Adding water

So I was wondering what I need to do about adding water to my tank. I probably need to add about 1 gallon of water every 2 weeks from evaporation. Is using my tap water and making salt water then adding into the sump going to be ok or do I need a DI/RO unit to make water? I see a Neptune 5stage RO/DI unit for 200 dollars brand new on ebay. Anyone have suggestions? I have a 80gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump. My alkalinity has been pretty stable at 1.023 should I be ok just to de-chlorinate my 1 gallon of water every two weeks or do I need the DI/RO unit?

 

you should use RO/DI water only. You should not add salt to the replacement water. Its kind of confusing, but if you think about it, it makes sense. When saltwater evaporates from your tank...only the water evaporates...the salt stays behind. Your SG will actually increase as a result of the evaporation. So you replace evaporation with fresh RO/DI water. I would do it more frequently than everyother week...I do it every day or so on my tank...that way your SG does not move too much up or down.

 

For evaporation just use fresh RO/DI water. You don't need to add salt as the salt is already in there. Adding dechlorinated tap water will bite you one day. An RO/DI unit will pay for itself in short order when you consider having to buy water from your LFS.

 

Ok so for RO/DI water do you use a system that produces it and then you add it to your tank or do you have one that automatically tops the sump off etc? So far I haven’t added any salt cause I figured what you said the salt doesn’t leave the tank. For the RO/DI water or unit do you have any recommendations I’m looking to purchase it this week

 

What size do I need or should I use for an 80 gallon with 30 gallon sump I'd like one to fit in my cabinet.

 

Actually, a lot of members get a unit that will also supply drinking water. This justifies the cost to most of our spouses Spectrapure are highly rated units. You can get refurbished models very inexpensively (I think $130 for a basic system, probably another $70 or so to add the drinking water accessories).

I myself bought a Bulk Reef Supply unit. It is in my basement, and I ran the drinking water line directly to the tap of my fridge. I have 3 lines for DI water. Two go to small containers in the stands of two of my tanks. Water level is controlled via float valves. I use my reef controller as an Auto Top Off which pumps water into my sumps as the level drops. The 3rd line goes to my salt water mixing container, again with a float valve.

I do not recommend running a line directly into the sump. If whatever you have that controls it ever fails, it will continuously dump DI water into your tank, diluting the salt water which can kill all of your stock, and making a mess of course.

Hopefully this helps and made some sense!

 

As Marshall mentioned, it is not wise to hook the RO/DI directly to the sump or display, if something fails it could flood the system with fresh RO/DI and dilute the salinity of the tank killing everything.

I have my Spectrapure RO/DI in my garage along with my 23 gallon RO/DI ATO storage can. From there a ATO system pulls water from the storage and tops off the sump in the house 35 feet away to make up for evaporation.

I can't believe you are only evaporating 1 gallon of water in two weeks with an 80 gallon display? I evaporate 2.5 gallons every week in my 16G nano tank and about 2 gallons every day in my 100G with a 30G sump. You must have glass tops on it and little surface agitation which may not be a good thing for tank health. Oxygen transfer at the surface and evaporation are good things.

Spectrapure 90 GPD RO/DI:
http://spectrapure.com/FACTORY-REFURBISHED/Refurbished-90-GPD-RODI-System

Spectrapure ATO systems:
http://spectrapure.com/AQUARIUM/AUTO-TOP-OFF-WATER-LEVEL-CONTROL

My ATO storage container with the float switches installed:

 

+1 to what Marshall said.

I fill two 20 gallon brute cans for my needs with my 180 gallon. One for water changes and one for fresh water auto-top-offs.

 

I apologize for the typo I meant 10 gallons lol. 1 gallon would be wonderful lol. Ok so def. not a direct line to the sump Check! I’ll look into getting a refurb spectrapure. Any places where I should buy from? thanks for all the info guys I’m also looking to add a few more to my CUC. Going to invest in the RO/DI unit today and have it hopefully by this weekend. I have in my tank 1 nice sized/tempered emerald crab, 5 turbo snails, 4 nassarius snails, 2 blue leg hermits and 2 red leg hermits. I was thinking of adding a few cleaner shrimp before I do my fire shrimp in a couple weeks. Also really want to add a serpent star and or brittle star (not the green one). Any suggestions can I add some cleaner peppermint shrimp and the 2 starfish to my setup? I have a lot of rock for everything to hide and adjust in about 125 lbs. how many cleaner shrimp do you suggest and or do you suggest a different type knowing I will be adding a fire shrimp soon?

 

Reef Cleaners| Clean up Crews and Macroalgae is a popular choice for CuC.