Stop sump for 1 week

[xobklynqt143]

im going away soon and i dont have an ATO i was wondering if it would be ok just to stop the water going into the overflow and just let the tank filter itself with the powerheads and the live rock...then when i came home just start it up again? i think it would be ok i would just like other opinions

thanks

 

[reefman]

u will still have a lot of evaporated water, increasing sg n stress out the tank.

 

[Alex]

it would be better for your reef as well as for your mental sanity if you find someone who would be willing to keep an eye out for your tank.do the daily chores,water top off skimmer check,etc..
like reefman said you will still have evaporation and who will feed them.

 

[emmanuel]

if you can get an upside down bottle or anything else that will hold water fixed so that the opening (think bottle neck) is at the level were you want the water surface to be in the sump the water will only come out of the bottle as the water level falls due to evaporation . This would have to be a fairly large bottle like those big water cooler bottles but depending on the size of your tank you might be able to go with a 1 gallon milk jug or even those square spring water bottles with a hose attached so the opening of the hose is at the water surface I havnt tried that out but it should work I know the bottle upside down works

 

[alistair]

http://autotopoff.com/

 

[h20 freak]

if you can get an upside down bottle or anything else that will hold water fixed so that the opening (think bottle neck) is at the level were you want the water surface to be in the sump the water will only come out of the bottle as the water level falls due to evaporation . This would have to be a fairly large bottle like those big water cooler bottles but depending on the size of your tank you might be able to go with a 1 gallon milk jug or even those square spring water bottles with a hose attached so the opening of the hose is at the water surface I havnt tried that out but it should work I know the bottle upside down works

how would the bottle be held in place?


And to xobklynqt143

I'm doing that, im visiting a relative now and the tank is running sumpless as we speak. I moved my skimmer and heater up to the main and stopped the sump, does it work?Well if you see a post around the 24th saying"MAJOR TANK CRASH WHILE I WAS AWAY" then you will know just how it works.

 

[xobklynqt143]

oh gosh lol hope that dont happen i can have someone come over 1 time when im gone so well see what happen

 

[emmanuel]

If you can have someone come over 1 time just raise the level in your sump a little bit with ro water so your salinity goes a tiny bit lower than you have now that way it buys you time as the water evaporates till someone comes over . It is safer to have your salinity swing a little bit than run the sump dry . If you do shut the sump down my guess is that you need a powerhead in the sump to keep water moving don't just leave it stagnant. As for how to keep the bottle in place before I had my auto top off I used a piece of wood with a big hole and wedged the bottle in the hole it took a few tries I only used this method when I would go away for 3 or 4 days and also ran my sump a little higher that would give me an extra day or two for evaporation.