Preferred method for topping off without sump?

[Brent]

I have a 58 gallon with an emporer 400 and skimmer. I opted to go without a sump and am wondering what is the preferred method for toppig off evaporated water when you dont have a sump to do a drip. Just trying to do whatever causes the least stress on the fish. Should I pour part in in the am and part in the pm to make up for the evaporated water or just do it all at once. I am having a high evaporation rate probably due to heat.

Thank you!

 

[GMH320]

I have a 2 gallon pail on top of the hood with airline tubing and a needle valve going into the tank. Whenever water needs to be added, just open the valve so there is a slow drip. I have also just slowly poured the water in all at once,with no ill effects.

 

[reefhope]

I used to keep a container filled with topoff water in the tank stand and would manually topoff in am and pm - becomes a pain after a while.

If I don't add a sump when I set up next time I plan on installing some type of cabinet or cupboard above the tank to hide a topoff container in it with a hole drilled through bottom for a drip line.

I think it could work and look decent if well-planned.

 

[Lynn]

I know this is a pretty dumb question but..can you please explain to me how the sump works to fill up the tank as loss of evaporation occurs?
thanks Lynn

 

[Anonymous]

Lynn - What most people do is have a method to add top off water to sump automatically. There are many ways to achieve this. Gravity feed systems via float values, top-off pumps initiated via float switches, and drip lines as described above. The advantage of the sump is that you can hide all this equipment. So the sump doesn't actually do anything, it just gives you a place to add/hide the top-off system.

 

[esmithiii]

Here is some good info on top off solutions. I copied it from a previous reply I made to a post about top off ideas. You can read the whole thread here:Top Off scenarios


<ul type="square">[*]Drip type- a fixed drip from a resevoir that is above the tank (or the sump) is used to replace water loss. You estimate the rate of evaporation and set the drip rate accordingly. This type is simple, cheap but harder to set up initially. There are some problems with the drip line clogging especially if you plan on dosing kalkwasser with the top off water.[*]Dosing pump- This is similar to the drip type in that you must estimate the evaporation loss and the program a dosing pump (you can get these for anywhere from $60-200) to "dose" freshwater in the same rate as the evaporation loss. These are often less troublesome than the drip method especially if you are dosing kalkwasser, but is more costly. The other benefit is that since it is a pump, you can put the resevoir anywhere, even under the tank out of site.[*]Vacuum type level sensor- A closed container is placed higher than the tank (or sump) and a bit of tubing is run from the container to the tank (or sump) and the open end of the tubing is placed at the desired water level. When the water level drops due to evaporation, air is sucked into the container which displaces the water which then flows into the tank to raise the water level. These can be problematic, and are not the most maintenance free.[*]Float switch connected to a resevoir- in this scenario a flow switch senses when the water level has dropped and kicks on a pump in a resevoir of fresh water which pumps water to raise the level. This is what I use. It is not the most expensive, but failsafe, and a good compromise between being maintenance free, safe and cost effective. If my float switch sticks, only a limited volume of fresh water will be pumped in (limited by the resevoir) and I simply have to keep the resevoir full.[*]Float valve connected to a resevoir- possibly the simplest solution. A float valve like the one in your toilet allows water to flow gravity-fed from another resevoir which is higher than your tank (or sump). Since the float valve is often large and bulky, most people put it in a sump under the tank where it is not visible.[*]Float-switch connected to RO unit.- This is one of the most maintenance-free options. In this case a float switch actuates a solenoid or a special valve on your RO unit that causes it to kick on when the water level in your tank drops. Since it is connected to your RO unit, you do not have to manually add water to any container or resevoir as is required by the previous options. This option is somewhat costly, and has the added problem that if the float switch sticks then the RO unit will run continuously until you notice and shut it off. What that means is that it can overflow your tank and also that the salinity will continue to drop until you cut the water off. If you don't catch it in time you can kill everything in your tank.[*]Float switch connected to RO unit plumbed through metering device (e.g. LiterMeter) This is the best solution but also the most costly. In this case a float switch actuates a solenoid or a special valve on your RO unit that causes it to kick on when the water level in your tank drops. There is a metering device which only allows a set amount of water to flow in a given day limiting the overflow risk and the salinity risk of the previous option.

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[D-Nak]

Lynn,

Also to add to what SKBok was saying, it's a lot easier to use a gravity feed system when you have sump, which usually sits below the tank. Since you don't have to have your fresh water source above the tank, just above the sump, you can keep it in the stand (or where ever your sump is) out of the way. I think it looks kinda weird to have something either hanging above or sitting on top of your tank.

D-Nak