Opinions on water top off idea

[spinycheek]

Was thinking of a more simple way to top off my little frag tank and thought maybe an idea like a self-filling dog bowl would work well where you have an inverted bottle that "glugs" out a little more water once the level drops and lets some air in. The flow stops once the opening to the bottle is submerged again. Any thoughts?

http://s393.photobucket.com/user/spinycheek/media/29%20gallon%20build/Screen%20Shot%202017-01-26%20at%2010.58.35%20AM.png.html][/URL]

 

[Diesel]

Great idea!
I would suggest to just do a float valve, less real-estate and IMO a better solution if you have it fed by gravity.

 

[azbigjohn]

I have an old 29 gallon Cardiff All in One aquarium that had a bottle-based top off system; Since the bottles were fairly small, they always lost their "hold" and dumped all the water in, rather than "glug-glugging." I think with a bottle the size you have .n your illustration, it would work better, but then you have an ATO reservoir that is almost as big as your tank...

 

[spinycheek]

Great idea!
I would suggest to just do a float valve, less real-estate and IMO a better solution if you have it fed by gravity.

I haven't had the best luck with float valves, they tend to get stuck open if they aren't meticulously cleaned. However, a valve would be a good backup in case something went awry.

 

[cbear44]

Wouldnt it just create a siphon and all dump out? Gravity is not your friend here.

Avast has a pressure switch based ato. Tunze optical.

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Wouldnt it just create a siphon and all dump out? Gravity is not your friend here.

Avast has a pressure switch based ato. Tunze optical.

no siphon because there are no holes at the top to equalize the pressure, but salt water and fresh water would mix meaning the osmotic pressure would equalize and your salinity in the tank would drop and your salinity in the bottle would go up. This is just me trying to remember the laws of physics I don't know what its called exactly. easy solution, toms aqualifter 19 dollars, 1 gallon jug 1 dollar, timer 10 dollars, throw in some kalkwasser and set it on timer to compensate for the evaporation + (adding ca Alk and boosting the ph at the same time ) = Priceless.

 

[spinycheek]

no siphon because there are no holes at the top to equalize the pressure, but salt water and fresh water would mix meaning the osmotic pressure would equalize and your salinity in the tank would drop and your salinity in the bottle would go up. This is just me trying to remember the laws of physics I don't know what its called exactly. easy solution, toms aqualifter 19 dollars, 1 gallon jug 1 dollar, timer 10 dollars, throw in some kalkwasser and set it on timer to compensate for the evaporation + (adding ca Alk and boosting the ph at the same time ) = Priceless.

My last set up was an aqualifter and kalk, it worked, but I was curious about this possible method, especially since I travel quite a bit and it needs to be in the care of someone else, I wanted something that is stupid simple. As far as mixing, I was thinking that the natural resistance of different salinity waters to mix would largely prevent that. Like the underwater lakes in the ocean or the halo clines in cave diving.

I'm giving it a shot now to see how it goes using a soda bottle. It's been running as planned since last night. Water level maintained perfectly and salinity in the tank hasn't moved.

 

[spinycheek]

A seamless blend of beauty and function...

 

[spinycheek]

Update:

This thing works great! Salinity has been maintained at 34 PPT, water level perfect. It empties out about every 36 hours. I've noticed a slight mixing of salt into the water reservoir, it's either from the "glug-glug" air sucking tank water in with it, or from backing up when I turn off pump to feed.

So, I'm going to scale this up to a larger water tank, make it look nicer. To prevent mixing, I'll add a separate air intake so air and water aren't going through the same hole, the add a tube to add some distance between to reservoir and the tank water, so backing up isn't a problem.

 

[bigroost]

no siphon because there are no holes at the top to equalize the pressure, but salt water and fresh water would mix meaning the osmotic pressure would equalize and your salinity in the tank would drop and your salinity in the bottle would go up. This is just me trying to remember the laws of physics I don't know what its called exactly. easy solution, toms aqualifter 19 dollars, 1 gallon jug 1 dollar, timer 10 dollars, throw in some kalkwasser and set it on timer to compensate for the evaporation + (adding ca Alk and boosting the ph at the same time ) = Priceless.

Diffusion

 

[djd3mon]

interesting

 

[Family Tank]

[QUOTE="spinycheek, post: 3498505,
To prevent mixing, I'll add a separate air intake so air and water aren't going through the same hole, the add a tube to add some distance between to reservoir and the tank water, so backing up isn't a problem.[/QUOTE]

This is what I have planned also. My thought was to use a long tube (1/2 diameter) not for mixing aspect, but for a steadier more frequent dumping. The mixing didn't even occur to me. But,I believe the extension would definitely help with that.Thoughts?
Edit- will you explain your 2 line idea,please?

 

[trinisteve]

This works for me. It's made of glass with a bulkhead on the top and bottom. To refill I close the ball valve, unscrew the cap and pump water in through the top.

 

[spinycheek]

Edit- will you explain your 2 line idea,please?

Have two lines, one for air intake that goes to the top of the reservoir, then the water outflow at the bottom. Both the air line and the water line have openings at the exact same level. The vacuum will hold the water in until the tank level drops, allowing a bit of air into the top and thus releasing water until the airflow is obstructed again.

This works for me. It's made of glass with a bulkhead on the top and bottom. To refill I close the ball valve, unscrew the cap and pump water in through the top.

[/QUOTE]

Yours looks fancy! This is similar to my end goal, something that looks like it belongs there especially since I don't have a cabinet to hide anything.

 

[Family Tank]

Gotcha, I like it. Thanks