water evaporation--too much?
- Thread starter alexhpc
- Start date
- Location
- Bayside Queens
get an ato
- Location
- Old Bethpage
I have a 90gal and I lose roughly about a gallon a day. I use a 5 gallon water container for my ATO and I usually have to refill it about every 5-6 days. Is it normal? Can't tell ya other than you and I evaporate at about the same rate a day.
- Location
- The Big City
Evaporation depends on a number of things from tank size, sump size, how hot the lights are, the pumps that you're using, both the amount of heat they give off and the amount of water movement, and room temp, whether the room is hot, cold or humid or dry. All these things come into play with evaporation and depending upon the conditions you can have a lot of evaporation or a little. During certain times of the year people will lost a lot more water to evaporation then other times. For me when the temp is colder, and the room is dry, I lose more water to evaporation than when the room is humid.
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Go to Lowe's and buy AcuRite Digital Weather Station $ 40 ,Indoor/outdoor temperature and humidity with clock and calendar, Super,super happy, i use to have my tank at work (20-25% humidity) very dry place, than i got now at home (45-50% humidity) huge dif. at work i have to run 2 Air-0-Swiss 7135 Humidifiers
so, my point, buy or borrow a humidity meter, try to keep 40-50%, than u good.
Attachments
- Location
- Eastern Nassau
Also how much flow is going over the baffles in your sump can increase evaporation, more flow will equal more evaporation
- Location
- staten island,ny
My 93 cube evaporates the same about 1 gallon+ a day ..some days more then others
- Location
- Staten Island
If its not leaking your normal. I evap about 5 gal every week and a half and I have a 55 with roughly 70-80 gal total volume.
- Location
- Bellmore, NY
Same on my 65g
- Location
- The Big City
Get a Rubbermaid container, 20gal or so, and use that instead. When you comeback you can switch back to the 5gal container.
- Location
- Eastern Nassau
Also if you have any local reefers you might wanna show them your system an ask them to check it for you while you are gone. If you don't know anybody that well than just leave decent just in case instructions for a family member
- Location
- Bronx
+1 this is the best method just increase your ATO water container for the time being you dont want anyone messing with your tank unless you really trust them i use a 40gal bucket on my 120 when i go away with my ATO and i also see an increase in water evaporation during the colder seasons than i do in the summer
As suggested above, use a larger ATO bucket during the time you are gone. (don't wait until the night before to set this up, do it now and make sure it is working!). Also leave extra top off water to refill the ATO in case the tank uses more than you expect.
Make sure as much of your system is automated as possible - especially lighting and leave food in premeasured amounts for whoever is feeding your tank.
Do you have someone who will be home to watch over the tank while you are gone?
The reason I got into fish was because we vacation 3-4 times a year and no one from our family/friends like pets. Didnt know I would be stuck air conditionling/heating the water, lol. Thanks for the big bucket ATO idea, my ATO is old and unreliable, I wanted to get a new one, any recomendations? Should I just get the cheaper JBJ of shell out for a tunze? They seem to all be doing the same thing.
last time I was away for a week, I decreased my salinity slowly, and then I turned off the return pump completely. Had the webcam on the tank... The only loss I had was a litefoot crab, he got into my overflow somehow, thats still a mystery to me.
You left the return pump off for a week?
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