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My first heavy loss

Jeremy Brito

Jeremy Brito

So my lack of an ATO and busy work schedule finally caught up to me..
For awhile now ive been working my butt off .. And have been neglecting the tank, is like to say it wasn't so much lack of up keep that caused the problem but my tanks heavy evaporation and lack of ATO.. I went away for a weekend part work part just needing some time with family.. In the back of my mind I worried about the water level in the sump but it was Friday and no one would be home till Sunday evening to check.. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best by Sunday night the water level dropped I, the sump to the point were some of the rocks were exposed and the skimmer cut out the pump barely had enough water to pump but still worked probably my biggest saving grace how ever the raising of the salinity caused the die off of 4 corals a scoly and lobo the jack o lantern and the holly wood stunner. Most of the,corals in,the,main tank look ok but not really there perky self ..
I am kicking,my self in,the butt for,not being,on top of the,tank like I usually am .. This was a hard learned lesson and a costly one
 
erics210

erics210

Secretary
NJRC Member
Sorry to hear.

Wanna post a before shot? Or too soon?


If you evaporated that much water, did you still have water running back to the tank from your sump?

If not, that loss of flow and aeration may have hurt as much as any salinity increase.
 
DangerDave

DangerDave

NJRC Member
How big is the return section of your sump? It must be pretty big to increase salinity so much? Anyway, sorry to hear about those losses...

Dave
 
DangerDave

DangerDave

NJRC Member
Just a thought... if you are using a controller you can put an optical sensor at the low water mark that you don't want to go past. If it does, it can trigger the return pump to turn off. With your powerheads still running in the tank, it would be fine for a couple days. Many people run sumpless with no issue.

Alternatively, instead of staying off you could have it set a delay to turn back on. This way you would still have water moving between sump and DT. You could possibly shorten the pump life, but the tank would still be turning over.
 
W

Wilson

download (1).jpeg
I just installed one of these guys on each if my tanks. Worked well for me so far, simple to set up. $125 retail. Great customer service.
 
lefkonj

lefkonj

People make the ATO more complicated than it has to be. A 5 gallon bucket with the IceCap or the Tunze is all you need to cover a few days. Worth every dollar
 
jazeel50

jazeel50

Why don’t just use a float valve connect to RO line it will keep the constant level with having to worry about refilling


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M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
jazeel50 said:
Why don’t just use a float valve connect to RO line it will keep the constant level with having to worry about refilling


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Click to expand...

Because if something goes wrong and you have a constant flow of RODI into the tank you will kill everything. This has happened to several people in the club. I use a 20g tank and just fill it up and go from there.
 
myrjon

myrjon

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
35 gal brute in basement with a big pump (hole in floor i drilled) wired next to tank on a electrical strip. push button on strip for water in morning and at night. And no float switches !!!!!!!!!!!
 
jazeel50

jazeel50

Going to try float valve I have a ATO but going to try something different.


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lefkonj

lefkonj

I would be way to nervous to have a float hooked up to a direct RODI feed. Forget the failure of the float itself. What if you skimmer goes nuts, too much RODI you wouldn't know. What if you have a leak, too much RODI you wouldn't know. Most of the modern ATOs have safeties in them to prevent them from running for too long at once.
 
Jeremy Brito

Jeremy Brito

Sorry guys I've been really busy. The tank still had enough water to circulate but evaporated close to 4 gallons of water over 2 days. It wasn't a total tank loss just a big hit my sump is 3 chambers the middle is a refugium that I put frags I am acclimating or trying to save in.
Trio I'm still interested in,your ago and most likely will be at rap I was supposed to be at the last meeting,but had a bad upper respiratory infection and,could not breath.
I appreciate all your support guys it was a hard lesson
 
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