Water Top Off?

novice

novice

New Member
Hi,
I'm new to the saltwater discussion board and have converted my 125gal fresh to saltwater. Don't worry, I have just about everyting that is/has been discussed about setting up a reef because I bought 200-300lbs of live cured rocks, live sand, 2x6'actinic VHO w/ 2x175 metal halide custom made canopy, a downdraft protein skimmer and sump for ~$800. It's from a client of mine. I was wondering if anyone know's how to make a water top off into my sump? It will definitely help me preparing the water when water evaporation occurs. Thanks..
 
mr . salty

mr . salty

Active Member
Just pour in UNMIXED water...That's right,NO SALT...You see water eveporates,but salt does not.So just add plain(NO SALT)water to the sump for daily top offs...
 
fish fry

fish fry

Member
You can acutally buy a little float valve that gets hooked up to a power head. When the water in the sump drops the float valve activates the power head. You would keep the power head in a bucket of fresh water, with tubing running into the sump. Works really well and the float valve is pretty cheap.
A more expensive way is to get a dosing pump. I have never used one so I can't speak from expirence. With these you figure out how much water you lose each day through evaporation. (I don't know how people really figure that out, I always lost different amounts depending on room temperature. I guess most people probably just adjust it as needed) Then the pump will slowly add that amount of water back into the tank.
Or the really cheap way of doing it: Just mark your ideal water level on the sump. Then every time you see the water is slightly lower add more. I've done this on Nano systems, and it works...BUT you really become a slave to the tank and forget about going away for a couple days.
Hope this helps
Fish Fry
 
novice

novice

New Member
Thanks for the awsome info. I'll give the bucket and power head a try but instead of a bucket it'll probably be a 10gal..
 
noogiefish

noogiefish

Member
Hi Novice. There is a great little DIY project on about.com's web site. It requires no moving parts, electricity, etc. (pretty crafty, actually). It works off of siphon action. I haven't tried it yet (still collecting the parts) hope this helps. :cool:
 
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