auto top off

[jjaroska]

i am thinking about an auto top off system. i am planning on running a tsunami at-1 float switch which controls an aqualifter pump. the aqualifter will also be on a timer which only turns on for 90 minutes per day as a backup incase the float switch malfunctions. as a secondary backup, the reserve tank will only hold 5 gallons in case the pump dumps it all to the sump.

the only thing i worry about is the suction cups on the tsunami float switch becoming britter in the salt water and coming loose.

does any one have any other better solutions than this for auto top off in regards to switch, pump, reserve?

 

[anaelitz]

I love the osmolator by tunze....

 

[jjaroska]

the tunze looks like a great unit but is really more that i wanted to spend. i think that i am around $120 with the setup described. and i might even be able to go less if i used an electronic float switch described on melevsreef.

 

[CleveYank]

You could ditch the suction cups from the start.
Make your own mount out of PVC and make a C-clamp style with threaded nylon screws and zip tie the unit to that...
I used an old hagen 802 over the tank edge clamp that's like a c clamp with a peice of 3/4 CPVC attached to that and drilled it to zip tie PVC with holes perpendicular to the topoff switch so that nothing would come loose.
No pics handy.

Will your pump choice last that long for topoff? I would think conventional pump would be better in the long run.

 

[jjaroska]

does anybody have any recommendations for better pump alternatives?

 

[CleveYank]

I'm using Via Techs at the moment. 500 GPH's just because they were not too badly priced. Not sure if they can handle the start and stop but it's been working just fine.

 

[palawan]

JBJ auto topoff uses hangers or the suction cups. It has 2 magnetic float switches and an adj. shut off.

 

[plantankerously]

I built my own from aquahub/radio shack and mounted it to a piece of plexi that I bent using a heat gun so it held the floats exactly where I wanted them. I've been using this with an aqualifter and a 3 gallon water jug for about two years and am very happy with it. Plus it was pretty cheap

 

[jjaroska]

do you have the part numbers for the stuff at awuahub/radio shack along with some pics maybe?

 

[lowman31]

I used a not so high tech method of mounting something that used suction cups. I took a piece of wood and screwed the suction cup to the wood. I then just set the wood across the corner of the tank. I am not familiar with what you are using besides the fact that it uses suction cups. I used it to mount float switches. This method also keeps snails from getting on float switches.

 

[plantankerously]

Do a google search for aquahub. The only thing I got there were the two float switches. The power supply came from a Goodwill answering machine and the relay and the project box came from Radio Shack. The aquahub site has step by step pictures and it was pretty easy to build. The pic shows two float switches, one is the primary and the second is an emergency back-up in case the first on ever malfunctioned. Actually I've built three of them and never had a problem with any of them.