Water Evaporation

[Reefster]

I have a 90g tank that and have just set up a auto top-off to take care of the evaporation. I was away for the past two days and noticed that it used 5g of the 7g i have in my supply tank.

The person feeding the fish is not experienced enough to really take care of the tank other than feeding. So, my question is what do i do when i need to be away for 5 days? Do i need to set up a larger tank in my basement and run the ATO through my floor?

Is it possible to put a piece of glass/plexi across the top of my tank between the water and the LED's to stop some of the evaporation? I know there will still be some from the sump, but figured this should stop some of it.

 

[Washburn82]

If its just an open top, yeah its gonna evaporate like crazy. My tank isnt nearly as large as yours but the principal remains the same. I Cut a lid out of plexi glass. Notched it out for my skimmer and such and drilled around 60 1/8 holes for gas exchange. Made a big difference for the amount evaporated. If you keep it clean (i clean mine daily) there will be little light lost.

 

[little_fish]

Just get a bigger bucket. You dont need to use a glass tank, i use a big rubbermaid bin


However you shouldnt keep a solid lid on your tank, it restricts gas exchange which can be very detrimental to your fish and corals. It also holds in heat plus limits the amount of light that gets to the corals, even if it doesnt look that way.

 

[texreefer]

I use a 30g trash can, it lasts for about 2.5 - 3 weeks

 

[Nonfamous]

I have a 90 also. 14 in the sump. I'm surprised you get that much evap. I use about 1 gallon a day to top mine off. If I'm going away for longer, I move my transfer pump and low level sensor from my 5 gallon bucket to a spare sump I have. It won't fit under my tank so I sit it outside. It easily holds 12 gallons of RODI. It doesn't look very good so that's why I use the bucket.

 

[sen5241b]

MY ATo has 3 to 5 days of water. My tank keeper just feeds and adds water every other day. How hard can it be to add water?