Auto Top off

[Striike]

Anyone done this? Any advice you can give on this?

I was planning on custom building one. I was planning on using the same concept as those dog water bowls. If you take a 20 oz bottle, fill it up with water, and turn it upside down with the top just under the water surface, the water will remain suspended until the water level drops, allowing air to displace water in the bottle, hence automatically topping off the level. I was going to apply this on a larger scale. Problem I have is space. I have a 19" tall sump, in a stand with 33" of clearance inside it. So I was thinking to place a short, but long tank on the top of the inside of the stand, with a pipe running down to the ideal water level. Have a ball valve on that pipe for filling up the tank, and a sealing lid towards the outside for easy filling with a funnel.

 

[killingseed2000]

to share the image, you will need to upload it to R2R gallery or to photo bucket in order to share it in you thread.

 

[Phin]

I am going to do something soon with an auto top off. Mine is just going to be an old maxi-jet pump in a 10 gallon bucket and then use two of these. (the second one is only in case of failure of the first)

Liquid Level Float Switch for Aquarium(Auto Top Off) - eBay (item 180423177483 end time Oct-29-09 06:43:24 PDT)

 

[Striike]

I found a place in chattanooga to make me a custom sized water container. I talked to Eric at Technology Sales. I told him exactly what I was using it for, and how I was setting it up. He was confident in doing that, and even offered to thread the holes I need. Not sure about pricing yet, since I need to get him dimensions.

He also made a comment about building a sump/tank, and seemed very knowledgeable about the whole process. I'll let you guys know, but this may be a place in in town that can do some custom building.

 

[AlexStinson]

I use a reef fanatic level controller, I would highly recommend a more active system with 2 float valves and a reseviour. How will you run a RO unit to a bottle turned upside down?

 

[110reef]

I use one from autotopoff.com for the money a pretty good deal.

 

[Striike]

I'm holding off on this for now. I may go with a water connected auto top off, but I would need a ro/di unit inline before attempting it, so going to brood on it for some time. For now, its me and those dang buckets.

 

[bkv1997]

Tunze osmolator is the only one i would trust for long term use.

I've been using it for almost 5 years and not had one malfunction. You're more than welcome to stop by and see it in action if you like.

Brandon

 

[gflat65]

I've used redundant swtiches for nearly a decade with no issues. The last parts i ordered came from Aquahub. They have all of the parts and instructions to get you through a simple set up.

 

[scouncil]

Tunze osmolator is the only one i would trust.
Brandon

This really cracked me up. Sounds like something you would here on the Jetson's.....

I need to do an auto top off too, but so far, it's just me and the buckets too. My RO/DI is too far away from the tank to run a line, unless I wanted to run it under the house. It would have a 100ft run at least and probably would be a pain to run..... Ugh. I don't have a lot of room under my tank either. Maybe a 10 or 15 gal tall tank? Or I guess it would only have to be a plastic tub of some sort? Hmmmmm.....

Just having the shut off floater valves wouldn't do it? The only time I've had problems with one is when it was turned around so that it was pointing up instead of down.....

 

[Pitcom]

I use the Tunze top off as well. It works great. I have a 50 gal can on wheels that i use for the top off water. I've gone on 10-12 day vacations and did not worry one bit.

 

[Paul_N]

I have a barrel of ro/di water next to my tank. I use a JBJ ATO to top the sump off. I made an acrylic holder(wouldn't trust the suction cups) for the float sensor and it has been running flawlessly for almost 2 years. I got the JBJ ATO used for $50.

 

[Crazy Rick's]

Tunze osmolator is the only one i would trust for long term use.

I've been using it for almost 5 years and not had one malfunction. You're more than welcome to stop by and see it in action if you like.

Brandon

Ditto. We use a ton of these and have helped our customers with them for years. Very nice product. I own two myself. When paired up with the Calcium Dispenser, they really rock!

Steve