Auto top off

[Carl]

I will have a tank and sump on first floor of the house.

 

I need to top off evaporated water...currently I won't be dosing anything...but may 12 months from now.

 

I won't have room under the tank for a fresh water reservoir...the reservoir will be in the basement 10 feet below.

 

What is my best option:

 

1) Hook up my RO directly to anAutotopoff.com solenoid that is powered on/off by an autotopoff.com double float valve switch in my sump.

 

2) Get some brand of dosing pump (which ones are good?) that will pump up or pull up the water 10 feet from the basement holding tank. I suppose this could be powered by an autotopoff.com double float valve switch in the sump? What is better/easier? push water up 10 feet or pull water up 10 feet? Do these dosing pumps to a good job pulling the water up 10+feet?

 

I've heard good things about the autotopoff.com brand...if I go the dosing pump...what is a good brand to get?

 

3) any other good option?

 

What do I get now...with the idea that I won't dose anything but ro/di water...but if I change my mind in the future, I can re-use what I buy now.

Edited April 13, 2008 by Carl

[Highland Reefer]

Carl,

 

I know you have been running several threads and I have not been following closely.

 

There may be a reason to have your sump on the upper level, but I have my sump in the basement. It makes for easy water changes, dosing and what have you. I have my top-off next to the sump and run it into the sump. All my mess is in the basement.

 

Just my two cents.

 

[Carl]

Cliff - yea...maybe I should keep all my questions on the single thread for simplicity...

 

I agree, putting the sump in the basement would make maintenance much easier.

 

In your area, how do you top off? directly plumbed from your RO unit? or with a dosing pump and water storage tank?

[Highland Reefer]

Cliff - yea...maybe I should keep all my questions on the single thread for simplicity...

 

I agree, putting the sump in the basement would make maintenance much easier.

 

In your area, how do you top off? directly plumbed from your RO unit? or with a dosing pump and water storage tank?

 

I run my RO unit into a 30 gallon container which has a shutoff switch at the top. In the bottom of the Ro storage container I have installed a pvc drain with a spicket. I use a 5 gallon bucket for top off. I am afraid to use a container larger than that, because of Murph's law. I figure, if something goes wrong with my topoff switch, than the most that can be dumped into my sump is about 3-4 gallons, which will not wipe me out. I have my water level switch in the sump surround by a piece of 4" pvc pipe. I have a small pump in the 5 gallon bucket hooked to the top off switch. When the water level goes down, then the pump in the 5 gallon bucket pumps the contents into the sump & maintains the water level. I use my topoff with kalk also. When my 5 gallon topoff bucket gets low, I simply put it under the spickett of the RO holding tank and fill it up. I also have a pump in my RO tank that I use to pump into another mixing tank for water changes. Before I started adding kalk to my topoff, and I was just using ro water for topoff, I would drip ro water through the spickett at the bottom of the holding tank directly into the 5 gallon bucket, at the same rate that the water was evaporated. This was almost a maintenance free topoff system.

 

Carl, if you are interested in making a trip out to Highland, I would be more than happy to show you my setup.

Edited April 13, 2008 by Highland Reefer

[stevearlen]

1) Hook up my RO directly to anAutotopoff.com solenoid that is powered on/off by an autotopoff.com double float valve switch in my sump.

 

Obviously, some folks use this option. I would have two concerns with a solenoid in the configuration:

 

- the instructions with my RO/DI unit states that "It is recommended that at least 2 gallons of purified water be discarded before collecting purified water for use. If the unit is not used for several days, run the system for at least 15 minutes before collecting water." This was desribed on another post by YBeNormal @ Mar 22 2008, 04:13 PM with a link to http://www.airwaterice.com/category/.z.merlin/ and see "TDS Creep"

 

- fear of a failure resulting in (1) turning a reef tank into a "fresh" water tank and (2) major water damage.

 

I like the idea of a top off container with a limitied capacity (in my case case, a 5 gal but If I had the space under my tank, I would have gone with a 10 gal.)

 

 

I've heard good things about the autotopoff.com brand...if I go the dosing pump...what is a good brand to get?

 

I'm very please with the autotopoff.com brand. Here is my implementation - http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...mp;#entry177364

Edited April 13, 2008 by stevearlen

[Carl]

OK...from what I'm hearing...it's not wise to connect my RO directly to the tank...That makes sense to me...why increase the chances of a disaster if it can be avoided by a redesign.

 

So, I'm back to a holding tank of some sort. I'll now design a holding tank in the basement, and pump it up either by a large pump (i.e. Mag12 or similar), or run it off of a dosing pump.

 

Cliff- Yes, i would like to see your setup. PM me, and let me know your schedule...what works for you? weekday? weekend? mornings? evenings/

 

Steve - you're hilarious...I like the thread you wrote on your 5 gallon system!

 

 

Who has a dosing pump...and is happy with it?

[Antiguan]

What type of pump is ideal for the ATO from autotopoff.com. I did not purchase a solenoid.

[Carl]

What type of pump is ideal for the ATO from autotopoff.com. I did not purchase a solenoid.

 

Any pump would work...as their relay is rated at 1800 watts / 15 amps.

Edited April 13, 2008 by Carl

[SteveD]

To significantly reduce the chance of failure then run two solenoid pairs (total of 4 solenoids) in parallel.

 

Any pump would work...as their relay is rated at 1800 watts / 15 amps.

Edited April 13, 2008 by SteveD

[Larry Grenier]

Remember that when adding the topoff fresh water, the slower the better so the pump just needs enough power to get a trick to the sump. I'm planning on using an aqualifter to do my topoff which will be barely faster than a drip.

 

Of course the aqualifter will only deliver a drip a few feet up.

Edited April 14, 2008 by Larry Grenier

[JMsAquarium]

Gravity fed. 5 gal RODI container above sump level, connected to a float valve in the sump. As water evaporates from the sump, water level goes down---> opens the float valve ---> water flows from top off container into sump ---> water level goes up in sump ---> closes float vale. Very rare possibility that the float vale gets stuck. If it does, only 5 gals of RODI will be poured into the sump. Not much to affect the overal waater parameters :-)

[SkiCurtis]

I just bought this 2 month's ago and love it . http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/LiterMeter-I...oduct_info.html I was at one of naga's job's(pimped out aquarium's) and hooked it up on a top off tank and liked how easy it is to set up and how many good features it has. So I had to buy one . Right now i have it hooked up on a 7 gallon top off tank with some kalk water. in another week when Jeff get's my deltec kalk stirrer then it will be hooked up to that. it will dose 150 times in one day for the amount you specify. and you can add 2 more pumps so it can dose other things like calcium or anything else. its pricey but from what I hear it will last a very long time and be very dependable .

Curtis

[martin]

I use a JBJ ATO for with a small powerhead in a 5g bucket and an Acuamedic doser on a timer to run a kalkreactor. Works out for me. The doser couldn't keep up with evaporation so I had to hookup both.