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View Full Version : The 16 ounce solution.


aquaman67
06/26/2009, 02:23 PM
I've been measuring how much my autotopoff.com auto top off has been putting in my tank each time it kicks on to see how sensitive it is.

It's been putting in 16 ounces at a time. That's pretty accurate to me. I was adding a gallon at a time, sometimes two.

I found a clear dog food container at petsmart that has a sealable lid. It's small and I like to see where the water level is.

If you don't have an auto top off, how much are you adding at a time, 24 hours a day? It's not 16 oucnes I bet.....

aquaman67
06/26/2009, 02:38 PM
Here's a pic. You can see the lines left everytime it refills.

The container is approx. 10" X 6" and the lines are 1/2 inch apart.

So in feet that's .83 X .5 X .04 = .0166

.0166 X 7.48 (the number of gallons in a cubic foot) = .124

.125 gallons is a pint or 16 ounces.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/9513Photo0063.jpg

THE ROOK
06/26/2009, 03:47 PM
My unit is from aquahub but it looked like they used the same floats. I guess not. Mine barely drops 1/8" before kicking on. 1/2" seems like quite a bit.

1DeR9_3Hy
06/26/2009, 03:50 PM
I had an autotopoff.com top off and it was super sensitive. When i pulled the empty micron sock of my drain it would kick on until the little bit of water that was inside the sock drained into the sump. It was probably 1/2 cup of water max.

I was really happy with it, but it failed :( Luckily in dont really trust any top off and only keep 1-2 gallons in my top off jug, so nothing bad happened.

ludnix
06/26/2009, 04:29 PM
I'm using a autotopoff.com unit as well, mine hasn't failed yet, but my setup is designed so that if it got stuck on it wouldn't be detrimental to my tank at all, and if it just stopped working I'd notice before the return pump runs dry.

Dave Harms
06/26/2009, 04:29 PM
I manually top off my tank now, but when I had my bigger tank I used a Tunze osmolator and it topped off WAY more often so that it added just a little at a time. The key is to put your sensor in a small section of your sump so that the overall volume lost before the ATO kicks in is small.

reefboy1994
06/26/2009, 05:07 PM
i have a diy ATO and it tops off like 1/2 cup at a time :)