Water evaporation

[Jesshika]

I am going to be gone for about 3 weeks and I was worried about the water evaporation and what to do so maybe the water won't evaporate so fast? I was gone for a week before and the water went down more than I expected. Although I did keep the lid open then because it was so hot and I was worried that tank would overheat. So either over heat or evaporate? lol I unplugged my heater and I think this time I will leave the lid closed but anything else I can do? Or is it ok if there is a little evaporation? I don't have anyone here to add more water either.

 

[Amphiprion]

How much evaporation are we talking about? What is the shift in salinity? Too little info to make a good recommendation. Also consider intravenous-style drippers for an easy "automated" topoff system while you are away.

 

[Hebily]

I wouldn't leave the heater off in a tank that is stocked with anything besides gold fish...

 

[Blown 346]

Evaporation is a great thing since it provides great gas exchange. My 90 gallon is topless as well as my 40 gallon sump. I have to add 3 or 4 gallons of water every 2 days.

There really isnt much you can do about evaporation except cover the tank with the lid. It s going ot happen regardless. You can get a auto topoff, but Those can fail, if one does and your away, you will come home to a flood as it will continue to run.

 

[cjtabares]

I would look into an auto top off relatively cheap $100 and u don’t have to worry about turning your heater off or the sg going up. 3 weeks is kind of a long time, you will not have any water changes so the concentration of everything in the water is going to go up ammonia. Nitrates, nitrites ect. And less water is only going to make it worse. I know i lose about 10-15 cups of water a day in my 100gal

 

[Dan06]

Couldn't you shorten the photoperiod by a couple hours each day to help slow the evaporation? You could make your own small 'auto' top off. I would find a way to rig up a 2.5-5 gallon bucket, use some air line and start a siphon, tie a couple knots and get the drips at a pace you'd like and give that a try.

How long is it before you leave for 3 weeks? If you have a couple days you certainly can experiment with that and see how it works unattended for a couple days.

 

[fsn77]

I would suggest an auto top-off unit. Yes, they can fail if not installed properly, but when used properly they do not. Most have a two switch system to prevent failures and flooding.

Three weeks is a long time to leave the tank with no one checking on it. A week is certainly doable if there's certain aspects of the tank that are automated (feeding, ATO, lights), but I'd be very leary about leaving any tank for 3 weeks without someone checking on it. Even with our ATO, I don't have a reservoir on it that'll last 3 weeks... 10 days is about where it maxes out.

Reducing the photoperiod will reduce the amount of heat from the lighting that causes any evaporation, but there's several other factors that'll effect evaporation -- such as the amount of surface agitation, temperature difference between the tank and the air in the room it's in, humidity of the room, etc.

Living in the LA area, do you belong to one of the local clubs out there? Do you know someone in one of those clubs that'll check on the tank and top it off for you?

 

[lanimret]

Usually most LFS provide a service to come care for your tank. If you trust them in your home that is probably the way to go. It's worth the money for you to not worry the entire trip. Trust me.

I wouldn't recommend the 'drip' system. One of two things will happen over that amount of time.

1) You won't set it to drip fast enough, the water will evaporate within a week to the point where your pump is sucking air. Your pump burns out and all your fish die before you get back.

2) You set it to high and you come home to whatever amount of liquid you used as a reservoir all over your floor.

Their is basically no chance of getting it 'just right' over a 3 week period. If you want to try, you need to start it now and adjust it for as long as possible as accurately as possible before you go.

 

[Hebily]

How are you feeding these guys during this trip?

 

[Dan06]

I didn't suggest using any sort of pump...for sure. I would manually start a siphon by placing the resevoir above the tank in some way.

I would def. try to find someone to maintain the tank, but if that isn't really an option, it's time to get creative!!!