let's see some top-off systems!

nisom88 · 02-03-2003, 05:02 PM

hey everybody...
i'm in the final stages of plumbing my new 100g acrylic tank. i posted a diagram not too long ago and got some great advice, although things have changed a little since the conception. i'll try and post some pics later on.
anyway, i was hoping to see/hear about how people handle top-off. unfortunately i won't have r/o plumbed into the stand, it's all the way in the garage...but i absolutely hate filling the sump manually every day....

how do you all take care of that??

karsco · 02-03-2003, 05:42 PM

Nisom,

Well I am currently making a top off unit for my 60 gallon aquarium. I based my design off the Aqualan Nurce. I would take a picture of it but I let somoene borrow my digital camera, and I wont have it back for a week or two. I basically took a standard 10 gallon aquarium, cut a piece of acrylic and siliconed it to the top of the aquarium to create a airtight seal. I then cut into the acrylic and installed all of the plumbing parts and sealed them with silicone. This would be much easier if I could show you a picture! Here is a link to Aqualan's Nurce top off unit to give you an idea of what their unit looks like and how the unit works.

http://www.aqualan.com/products.html

Rus · 02-03-2003, 06:23 PM

just use a 5gal. bucket with a kent float valve . all top off is mixed with kalk and dripped in 24/7

Rus · 02-03-2003, 06:30 PM

one more shot of it for you,

hth -Russ

nisom88 · 02-04-2003, 09:47 AM

I was thinking of something along the same lines Rus, but the float valve scares me. How well does it work? Is it very accurate? I guess I just worry about it getting stuck open. I'm also not quite sure where i would put the container for the top-off water...space is at a premium underneath the tank. I could always put it next to the tank i guess. Hey Rus, any chance you could include a close up of the valve itself and it's position in the sump?

Geoff · 02-04-2003, 09:59 AM

you really do not need to worry about it being stuck open. the way they are designed it would be difficult for it to be stuck open, unless broken off of its attachment. the large float(the big retangular looking think) stops the water when it is in the up position. the amount of force this float puts on the water outlet is quite impressive. the higher the water gets the tighter the valve closes. the kent which i have is rated to 60psi, for the most part household plumbing. so the less than 10psi of a 5 gal bucket set even 10 feet above the valve would not be a problem.

G~

Casey · 02-04-2003, 11:09 AM

How do you fill the 5 gal bucket when it gets empty?

Rus · 02-04-2003, 07:19 PM

Nisom,

i'll try to snap a pic of it close up for you, as far as getting stuck open i believe that would be next to impossible to happen unless something heavy enough sat on top of the float keepin it down , although even with that happening you would have to have less then 5 gal capacity remaing in your sump [ mine can still take around 15 gal of back flow safely ]

Casey ,

as far as filling it that is the only thing that's a bit of a hassle but i have enough hose in between the bucket and sump that i just move the bucket out of the stand fill it with premade RODI water mix in my kalk and put it back in the stand

Rus · 02-04-2003, 08:06 PM

Nisom , a couple of close-ups for you

HTH -RUSS

Rus · 02-04-2003, 08:09 PM

one more

jg24 · 02-04-2003, 09:58 PM

Nisom,

Check out this web site: www.californiareefs.com, click on the for sale link. They sell two different float switches. I have the in sump model. I have really liked it so far(I have had it hooked up for about 2 mnths now). Mine is run with a MJ 600 or 700 connected to a piece of tubing. My holding container is a 12 gal sterilite container I got at Home Depot. Until hooking this up I was manually filling my sump. On my 75 gal the 10 gal or so I put in the holding box lasts about 7-10 days. My sump is a 20L. I chose not to use the magnet mount that is shown on the website. I made a bracket out of some scrap acrylic. I made an L shape and zip tied the switch to the bracket.

Casey · 02-04-2003, 10:02 PM

Bob that link isnt working Casey

cyberchef · 02-04-2003, 10:15 PM

Here you go

http://www.californiareefs.com/

fredly · 02-05-2003, 02:00 AM

I use a Kent float valve with one of those 5-gallon screw-lid containers. I ran the hose into the kitchen and placed the reservior on a shelf inside the pantry (not enough altitude in the stand for gravity flow to empty). I modified a shutoff valve that's designed for that hard plastic tubing - has a one-way gripping ring and an o-ring seal inside it. On one side I removed the grip ring and now have a quick disconnect. This arrangement has worked well for over 2 years.

One comment...when dripping Kalk this way I get too much buildup on the valve. It has never failed though...even when caked up quite badly.

Fred

reefcam · 02-05-2003, 11:35 AM

Bob,

That float switch you are trying? Is there a relay between the AC cord and the float switch? I would think the switch will burn up since the switch is DC rated and very low rating. I have the same float switch, but it is connected to a AC outlet box which has a AC to DC converter (basically a relay switch). Just curious.

Thanks
Jim