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View Full Version : side by side tank/topoff?


schoch79
02/07/2010, 04:22 AM
Ok so my situation is I have no room for a sump under the tank and no way for me to do a gravity feed for top off/kalk dosing. My only other thought is I can set up a seperate resevoir pretty much to the side of my display tank. Is this possible? If so how would I go about dosing the kalk into the display? Drilling the tank is out of the question and though I probably can't get a very accurate top off rate I was wondering if I could use one of those dosing pumps to pretty much do a drip line back into the tank. Keep in mind the resevoir would end up where the pump would have to pump up to the rim of the display about 6 inches to a foot. Anyone have any ideas? Or am I going about this all wrong and making it harder on myself?

ludnix
02/07/2010, 05:00 AM
I would just use an Auto Top Off device and a pump. Just dump the kalkwasser mix in the top off container, prop the pump off the bottom of the container with some sort of support and connect the pump to the auto top off float switch.

http://autotopoff.com/

You want to make sure the out-line on the pump is higher than the maximum water level in the reservoir so a siphon doesn't happen.

schoch79
02/07/2010, 09:36 AM
Ok so I looked at your link there. Sorry for being so ignorant on this subject but I think I will need a little more explanation on how it would be set up. For the most part it seems simple enough but what size pump would I use? Something like a maxi? I would think something like that would just pump too much water too fast. Also the mount would have to go in the tank. It says the level can be set to 1"-3" from the tip of the tank. That sounds right but at 1" that would pretty much be at the bottom edge of the black plastic moulding on tanks right? How would I run the line from the resevoir to the tank? pvc or something like airline tubing? If airline tubing how would I connect that to the pump? Sorry for so many questions I just want to have this figured out before I spend money and realize I don't want to/can't do this.

schoch79
02/07/2010, 06:28 PM
Bump

ludnix
02/07/2010, 06:43 PM
You can adjust the sensor heights fairly easily. Mine have pre-drilled holes so you can zip-tie them on at various heights.

I'm currently using a maxijet 1200 on my 120g tank but it does spray out very quickly even with a couple feet of head pressure. Aqua-lifter pumps are fairly popular for ATO because they use regular 1/4" air line tubing and are very slow. They do not handle head pressure well, but it shouldn't be an issue in your case.

I would get this kit:
http://autotopoff.com/products/DT1/
and order an Aqualifter such as this one:
http://www.marinedepot.com/Tom_Aquatics_Aqua_Lifter_Dosing_Pump_Accessories_for_Aquarium_Overflow_Boxes-Tom%60s_Aquatics-OE1137-FIOFOA-vi.html

You can just run air-line tubing from the top off container to the pump and then to the tank. You can even use those air-line holders to keep it mounted to the tanks. Kalkwasser can be just dumped into the ATO container without issue, but you will want to periodically clean or replace the air line tubing so it does not clog. You're also going to want to check the sensors occasionally to make sure not small snails get in there force the switches into the on position. The dual float sensors will help prevent that from happening but a little maintenance is a good assurance as well.

schoch79
02/07/2010, 07:56 PM
Thanks a lot. That was the kind of information I was looking for. I think I now have a better understanding of this whole thing and don't feel so intimidated now. Thanks again.