top off water, heated?
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Topic: top off water, heated?
Posted By: 96slowbra
Subject: top off water, heated?
Date Posted: March 30 2012 at 3:17pm
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i just purchased an apex, and wanting to go to an ato system. i have a 60ish gallon system. my sump is very small, especially my refugium, and i need to top off every night so my macro isn't out of the water. i am looking at around 5 to gallon reservoir. my evaporation is around 3/4 of a gallon daily. my jugs of water seem to be around 70 degrees if i don't put a heater in them. is that too cold for ato? also, what pumps do you guys use for ato, aqualifer? ------------- 105 rimless |
Replies:
Posted By: Rex
Date Posted: March 30 2012 at 4:06pm
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I have the Tunze Osmolator and love it. I do not heat my top-off water and the temp in the tank stays consistant. The ATO pumps water in a little bit at a time thoughout the day so all perameters that are affected by water evaporation stay consistant. ------------- http://zip-zero.com/wmas/imageUpload.php |
Posted By: DLindquist
Date Posted: March 30 2012 at 4:39pm
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I've never heated my top off water. I use a gravity fed float valve- close to four gallons a day. ------------- A government strong enough to give you everything you want, is powerful enough to take everything you have. |
Posted By: 96slowbra
Date Posted: March 30 2012 at 4:43pm
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good to hear that i don't have to heat it. now tell me more about ato systems. seems like most people that run apex use autotopoff.com. i have never had an automated system ------------- 105 rimless |
Posted By: Teknik777
Date Posted: March 30 2012 at 4:48pm
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I use a gravity feed float valve setup also. Five gallon bucket(oceanic salt)located in my fish room away from the tank to keep the clean look with a lid and fill it up twice a week. That way if there was a malfunction in the float valve only 5 gallons if it was full would enter my system not having much effect on parameters. Room temp is fine for ato because its added so slowly with a float valve or ato setup. ------------- 220 G SPS Display. |
Posted By: Teknik777
Date Posted: March 30 2012 at 4:49pm
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I have a apex system also but remember KEEP IT SIMPLE! ------------- 220 G SPS Display. |
Posted By: Akira
Date Posted: March 30 2012 at 5:30pm
| I used electric float switches from grainger and a small pump , basically the same set up as auto top off.com just a lil cheaper |
Posted By: Pete1122
Date Posted: March 30 2012 at 5:55pm
| Interesting, I heat my Top Off Water. I have a custom 15 gallon top off in my Biocube stand and keep the temp matched to the main tank water. I find that my temp never fluxuates more than .5 degrees. |
Posted By: ReefdUp
Date Posted: March 30 2012 at 8:52pm
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I've never heated my topoff water even though my tanks are in the basement (so the water is about 55 degrees). I just make sure the water goes into a chamber with little life in it. I have an Apex, and I can't tell when water is added based on the temp chart, so I don't worry about it. My topoff system is a DIYer, and I think the parts did come from autotopoff.com (we did a group buy, so I can't remember exactly.) My pump is a Mini-jet 440. We also did a double topoff setup so that there's a safety. We only run 5g buckets at a time unless we're going on vacation (and then the container size depends on the length of vacation.) ------------- www.reefdup.com Diving since 2009, reefkeeping since 2007, & fishkeeping since 1987 200g, 75g, & 15g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water |
Posted By: Akira
Date Posted: March 30 2012 at 8:58pm
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I run dual floats like $12 each and my small pump was $20 rubber maid tote that can hold 10g but usually only have 5g in it . I think auto top off is like $50 without pump or holding tank . Oh and i dont contol it with my aqua jr |
Posted By: Pete1122
Date Posted: March 30 2012 at 10:11pm
| I control my ATO with the JBJ unit but I have a second float attached to my APEX that I use as a fail safe. If the fail safe float indicates too much water is going into the tank then it shuts off the ATO unit. |
Posted By: jason10012
Date Posted: March 30 2012 at 11:10pm
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I use the jbj ato system as well and I go through about 10g of evaporation a week on my tank and have never heated it my top off water. I keep a 10g storage container I got from lowes next to my tank and fill that every week. ------------- 30 gallon nano |
Posted By: Fatman
Date Posted: April 01 2012 at 12:15am
| I don't heat mine either. I dumps into the segment of the sump that has the heater in it. A couple of float switches from BRS, a short three prong extension cord, a 110 volt relay and a 9-10 volt DC transfromer (from a cell phone or something). The business end went into a couple of my wife's big pill bottles and the relay into a hobby box. Bulit two of them and they both work great. |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: April 01 2012 at 10:40am
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Temperature changes and dumps of large quantities of freshwater are common on the reef. It happens as colder currents flow around the reef and as heavy rains and rivers dump freshwater into the reef area. As long as the temp and salinity soon return close to the former level, no worries. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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