Wet/dry filters keep drying up

[jorge18]

Hey everyone, I have a two week old tank that I am cycling at the moment. Every few days or so, the wet dry filter water level seems to drop requiring me to either drop the level of the overflow box, or add more water.

Is this normal? Two things I can think of is water evaporation, or the pump being too strong. The overflow box was rated at 600gph, while the pump is rated at 425gph, so i'm not sure that's the case.

 

[Bono]

Totally normal. Water evaporates salt doesn't so always add fresh water.

 

[soulpatch]

this is why many of us use an auto top off. It keeps water level stable by pumping in fresh RODI as the tank level drops.

 

[Mr.Tan]

best thing to do is invest in an ATO setup to help keep things stable and also so you dont have to keep filling it up. I just added one to my new setup 2 days ago and so far :knock on wood: its been great. Its totally normal for evaporation to be so frequent with all the equipment we run in the tanks which cause more heat and constantly moving water.

 

[sde1500]

yup, evap. I don't run an ATO on my tank currently, its on the list of things to buy further down the road, but I add water daily to the tank, usually after work. There is a minimum water level line on my sump, and I added a second line that I want to keep the water near that is high enough above that, that if I forget to add water one day, the sump doesn't run dry.

 

[scooter31707]

The link below describes what an ATO does. This one is a pretty good one.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+28176+28181&pcatid=28181

 

[kmbyrnes]

Next to an RO/DI unit, an ATO is one of the best investments you can make to keep your tank healthy. Don't know how I lived without one for the first 6 months.

 

[chilli_reef]

I don't trust electronic ato's at all.
I stick with plastic manual float shut offs.
With electronic ato's the pump can suddenly stop, the switch can burn up, you have to reset them like flipping every other week....
I've used a plastic manual float shut off for years and never a peep. Of course this goes with out saying, but just in case....
If your running one in a refugium you'll want to have it in the return pump section.

 

[soulpatch]

both a plastic float and electronic ATOs deal with a float which is the largest point of failure. Any decent ATO has emergency shut off on the pump to avoid burn out.

I would rather a pump trip itself and stop pumping water then a jug continue dumping water into my sump due to float failure.

 

[chilli_reef]

The largest point of failure on an electronic ATO is the electromagnetic float....
Manual floats are just that. Completely manual. No magnets, no electricity to turn something on.
It could stick open....but I've never had it happen.
Not to say it can't...I've just never experienced it.

 

[soulpatch]

I have had my manual float on my mixing station stick quite a few times causing small spills on the floor. Thankfully I fill over a drain.

Point is that with the failure of the electronic float you still have a back up in the pump to kill after a couple minutes but you have no back up with a manual float on a container.

 

[jorge18]

Thanks guys. Just wanted to make sure it was normal which I assumed it was.