What's going to happen to my tank when I am away for 2 weeks?

[32Bit_Fish]

There is a possibility that I will travel oversea this summer and probably going to be away for two weeks. No one will be at home taking care of my tank.

The thing that I concerned the most is the tank water top off. I made an auto top off with a soda bottle (1.6 liter) and being the bottle is so small, I have to refill the bottle with RO/DI water almost every 24 hours. I think it is easier just mannually pour the water in. So my current DIY auto top off system is definitely not going to work when no one is at home for two weeks.

I have put some thoughts to this and I think I have a few options.

1. get a glass top to eliminate for minimize water vaporation (but the water temp will spike during summer with a tank glass top)

2. Leave the lights on for only 2 hours a day?

3. Get a real auto top off system from marinedepot or any online vendors.

I appreicate any suggestions and inputs.

 

[topmav1]

Replace the soda bottle with a garbage can for top off...I did that and was away for a week...tank survived.

 

[32Bit_Fish]

Replace the soda bottle with a garbage can for top off...I did that and was away for a week...tank survived.

A garbage can will be sitting on the floor which it is much lower than my tank. If I put a water pump in it, how would I do the drip part?

 

[Killerdrgn]

You need an auto top off unit with the float valves and such.

 

[beerfish]

Float switch, aqualifter pump, extension cord and some tubing. If you're putting a huge container in place, you may want to consider a few float switches for redundancy.

I've made these a bunch of times, let me know if you need help.

 

[32Bit_Fish]

Float switch, aqualifter pump, extension cord and some tubing. If you're putting a huge container in place, you may want to consider a few float switches for redundancy.

I've made these a bunch of times, let me know if you need help.

Great, thanks for the info. I am definitely need some help since I've never done it before. I have a spare 20g tank sitting next to my DT tank. However the 20G is on the floor.

I may need to google it to find some step by step DIY manual/instruction for the auto top off, preferrably with some pics.

 

[beerfish]

http://www.aquahub.com/store/diygaquarium.html

Here ya go!

 

[beerfish]

I would strongly advise the Aqualifter Pump over a MJ like they show. It pumps slowly and doesn't burn out if it goes dry.

 

[32Bit_Fish]

http://www.aquahub.com/store/diygaquarium.html

Here ya go!

Thanks for the link. It looks nice. Is anyone using the system? The price is reasonable too.

 

[duke62]

i would suggest 100 dollars to a good friend so he can watch it for u.

 

[beerfish]

i would suggest 100 dollars to a good friend so he can watch it for u.

Pay the friend $50 and set up the ATO. This way you still spend $100, he has less work to do, and you get an ATO out of the deal!

 

[32Bit_Fish]

i would suggest 100 dollars to a good friend so he can watch it for u.

Why? Is it because the auto top off is not reliable and you had bad experience using it?

 

[beerfish]

It's always good to have someone keep an eye on things, even if they are automated. With automation, they can check in a bit less frequently, so it doesn't put them out as much. ATO's can fail, and the bigger the holding container, the bigger the disaster.

Normally I keep a 5g ATO bucket filled, and I have about 8g of room in my sump. If I had a 20g container and 8g of room in my sump...... you do the math.

 

[DCG1286]

It's always good to have someone keep an eye on things, even if they are automated. ATO's can fail, and the bigger the holding container, the bigger the disaster.

Fully agreed.




You are located in Queens yeah? There are many fellow reefers that would be more then happy to look after your tank for that period of time.

 

[32Bit_Fish]

I'm going to use an external pump to move the water and it will be between the 20g and my DT. what diaster scenrios are we talking about here? :biggrin: I'm assuming the float switch in the DT won't allow reversal water flow that will float the 20g in case of power shortage.

The recommended auto top off kit also comes with snail proof features. I can't figure out any other possibility that would cause a diaster. but I could have missed some other things. :scratchch

 

[Wes]

The potential disaster is a float swith failure that either floods your house or never turns on.

A double float setup that will kill the pump if the bottom swith fails is recommended.

Autotopoff.com double switch with an aqualifter pump is a good affordable setup.


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[beerfish]

A few things can happen.

1. A stuck float switch can cause the pump to pump out all of the water which will result in any part of the 20g in the container on your floor.

2. The pump can clog or fail, resulting in no top off getting to the tank.

3. (This will not happen with a properly setup aqualifter) If the tubing is in the water and the power goes out, siphon can happen equalizing the volumes of the top off and the tank. If the top off container is below the tank, the water can siphon out to the level of the tube.

These are worst case scenarios, but they happen. I've been running my ATO for months now and it's working perfectly. I also had a float switch go bad on a tank once and my ATO water all went into the tank and burned out my pump.

 

[32Bit_Fish]

Hi Guys,

I'm going to order the auto top off system from Aqua Hub.

I need to following items in order to make this thing work, correct? Let me know if I need any other items to make this thing work flawlessly.

1) Top-It-Off Kit Premium
2) Aqua Lifter Pump

Any other items I need?

Thanks

 

[ecvernon]

since you will be traveling in the summer do you have a chiller?

 

[beerfish]

You'll need a top off bucket and airline tubing, but otherwise that should do it.