? Just curious. I haven't seen any negative affects in my tank but none-the-less just wondering.
Thanks,
Ken

 

[reefkprz]

Yup its normal. I top off about 2 gallons every other day because my sump increases evaporation its best to top off more often and keep your salinity from fluctuating too much.

 

[greenwolf52]

hey ken,
this is absolutely normal. your tank will always have a certain amount of evaporation going on. i have a 100g and have to ad about a gallon or so every 2 days of RO. Don't know if you can actually figure out exactly the rate of evaporation by the amount of water in the tank bc there are many different factors that affect the rate of evaporation(water temp, ambient room temp, humidity level, climate where you live, etc.) I actually found that if you keep your tank covered with glass hoods or wooden canopy, this can reduce amount of evaporation. i used to keep a green wolf eel in my tank and would have to always cover the top so that it could not jump out and die. he recently died bc of other reasons so now i leave it open on top. the rate of evaporation has increased dramatically. almost double.
hope this helps.

 

[cofishguy]

Thanks,
Glad to hear its normal. Like I said I am adding about 2-3 gallons every 2 days or so...about a gallon/day. I try to keep it topped off so that the salinity level doesnt go up and down too much. Its just that with the top off water and the weekly water changes I was going thru alot of RO water. Oh well, my tank seems healthy thats all that matters.
Thanks guys!

 

[craig7220]

I agree with the other posts. I have a 125 gal and top off about 1 gal per day with RO water.

 

[f14peter]

Originally Posted by cofishguy
Its just that with the top off water and the weekly water changes I was going thru alot of RO water. Oh well, my tank seems healthy thats all that matters.
Thanks guys!
Yet one more vote why a in-home RO or RO/DI unit is one of an aquarist's best friends.

 

[cofishguy]

Originally Posted by f14peter
Yet one more vote why a in-home RO or RO/DI unit is one of an aquarist's best friends.

Yup, My RO/DI unit already has paid for itself many times over!

 

[darth stinji]

in my research on what equiptment I will need when I convert my 125g freshwater tank to a salt, I have found that there are devices that you can buy where you set up a 10 gallon tank next to your sump, then put a level detector in the sump and a pump with hoses in the 10gallon tank. and it automatically pumps freshwater from the 10g tank into your sump to maintain the level. That way your only adding water every few days instead of every day.
Assuming you have space for one under your tank. I didnt see one here on this website but i didnt look really hard either.