harleykris

Have not yet set up my 22 gallon nano reef, but I'll be using a reverse osmosis system for top offs and water changes. I was wondering if the r.o. unit can be connected directly to the tank (in the sump built into the back of the tank) using a float/shut off/on valve to top off automatically. I would think that the fresh water would be added slowly enough that there wouldn't be much of a temperature fluctuation. I searched all over this forum, but couldn't find much info about this. Thanks for any help you can give!

Mike

Hi - there are a couple of issues to contend with:

1. What if the switch fails? You wind up turning your saltwater tank into a freshwater tank with water all over the floor.

2. Topping off gives you an opportunity to test your alkalinity, calcium, salinity, pH, etc. and adjust as needed. Top-offs are when I add calcium and alkalinity supplements when in between water changes.

au01st

Why not pump the RO water into a container and use that container for top offs. Keep 3-4 gallons on hand and hook up to a pump with an electronic float switch that powers the pump 15min at a time 4x a day.

harleykris

Thanks for your input. I think for now I'll just top off manually to avoid any floods. This way I can keep up with all of the other water adjustments as Mike said. Thanks again.

BigJoe

that sounds like a neat idea though...if you had a way to automaticcally fill ur reservoir when it was low with RO water (ie another float switch... that opens a valve for water in from some water source into ur RO unit...) then youd still have to keep up with those parameters which you may get to forgetting after a while... but if you were really good you might find a way to run everything automaticcally... but testing can only be done by hand i think... if there is an electronic way to test... then hypotheticcally couldn't you make a completely care free system?? that sustains its own water changes and such... i hate being an engineer... now i'm gonna have to think about that and research and see if it's possible...

au01st

They make TDS meters and probes and stuff. TDS meter hooked to the RO/DI system and as long as the output is 00, you don't have to mess with that. Go into a float switch in a container and your ro/di water will stay topped off. Run that to the tank top off and that will fill from the reserve tank, which will refill with new ro/di water.

A unit like the AquaController 3 or ReefKeeper 2 can be hooked up to probes that monitor temp and can turn on/off fans, chillers, lights, based on your settings. You can also monitor PH probes that will turn off things if the PH changes beyond a certain range (say if you're running a CA reactor or kalkwasser stirrer). You can even hook up dosing pumps to dose trace elements, etc.

You can get as automatic as you want, but it'll cost ya.


Depending on what your engineering background is, you may be able to make some of these components as there are schematics available on the internet, but it may not be pretty.

BigJoe

well i gotta get a house that i won to do it... cause you would need a water source and a drain to do what i was referring to... btw i'm a mechanical eng. student... so yeah thats right up my alley eh... i wish i was outa school and could afford the raw materials...

au01st

Cool. Where are you in school at? I was in Aerospace Engineering at Auburn but took my first set of AERO courses and it was too boring/tedious for me. 1sec in the wind tunnel and 3 weeks studying data...change one thing, 1 more sec in the wind tunnel, another 3 weeks of data. I switched to the school of business (which is a joke BTW) for Logistics and Supply Chain Management with a minor in Criminology (already working in Loss Prevention for a major retail store, so I should have a job ready when I graduate) and will graduate next Spring.

I agree, it is tough reefing on a college student's budget.