Evaporation rates

[Sharkey18]

I am astounded at how much my new 120 evaporates per day, about 1.5 gallons.

It is an open top tank with 2 250w MH.

 

Is this an average amount?

 

Has anyone experimented with ways to reduce evap? Maybe covering the sump?

 

Laura

[Coral Hind]

That is about average. Fans blowing across the top can raise that number even higher. There isn't much you can do unless you reduce airflow or cover the tank.

[bbyatv]

My 90 evaps about 2.5 gallons per day. I have two fans over the tank and one over the sump. I try and evap as much as I can so I can put kalkwasser back in it's place. That way I can keep my pH at 8.0. I run a calcium reactor that drives the pH down. I also have 2- 250w MH and 4 - 54w T5s.

[Coral Hind]

bbyatv, What is the humidity level around your tanks? Do you ever have any issues from the high evap rates?

[treesprite]

What are your total volumes, as opposed to just the size of your tanks?

 

My 65g has a system cvolume of about 100 gallons, and the tank, sump, and refugium are all un-covered. I lose about 1.5 gallons a day to evaporation.

 

My 40 hex has a 10g sump, and the tank top is 50% covered. I lose about 1/2 gallon a day to evaporation.

[bbyatv]

The tank is in a finished basement. The humity is likely low because the AC is running. So far it has not been an issue. No condensation on the windows in the room where the tank is or anything. We also come and go in and out of the house from the basement so maybe that helps?

 

Bruce

 

bbyatv, What is the humidity level around your tanks? Do you ever have any issues from the high evap rates?

[Mountaineer]

My 265 plus sump loses about 1.5 gals / day.

[Origami]

Without fans, I figure a rule-of-thumb average of 1 to 1.5 gallons of evaporation per 100 gallons of capacity standard. This can as much as double with fans. My main display is in the basement and yet I still evaporate 3.5 gallons on average every day for a system volume of 300-350 gallons.

[lhcorals]

We evaporate around 4 gallons a day in the 265. It is open top and ( 3 ) 250 watt MH and ( 8 ) 39 watt T-5's.

[Sharkey18]

Well now I'm feeling lucky at only 1.5.

 

Thanks for all the input.

 

Time for an ATO. I can't keep up!

 

Laura

[Ron]

I evaporate on average 3 gal/day. I have a 120 display and about 40 in the sump/refug. The display has a raised hood w/ 2 175MH and 4 VHO. There are two 3 inch fans in the hood and a 6 inch fan blowing over the sump and a dehumidifier going in the room where sump is that is set at 50%, otherwise all my tools rust!

[treesprite]

otherwise all my tools rust!

 

I had some rather expensive brass kaleidoscopes in the room that are now worthless....

[lanman]

My 240 w/total system volume of about 300 gallons evaporates about 4 gallons/day under T5 lights.

 

1 gallon from frag system 1, and 2 gallons from frag system 2. In the spring and fall, when neither A/C nor heating are operating very much - I have a lot of problems with humidity; condensation on the cold floor, etc.

 

bob

[reefmontalvo]

I loose about 2 gallons a day in my 150. I also run a 50 pint a day de-humidifer. I had a lot of mold problems and when I went from a 75 to a 150.