auto top offs

[Jaftica]

how do u guys top your sumps off directly from the rodi? do you use a float valve like we use for our storage buckets? my return pump area is in a 6 inch wide section of a 30 gallon tank, it contains my eheim 1262 return pump, my evap is 1 gallon in 24 hours. any ideas would be great. there isnt alot of space for the float valve in that chamber. im using a coralife pure flow 2 for my storage pail. do other manufacturers make smaller ones? then i guess i would have to make a small hole in the glass sump to put the float valve in.

 

[SIReefer]

Is that an Ebo Jager heater in your sump? If so I don't believe they make fully submersible heaters. Just curious.
I have no idea on the auto top off though. There is always someone around at home to manually add water to the sump on a daily basis.

 

[Jaftica]

SIreefer, thankyou for pointing that out, i will buy a heater today.

 

[Jaftica]

Ok, what i did was remove a baffle, make a little acrylic bracket, installed a coral life float valve into the return pump chamber fed directley from the output of the Ro/Di unit, there is a tee installed on the out put of the rodo, one feed goes to the sumps float valve, the other feed goes to a brute storage container. with another float valve. Is the way i did this ok?

 

[cali_reef]

Ok, what i did was remove a baffle, make a little acrylic bracket, installed a coral life float valve into the return pump chamber fed directley from the output of the Ro/Di unit, there is a tee installed on the out put of the rodo, one feed goes to the sumps float valve, the other feed goes to a brute storage container. with another float valve. Is the way i did this ok?

Do you have one of those white things with 4 ports on you RO unit?

Your RO will be wasting water if you don't. Running RO\DI one gallon at a time is very wasteful, as the first few gallons of RO is high in TDS and the DI has to work hard to takeout the impurities. Filling a container(the size you need to top off for maybe a week's worth in the summer) than gravity feed to your sump via a float valve or electronic level controller is safer.

 

[Jaftica]

yes i have an auto shut of installed, the problem is that i dont have any good spots for a container nearby

 

[SevTT]

It's a very, very bad idea to attach your top-off directly to your RODI. Sure, it's convenient as all hell -- until your top-off fails while you're away for the weekend or something and your RODI pumps 150 gallons of fresh water into the tank.

Me, I just stick a line from an aqualifter into a 5g Home Depot bucket that I mix up my Kalk top-off in. This is enough water to last you most of a week but, if it all gets dumped into the tank, while it will cause problems, it wouldn't cause a disaster. Since you don't have the space, you'll have to work out something else -- maybe a slim, vertical tank you could put next to it?

 

[Jaftica]

thanks for the advice everyone, I'm going to do like SevTT recommends, and go with a slim vertical tank next to the DT that i can top off once a week or so, and gravity drain that into the sump through the float valve.

 

[tynman]

I use this top off system http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=254
I think its the best thing cause there are no floats to get jammed up by a snail or shell. I have a 15 gal tote container in my basement with my rodi water with my cal mix in it with a pump with at least 12 feet of head pump so I could ge it to pump into my sump.. and I just keep the tote with 5 to 10 gal of water most of the time with maybe a power head in the tote to keep it moving sometimes when I remember LOL good luck if you need any kind of help with this let me know..

 

[motortrendz]

hey good catch on the heater, i have the same one if u look on the top is says water line the top cant be put under...and i have my top off on a timer so it will top off 2 times a day once mid morning and once later evening..i got my stuff from autotopoff.com they have multple different styles ans solenoids.. hope this helps

 

[cali_reef]

I use this top off system http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=254
I think its the best thing cause there are no floats to get jammed up by a snail or shell. I have a 15 gal tote container in my basement with my rodi water with my cal mix in it with a pump with at least 12 feet of head pump so I could ge it to pump into my sump.. and I just keep the tote with 5 to 10 gal of water most of the time with maybe a power head in the tote to keep it moving sometimes when I remember LOL good luck if you need any kind of help with this let me know..

I would find another way to attach that thing, those suction cups will give away and cause the tube to fall.

 

[cali_reef]

You can get a custom made acrylic tank that can be slim and tall to fit behind the tank.

 

[Keith P]

hey good catch on the heater, i have the same one if u look on the top is says water line the top cant be put under..

The warning is for liability reasons. That heater is fine submersed.

 

[motortrendz]

The warning is for liability reasons. That heater is fine submersed.

oh, ok....

 

[tynman]

I would find another way to attach that thing, those suction cups will give away and cause the tube to fall.

Cali after you said that I gave it some thought in the year and a half I have been using this it has never fallen but just thinking it might someday so I glued (gel glue like to one for the frags) to a small old mag float I got from my brother in law and now I dont have to worry about it falling off.. See all diffrent ideas work!!!

 

[DrHarryLopez]

I use these floats switches
they have a very small footprint

http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/1213/Water-Level-Switches/float switch/0

 

[DrHarryLopez]

The pump i use is an aqualifter, The best liil pump for FW in the biz. Best of all its under $20 bucks! Never failed using FW. Not good for Kalk

http://www.marinedepot.com/Tom_Aqua...ow_Boxes-Tom`s_Aquatics-OE1137-FIOFOA-vi.html

 

[felix110]

go with Level-Loc Auto Top Off Unit for RO Systems you can get it from Bulk Reef Supply i have one next to me RO/DI one of the best investment i made...

 

[seldin]

...go with Level-Loc Auto Top Off Unit for RO Systems you can get it from Bulk Reef Supply...

This unit when using an RO/DI is a snap to use and install. It is so simple. Just put bracket into sump and the height you want, place the RO/DI tubing into bracket tube and plug into electric or timer. So it has dual unit built in ( solenoid and float). Truly, a snap to use.

For using a bucket, I use autotopoff.com. Good unit, very cheap price, but lacking documentation.