Shooter7
New member
And be alert to changes in your enviroment that could affect your tank.
Early last fall, I installed a wonderful little piece of equipment known as the Tunze Osmolator for my auto topoff needs. I did one of the Petco $1 per gallon sales and got myself a 20g to use as my RO/DI reservoir that sits at the end of my sump, which is all in the room behind my 120g display tank. Life is good, no more daily dumping of water into the return pump compartment of my sump for evap....
Flash forward to yesterday. I get home and immediately have to reach into the tank to adjust one of my SPS corals that is lying on top of one of the other SPS corals, after most likely being knocked over by one of my fat butt fish. As I stand back to observe and see if there are any other victims, I note some small bubbles traversing through the tank, the source quickly noted to be from my returns. I immediately head to the back room. First thing I note is my 20g reservoir tank is completely dry, save for maybe a half inch of water in the bottom. Second thing I note is right next to that, my return pump compartment of my sump's water level is all the way down to just above the top of my return pump! :eek2:
What's happened here is that temps here in the midwest have really taken a nosedive of late. The furnace has been running a lot. The air outside and in is dry. Evap rate has apparently increased significantly. Back when I was doing daily dumping of water, it forced me to go into my sump room and actually check things out. Living the high life now, I haven't been going in there daily and almost paid with a dry return pump. Don't get lazy!
My safety net here is that I do try to prepare for handling small disasters. I have a pair of 5 gallon jugs that I keep RO/DI in, so I was able to quickly fill up my return area of the sump, while I also cranked on the RO/DI line to my reservoir to refill it. Lesson learned!
Early last fall, I installed a wonderful little piece of equipment known as the Tunze Osmolator for my auto topoff needs. I did one of the Petco $1 per gallon sales and got myself a 20g to use as my RO/DI reservoir that sits at the end of my sump, which is all in the room behind my 120g display tank. Life is good, no more daily dumping of water into the return pump compartment of my sump for evap....
Flash forward to yesterday. I get home and immediately have to reach into the tank to adjust one of my SPS corals that is lying on top of one of the other SPS corals, after most likely being knocked over by one of my fat butt fish. As I stand back to observe and see if there are any other victims, I note some small bubbles traversing through the tank, the source quickly noted to be from my returns. I immediately head to the back room. First thing I note is my 20g reservoir tank is completely dry, save for maybe a half inch of water in the bottom. Second thing I note is right next to that, my return pump compartment of my sump's water level is all the way down to just above the top of my return pump! :eek2:
What's happened here is that temps here in the midwest have really taken a nosedive of late. The furnace has been running a lot. The air outside and in is dry. Evap rate has apparently increased significantly. Back when I was doing daily dumping of water, it forced me to go into my sump room and actually check things out. Living the high life now, I haven't been going in there daily and almost paid with a dry return pump. Don't get lazy!
My safety net here is that I do try to prepare for handling small disasters. I have a pair of 5 gallon jugs that I keep RO/DI in, so I was able to quickly fill up my return area of the sump, while I also cranked on the RO/DI line to my reservoir to refill it. Lesson learned!
but we all do that from time to time.
