Topping off Tank

[Kasey Grohowski]

I just filled my tank 5 days ago, it has lost about a half inch of water so far and water has gone down about a quarter inch in the sump. I shouldn't add any salt to the top off water correct? Also is that quick to evaporate already? Water temp is 76 and room temp is 71.

 

[MaiReef]

Normal. I would try getting a ATO. Adding water all the time is a pita. It will also stabilize your tank. It can be completed inexpensively through autotopoff.com Just get a Sicce pump.

 

[Scottybgood]

Correct! The salt does NOT evaporate it stays in the water so your salinity rises. Top off with freshwater.
It depends on the climate were you live. I live in Colorado so it is very low humidity and I have a LOT of evaporation. I invested in an ATO system (Auto Top Off) since I knew evaporation would be fairly rapid around here. Worth every penny and keeps a much more consistent Salinity and avoids the swings.

 

[Marco S]

You may also want to get a lid. I only have QT tanks at the moment, but have three of them. My two 45 gallon QT's have a lid and don't loose water that quickly, (I fill a pitcher full of RODI a week) and the 20 gallon rimless without a lid looses about a pitcher every other day. I am in Arizona so it may be a bit higher than normal, but I broke down and started using the ATO I bought for my DT, so now I will be purchasing another ATO soon.

 

[Rjukan]

Thats odd, with a sump you shouldn't see any evap in the display tank, it should always be at the same level. Evap should only be seen in the return section of your sump.

 

[McFly]

Rjukan brings up a good point.

For a reference, my tank evaporates about 1.5 gallons a day.

 

[MaiReef]

Thats odd, with a sump you shouldn't see any evap in the display tank, it should always be at the same level. Evap should only be seen in the return section of your sump.

Absolutely true. Is there a leak?

 

[Jon Fishman]

Normal. I would try getting a ATO. Adding water all the time is a pita. It will also stabilize your tank. It can be completed inexpensively through autotopoff.com Just get a Sicce pump.

Wow, not to hijack, but what is a complete part-list I need for an ATO from that site?!?! I was looking at "affordable" ones on Amazon etc, and the options make my head spin.

 

[jtl]

I lose about 1 gallon per day, temp is 79 degrees. I agree there should be no change in the DT water level unless the return pump is not supplying water.

 

[Ready4Launch]

I have the Tunze Nano. I think it got wired up wrong by my "installer", because it was difficult to get it working properly after the first setup. Works now. To do it over again, I'd get the full version and not the Nano for the redundancy even though I've not needed the redundancy ... yet.

 

[Westernks reefer]

If you don’t have a lid it’s going to evaporate quickly I go through 3 gallons of rodi a week on my 28 gallon nano

 

[beaslbob]

FWIW I attached a schematic for controls to a diy ATO.

If you're interest in more detail contact me.

my .02