topping up evapotated water

[five for fighting]

hi guys..

i use a cooling fan for my 2ft tank...afew days later my water will evaporate.....since i need to top up my water which method should i use......using declorinated water to top it up or using salt water to top it up?

[woonming]

Use water. As very small amount of salt is taken along with evaporated water..

By topping up with salt water you will just increase the salt content in your tank...

[terryansimon]

I thought only water in its purest form is evaporated, not salt.

thats why when water evaporates on the roads, you see oil slicks instead.

unless its a different ball game in marine.

[woonming]

I thought only water in its purest form is evaporated, not salt.

thats why when water evaporates on the roads, you see oil slicks instead.

unless its a different ball game in marine.

That why i told him not to add salt for top up water

[terryansimon]

As very small amount of salt is taken along with evaporated water..

urh then how come you type this?

[Volitan]

Actually some amount of salt might be lost when there's salt spray. You may want to check and compensate the loss once in a while, or during change of water.

[Infinitereef]

I also don't understand why you type that. Anyway, no salt will be evaporated. But there may be salt creeping on the side or the top cover. But, it is very small amount compared to your tank, so don't worry.

[sherman]

You top up with water only.But you need once a while on the sg to ensure.

Regards

Sherman

[coconut3]

how u guys top up water? just pour the water into the tank?

wat i did was i use ice which from aged water...

let the ice melt slowly which 'i think' can prevent sudden change of water salinity

[19percula]

yap u can add water in a small mineral bottle then poke a small hole at the cover and at the other end of the bottle so that water can pass throught the hole at the bottle cap slowly

[maKo]

yap u can add water in a small mineral bottle then poke a small hole at the cover and at the other end of the bottle so that water can pass throught the hole at the bottle cap slowly

I top up every few days, so a small mineral water bottle won't be sufficient for me. I'll end up refilling and refilling. Instead, I normally use a very narrow tube (air tube) to siphon water from a pail into the tank.

I thought the ice-cube method was quite ingenious. Just hope no one use it for coke by mistake!

[alanseah]

the best is still go get a tubby..

or ask from Octopus Bay for solution as he got 2 types of auto top up..

[Acanthurus pyroferus]

make sure your top up water if free of PO4 (phosphates) when adding especially if you're using tap water....

[coconut3]

best thing abt using ice cube is it can bring down the temperature as i do not use any fan or chiller...

i just use 1 container and repeat the process every 1 or 2 days

[coconut3]

make sure your top up water if free of PO4 (phosphates) when adding especially if you're using tap water....

how to remove PO4?

[Acanthurus pyroferus]

how to remove PO4?

PO4 are phosphates and you either use an RO/DI for your top up water or filter it through a phosphate absorber in a saperate container for a day or two before adding it to your main reef system.

[silverfish]

Hmm.. I put my tap water in a pail and wait overnight before adding into the tank. You can get Phosphate removal like phosguard to remove p04.

[Acanthurus pyroferus]

Hmm.. I put my tap water in a pail and wait overnight before adding into the tank. You can get Phosphate removal like phosguard to remove p04.

and no PO4 problems with cyno blooms in your reef system....

[silverfish]

Hmm.. Nope.. But got problem with diatoms

[silverfish]

Btw.. Whats a RO/DI?

Thanks..

[Acanthurus pyroferus]

Btw.. Whats a RO/DI?

Thanks..

RO means Reverse Osmosis and DI is Deionized...be careful with those diatoms and cyno could lead to more problems later on.

[sunnymau]

where to get a RO/DI ? what r the price? what other element is in the tap water that wil cause problem to the tank?

[charlie]

PO4 are phosphates and you either use an RO/DI for your top up water or filter it through a phosphate absorber in a saperate container for a day or two before adding it to your main reef system.

Hi

Is phosphate comes from fresh TAP water? I thought it is from main tank where overfeeding that cause phosphate to build up. Hope someone could verify this. Could it be that I've misunderstood it. Thanks.

[Acanthurus pyroferus]

PO4 (PHOSPHATES) is present in tap water and so are silicates as well. The build up of nutrients together with a high nitrate level NO3 will result in high phosphates amounts together with saltmixes and additives that might carry them as well when topping up water. Dried food for marine animals carry another large amount of phosphates too. So be careful of what you feed them. If you ask me alot of things that we have to be careful about...

[sunnymau]

is RO/DI capable removing of all this from the tap water? do u urself using such divice?