Normal evaporation rate?

[carey]

So, I'm wondering if my evaporation rate is higher than normal.

i have a 125g, 6 foot tank with open top and a 12 bulb T5 lighting fixture. I keep the temp at about 78 in the tank and 76 in the house.

I've been replacing the water at about a rate of 3 quarts or more a day.

Is this normal?

Can anyone tell me how much they add daily, I'm curious if I'm on the high end or not.

I am looking into an ATO system, just haven't gotten to it yet. LOL

Thanks everyone!

 

[mfergusonjr]

I have a 10g with 96w atop it. I'm currently adding about 3 cups of water per day. The tank is kept at 78 and the house 74-76. I'm thinking your evap rate is probably on par with mine considering the huge amount of surface area difference. Yours might even be less comparatively (I didn't feel like doing the math).

 

[Bige]

Your fine. I add 2 quarts to my biocube 29 a day. But it is high now because it is 106 outside. I have a 12" fan pointed right at it. So the fan, heat, open top fuge, and with open back on biocube all add up to evaporation.

 

[carey]

So this is nothing unusual? I've been better at keeping the sump topped off lately but it's such a pain. LOL I have high surface agitation too so I'm sure that is helping the water evaporate quicker too.

Thanks for the input guys...

Anyone else wanna chime in with their experience? That'd be great!

 

[jcolon]

So this is nothing unusual? I've been better at keeping the sump topped off lately but it's such a pain. LOL I have high surface agitation too so I'm sure that is helping the water evaporate quicker too.

Thanks for the input guys...

Anyone else wanna chime in with their experience? That'd be great!

Scientifically speaking ... I'd say your evaporation levels are fine considering

1. You have an uncovered agitated surface area
2. Your water and air temps
3. Fixtures and bulbs your running.

 

[Jereli]

So this is nothing unusual? I've been better at keeping the sump topped off lately but it's such a pain. LOL I have high surface agitation too so I'm sure that is helping the water evaporate quicker too.

Thanks for the input guys...

Anyone else wanna chime in with their experience? That'd be great!

Sounds about right. I know what you mean. Its alot of work to keep topping off daily. I also was topping of approximately 3 quarts as well daily until I built my ato. BIG relief I don't know why I didn't do this from the beginning. Now I top off every ten days or so : )

 

[Dary421]

On my 75 gal tank ,,I'd say roughly speaking I probably lose about 5- 7 gallons a week,...I got tired of adding the top off water all the time so I bought an electronic auto top off unit from Tunze ,...works great and saves a lot of work.

 

[carey]

I'm working on an ATO, just gotta get some other stuff in order first. lol So to lose a few gallons a week is ok then? Nothing out of the ordinary?

 

[Gti_Leo]

there are so many evaporation factors. a larger surface area tends to evaporate more water then a smaller surface area. also how much water agitation there is, the amount of moving air above it, temperature, humidity. you name it it all becomes a factor but that seems about right

 

[carey]

Okay guys, thanks so much! i appreciate the posts! I feel a bit better now that it's normal.

 

[Tomchong22]

In my 60 gal I am losing about a gallon and a half a week. Keep in mind during colder temps outside and winter you will lose more because it is not as humid. I'm expecting to lose about half a gallon of water every 2 days in the winter. I would say it is normal.

 

[deepseadan]

In my 90 gallon acrylic tank I didn't want to run a chiller. So I installed two 4" fans on the canopy and leave the lids off. My sump is 42" long x 16" wide x 18" tall and open as well. LED lights under the canopy and three small pc's on the sump. My house generally stays around 80 degrees all the time. My tank stays around 78 constantly. And now to the evaporation, probably 1.5 gallons a day, but it's worth it not to have run a chiller. So losing 3 quarts sounds very reasonable to me.