Going on vacation next week

[Antec]

WEll I'm going on vacation next week and I'm wondering If I could just shut the system down for the week, because I won't be able to do top offs, and my pump will run dry after one day of no top offs. Keep in mind I don't have any livestock. And will it affect my cycle at all?

 

[Rosesrblu1]

What is in your tank now?

 

[Antec]

100lbs of live rock In DT
~8lbs of live rock in fuge
~70lbs sand in DT
20lbs sand in fuge

That's it, like I said no livestock

 

[Rosesrblu1]

If you leave the pumps off for a week, your water will go foul. I think you will have to restart the cycle and start over. Anyone you know can top off the tank? How much evocation do you get per day?

 

[Antec]

I'll try to get someone who can do it, but is tree anything else I can do?

I haven't measured the evap/day but I do it every morning, if I wait till like 11 or 12 the pump will start taking in air

 

[Mrc8858]

Just leave a couple circulation pumps running inside the tank and top it off to a low salinity to make up for the raise from evap

 

[Antec]

Sorry but what does male up to te raise in evap mean? Lol

 

[Mrc8858]

Dilute the SW to a low salinity (1.021 range) that way as you get evaporation happening your salinity will rise but not to a dangerous level that'll kill the BB

 

[Schism]

All advise given is great. Just something to note, you may want to look into a DIY ATO for top offs if your pumps are running dry after only a day.

You forget or cant (like in this situation) one time and your pumps run dry, they can and will fail, pumps that fail can come with more serious problems.

An ATO can be made for 25$ probably, maybe less depending on what you have.

 

[Antec]

Yea that's probably the best long term option. Do you have any good links as to how to do it?

 

[Schism]

Yea that's probably the best long term option. Do you have any good links as to how to do it?

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f76/diy-auto-top-off-system-cheap-168311.html