i cant believe the simple difference an auto topup has added in terms of ease of maintainance, stability etc etc. i should have got one ages ago like some other bits and pieces. its actually quite funny to think of how i regarded all the necessary things like streams, halides etc when i started and what i now know...

whats the best new toy you've added lately??

a plastic treasure chest that bubbles come out of and the lid opens.

hay tel could u tell us more about the auto top up? is it an bought one? if so what brand is it around how much did it cost ya.

never heard of an bought one so i am very interested

its a peristaltic pump with a float switch. set the level and never manually add fresh water again. it just draws it out of a barrel automatically to keep your level and salinity the same. pm jetski for a price.

he's run out, bad stock keeping

he's run out, bad stock keeping

awesome the price just shot up.....finally im making some money on my...ahem....investment :lol:

had one for several months, one ordered from de lighting through puttputt, mine's still working perfect, i think his screwed out and stopped working though. its a definate top-listing for me, saves a heap of time!

yes, mines a piece of junk, both of them, waiting for a nice simple aquamedic float type one.

best new thing for me well two things are

toothbrush stuck on the end of a piece of 15mm pipe

a hose connected to a piece of 15mm pipe 600mm long, with 1/2 inch loc-line on the end.

Works great for sucking crap up, in, under, behind rocks etc.

I made mine... quite simple.

You will need to get an electrician to wire up some relays etc.

1 x Small ehim pump - Jansens $39

1 x 20L container -free

2 x Level switches - water solutions $40 each

1 x 240v ac solenoid - water solutions $95

Get a 20L container and mount a level switch at the top of the container. It will turn on a solenoid connected to the water tap. Filter in line. Mount the other level sensor in your sump at the right level. When the level switch drops in your sump it will turn on the pump in the 20L container. Easy.

I have a button which I press that turns on the tap solenoid and allows water to flow in to the 20l container and turn off when fill. I use this method so it can't flood my tank with fresh water. I press the button every few days

A relay is really easy to wire up. Just a few little connectors, a relay and base from Jaycar, a 12V transformer and a bit of hacking. Took me about 15 minutes to figure it out and get it wired up. My topoff is a float switch tripping a the relay that switches on an airpump to push the water out of a 25L container into the tank.

I made mine... quite simple.

You will need to get an electrician to wire up some relays etc.

1 x Small ehim pump - Jansens $39

1 x 20L container -free

2 x Level switches - water solutions $40 each

1 x 240v ac solenoid - water solutions $95

great work and if you are able if anyone else out there cant or isnt inclined to DIY, i paid @ what your parts only cost.

$40 each for float switches? I got mine for $20 each from a local electrical supply store. Unless prices have gone up since then.

I think the water top was the best thing I have done to my tank to make looking after it easy.

Next would be the calcum reactor - once set has been trouble free, was a pain to start with but great now. I add mag / ca every couple of weeks as an additive if needed.

noooo, not a calcium reactor.... but they're history?

:lol:

Sorry forgot... much easier to spend time mixing chemicals each week and test every second day. :lol:

Or you could do it the smart way, and mix up several months worth of chemicals, and determine how much you tank uses every day, set a dosing pump to add that much.

Then there's no more maintenance compared to a reactor. Plus you don't have to spend weeks tuning it. 1 day and your done. And then you don't have to worry about cleaning a reactor, making sure the outlet doesn't slowly clogg, no added phosphate, no worrying about any excess CO2, or pH.

Layton

determine how much you tank uses every day

Always seem complicated to me, ive seen the calculators, is there an easy formula to work out what my system needs?

Yip.

Measure at 9 am and record the level.

Measure at 9 am the next day. (Without adding any additives in between measurements.)

Then take the first measurement, say it was alk at 9dkH, and put it into that calculator here:

http://reef.diesyst.com/

as the "Desired Alkalinity" number, then take the second measurement, say it was alk at 6dkH and put that into the calculator as the "Current Alkalinity" number, then hit "Submit Alk"

Chose the supplement, most people use one of Randy's recipes for two part.

That will then tell you how much you need to add every day to keep levels stable. In this example for a 1,000 litre system, it's 65 grams of baking soda a day, or 1132 mL of randy's recipe #2 per day, which you can set on a dosing pump.

Same process for calcium.

Layton

And that's meant to be easier than a calcium reactor? :lol:

If you found that hard, you'd probably have trouble tying your shoes too

From the guy who found his calcium reactor too hard .

You'd wear jandals, right?

:lol:

Damn all this talk has reminded me i use a calcium reactor?? Better take a peek outside to see if its still there