evaporation top offs for nano tanks.

[samuel88]

i'd like to ask if any of you have nano tanks 15 gallons or less, without a sump or auto top off system.

how do you replace water lost to evaporation?

in my 15 gallon tank i used to take a 1 litre cup of freshwater and usually i empty it slowly into the tank, but one day when i was in a rush i just emptied it in a few seconds into the tank. within 24 hours my tank had massive bacterial bloom that would wipe out my entire tank. i'm thinking that the freshwater washed over the live rocks with beneficial bacteria and caused a huge die off?

but anyway after that incident i now use a airline tubing to slowly drip my freshwater into my tank, i also bought more live rocks for more biological filtration.

i just want to confirm if my assumption is correct and what do people with nano tanks without sumps and auto top off systems go about with their top offs?

[tansh]

I top up using distilled water bought frm shop and save for my 25L nano tank.

[peacemaker]

I have no issues with topping up distilled water even up to amounts of a full 1.5 ltr bottle, but I always pour it in the filter compartment. My tank is an IOS with 6" filter compartment. I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

[Ketchup]

ya, i think as long as use distilled water should be fine.

[peacemaker]

What freshwater are you using?

[onizukaa]

The freshwater (if you are using tap water aka fresh water), please do de-chlorine it with seachem prime / other products with the same function.

I have always top up for my 12g and 24g with the age water (i store tap water into a bottle and add seachem prime,shake it to mix it and leave it for 2 days to age before using it), i poured in 1.5litre one shot into the IOS of the nano tank everytime and there's no issue with it.

It might be the freshwater issue / other issue that wipes out your entire tank.

Else distill water from supermarkets works the same just pour into the IOS if any, if there is no IOS, i would suggest pouring abit by bit over the wavemaker to spread it evenly

[poomoon]

What freshwater, tap ?

Better to use distilled as bros mentioned already. I pour 0.5 to 1 bottle and like peace, pour it in my nano filter (tunze)

[samuel88]

yea i do dechlorinate with seachem prime.

i don't have IOS, so i dumped it straight in the main tank, think i shuda added it slowly over the wave maker.

right now i do the top offs with a drip system, so shud be ok, if i use drip system still got this problem that means my water got something wrong.

been doing it for 3 weeks already so far still ok.

thanks for all the advice.

[samuel88]

do you guys put any biofilter media in your IOS?

cause if you pour freshwater right over it, won't it do some damage to the beneficial bacteria?

or do you use the IOS mainly for chemical filtration?

[FuEl]

I mix saltwater to 1.019-1.020 and aerate it for 24 hours prior to using it. Change 10% water daily from my nano tank. Never needed to top up pure water.

[samuel88]

so.... correct me if my conclusion is wrong, but i'm thinking cause most of you guys pour your distilled water in the IOS the water gets mixed up well before it gets into the display tank so there is no adverse effect on the nitrifying bacterias?

has anyone tried to dump freshwater right over a piece of live rock in their display tank? cause that's what i did and i ended up with a bacterial bloom and lost quite a bit.

[samuel88]

i feel so confused because every one seems to just dump in water into the aquarium be it a water change or freshwater top off and be fine, but when i do it something bad happens. :S and i know its definitely not my water that's contaminated cause the fish have been living in it for 6 months.

[desideria]

I just dump my RO DI water directly into my pico .... so far it's almost a month and nothing untoward has happened. 1 L in a 15G which is about 57L shouldn't have any adverse effect .. it's only about 1.7% of your total vol... unlikely....

[Ketchup]

Samuelo, u have not really answer if you use RO/DI water.. based on what you have said, it seems like you only dechlorinate the water, which may still contains other metals and harmful particles. So as suggested by most, just use distilled water and sea salt.

[peacemaker]

The key here is the type of freshwater you use to top up your tank. I have emptied an entire 1.5 ltr bottle of distilled water in the main area of a bigger tank without issues as well.

[samuel88]

Samuelo, u have not really answer if you use RO/DI water.. based on what you have said, it seems like you only dechlorinate the water, which may still contains other metals and harmful particles. So as suggested by most, just use distilled water and sea salt.

yeah i only dechlorinate, i doubt its me not using distilled or RO water cause my tank has been using this source of water for 6 months without any incident, it was only when i poured in the water in a hurry that it happened. so i can only conclude that its probably pouring in too much water too quickly i guess, but thanks for all the help. i really appreciate it, i've learnt quite a bit.

[Ketchup]

I truly believe the problem is the water... using for 6 mths doesn't mean anything as it can be culminating till this time when it tips over.. What is the rational of not using RO/DI water?

[onizukaa]

just for sharing, i have done few setups with nano and 5ft tanks and all i used are just tap water from my kitchen and i always de-cholrinate it and leave it to age before pouring into the tank

Zoas are growing and gsp are spreading like wildfire!

Fish is also ok as i have been topping up with the de-chlorinated tap water for 1 year + without any issue...

not a must to use di/ro water (but if can use, more advisable to use it as my tank does have algae if not maintain properly)

hope samuelo bro tank is up and running strong!

[samuel88]

I truly believe the problem is the water... using for 6 mths doesn't mean anything as it can be culminating till this time when it tips over.. What is the rational of not using RO/DI water?

well, i would love to, but erm, i'm not really working yet so i can't afford the RO/DI unit.

[samuel88]

just for sharing, i have done few setups with nano and 5ft tanks and all i used are just tap water from my kitchen and i always de-cholrinate it and leave it to age before pouring into the tank

Zoas are growing and gsp are spreading like wildfire!

Fish is also ok as i have been topping up with the de-chlorinated tap water for 1 year + without any issue...

not a must to use di/ro water (but if can use, more advisable to use it as my tank does have algae if not maintain properly)

hope samuelo bro tank is up and running strong!

thanks for the encouragement, right now i drip my freshwater right ontop of the wave maker to make sure it mixes well. maybe when i'm feelng braver i'll stop using a drip system and pour it over my wave maker slowly instead.

[peacemaker]

If you are able to study your tank's evaporation rate, let's say, 1.5 ltrs a day, just set a bottle's worth of freshwater in drip mode, and it should produce a more stable salinity. Your very own DIY ATO! You can even mix kalk with it, but that is a lot more difficult to fine tune.

[samuel88]

If you are able to study your tank's evaporation rate, let's say, 1.5 ltrs a day, just set a bottle's worth of freshwater in drip mode, and it should produce a more stable salinity. Your very own DIY ATO! You can even mix kalk with it, but that is a lot more difficult to fine tune.

that's a great idea, i'll try it out.

[allantang]

another suggestion, place a water bottle upside down with the mouth just below the required water level. water will auto flow in when the water level evaporate below the bottle's mouth and stops when water level goes above it..

[samuel88]

another suggestion, place a water bottle upside down with the mouth just below the required water level. water will auto flow in when the water level evaporate below the bottle's mouth and stops when water level goes above it..

that sounds cool, i've gotta try that out.

[lotsofloo]

LOL...all the talk on water treatment....i dont dechlorinate my tap water at all just pour it into the aquarium. 10 gal tank been runnin with lps,soft corals..all my lf immune to whatever contaminent that is in the tap water...lol