any one have any plans or ideas for water topup for saltwater aquarium with out using a pump .

Put the water source above the tank

That or if it's using RO water you could have a solenoid turning the water flow on and off and pouring straight into the tank.

For a while I used a 3liter juice bottle with kalk water, and a hospital drip to control the flow.

IMHO any system like this is a pain in the butt, I would forget to fill it, forget to turn it on, forget to turn it off, had to refill it every second day, you get the point. Using floats to turn it on/off would be just as bad, with them sticking etc.

Spend the $ and get a dosing pump and timer, it will pay for itself in no time with the hassles you'll save.

My $20(I think) float valve hasn't stuck yet...Well, I'm ignoring times it stuck due to my faulty mounting design. But since I fixed that it's been perfect.

Speaking of cheap stuff. Just fired up my $150 bunnings generator. It's actually 550 watt with 750 watt peak. Seems to run well, should run at least the filters and everything on all my tanks if there's a power outage.

Yeah, I think the wife would be beating me severely about the head and shoulders if I was running off to get gas for the fishies gennie while we sit in the cold dark house and watch them....

You can use blankets and candles to keep warm and to see while the fish slowly suffocate...

Trouble is it will work fine for ages then a bit of lime will build up or a snail will crawl in. of course this will always happen when your on hoilday....

I use a UPS on my tank, and have a couple of the lower power fluro lights running on it as well. I haven't tested to see how long it lasts with my marine tank, but running my whole freshwater tank (filters, heaters and all) with pretty old stuffed batteries (have replaced now) I got a couple of hours.

If my float valve sticks it just dumps at most about 20 liters of water into the tank. Not enough to make much of a difference.

You can use a mercury switch on a float that can turn a small 12 volt pump on and off.

Put a timer on it so you can limit the power supply to every 4 hours or so.

I was browsing the net when I first was looking at getting a tank. Came across something that was run by batteries in case of power outage. I don't remember what it was called and can't find it on net.

I alread asked at the dept. store where they sell the fish if they had anything like that & they didn't know what I was talking about.

Luckily in the 8 years I've been living in Sydney I haven't experienced any major outages, only once after a severe snow storm. But I don't want to take any chances since I now have fish that depend on power staying on

Any ideas as to what I can get?

Errr...A UPS?

you can do one run by gravity called a Nurce top up

Thanks Ira!

We have that at work for the main computer but it only keeps the computer on for a short time. The way it was explained to me was it just keeps the computer going supposedly long enough to shut the computer down correctly. So are there different kinds :-?

How long it keeps things running for depends on the size of the batteries and the size of the load (how much power your tank/computer uses). At work we typically work on keeping a computer running for about 20 minutues, this gives us enough time to get into the server room and start shutting things down nicely.

I tested mine on my fresh water tank a couple of years ago and it run the whole setup (including 4x4foot fluro, and two cannister filters) for a couple of hours before the beeping drove me nuts and I turned the power back on. Mine is however quite large for a home UPS, I can't remember the rating but it is about 200mm x 500mm x 500mm.

Hmmm, That'd be a huge one if it could run that much for a couple hours...I just bought a generator instead. $150 at bunnings, should keep all my tanks alive, just need need some more extension cords, a big petrol container and some 2 stroke oil still...

Definately a cheaper option, the batteries alone for a UPS can run into the hundreds if you buy the quality name brand one's, plus the genie should run forever if you need it to. On the plus side for UPS, its instant so I dont have to try and find torch in the dark or run leads etc. And it filters the power reducing the risk of spikes etc damaging equipment

When you consider the cost of the generator compared to the life in the tank it makes everyone including myself that doesn't have one look stupid.

No offence intended.

If they are that cheap now, I think it's time to buy a generator.

They're at Bunnings. 750 watt peak, 550 sustained. It's just a little 2 stroke, wouldn't be enough for heaters or lights, but for circulation and airation it should be heaps.