Salinity controller?

[BradB]

Is anyone using any kind of electronic device to control salinity? Replacing evaporation manually is most of my time on my tank.

I have used auto top offs before, but don't like them for 2 reasons:

1) I'm afraid they will stick on. This is a flood, plus a drastic fast drop in salinity.

2) As the skimmer removes saltwater, it is replaced with fresh. So salinity is always dropping until I raise it manually.

I am tempted to run a pump on a timer to replace evaporation, but this varies so much from season to season, and even day to day. Ideally I'd hook a pump to a controller that can read a salinity probe. Once a day, it would run until salinity dropped to 35, or until a set amount of time elapsed. If the timer stopped it, it would beep.

 

[pickupman66]

I dont see a need for a salinity CONTROLLER. but the ATO and other aspects are very important to me.

1. in the 5 years I have used an ATO system with a single float switch I have yet to have a failure of the switch causing it to stick on.
2. in the 3 years prior to that i used a gravity system that worked just as well.

that said about ATO systems, alot of the new stand alone ones are great. they have timers and multiple switches. You can also do all of this with a quality controller like the Reefkeepers Archons and Apex units. you can setup float switches and have the circuit run for 5 minutes and then be locked out for 20 if you wish. or simple on and off.

with my open top system, and a decent skimmer, I dont find my salt fluctuating enough to warrant me replacing straight salt water. I have a 66 gallon tank and 40 gallon sump. I use about 1 gallon a day of top off water. each week, I have about 12-14 oz of skimmate. maybe less. it is thick and stanky. this is such a tiny amount that It doesnt effect the tank.

I do MONITOR my salinity with a conductivity meter that is part of my Archon Controller. it works quite well and just getting a quick reading.

 

[redfishbluefish]

One of the reasons I picked AquaHub for an ATO is because it came with a second float switch. When the first one fails (and it will), the second switch saves you from a flood....and screwing up your salinity.

 

[cmcoker]

Honestly, I would trust a ATO over a salinity probe.

Check out one of the pressure sensor tube types. I use one from avast marine have had it in use for 2 years, no moving parts, no maintenance, no problems. Litermeter also makes one.

I would think you would have to skim pretty wet for it to make a big difference in you salinity, unless you are letting it go for an extended period of time. As I don't think many people have a major issue with that.

IMO, Checking salinity and doing a water change or adding a bit of saltwater every week or two is much less work than topping off manually every day.

 

[Harry_Y]

I would tend to believe a properly designed ATO (using two float switches), would be more reliable.

 

[n2585722]

I do use my salinity as a second backup for the ATO and auto water change. If the salinity gets out of bounds it emails and stops the automatic water change untill it is back in bounds. It will also stop the ATO id it drops out of bounds in the low direction. I say this is secondary as the primary backup is the low level and overfull float switches that will also stop the AWC and ATO along with sending an email. I also use parastalic pumps for the AWC and ATO that.

 

[pickupman66]

A good example of how much salinity monitor I have saved part of my tank is just recently I had done some changes on my system that cause my auto top off to not work. I did not know this until I happened to notice my salinity had creeped up over 24 to 48 hours. As it turns out the tank and not been typing itself off and I was about 4 gallons of water. Fortunately my concern about why my salinity off allowed me to notice the fact that my son was almost empty before the pump run dry