DIY Aauarium

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DIY Aquarium

By Blane Perun

Water Top-Off System

>lawrence

The best way I have found to dose with kalkwasser and maintain the water level/salinity in my tank is with this water topoff system. It contains no moving parts no valves to stick and no air pumps to run. The system is all gravity fed and water level controlled. You will need: a ~5 gallon glass jug (old water cooler jug), two lengths of rigid airline tubing, flexible airline tubing, a gravel cleaner, and a two-hole stopper. The only difficult thing to find is the stopper, which can be ordered from Fisher Scientific for a couple

of bucks. A number 7 stopper seems to be universal for those glass jugs.
Assemble the system as shown in the enclosed diagram (JPEG format). One piece of rigid tubing goes to the very bottom of the jug( this carries the water) while the other is very close to the top of the jug (the air intake). When the water level in the sump (or tank) drops below the air intake (gravel cleaner) it allows air to flow into the jug, which then allows water to flow into the sump. Once the water level rises above the gravel cleaner, it seals the jug, and the water flow stops.
TIPS:1. make sure the stopper and tubing connections are all tight or else the vaccum that stops the water from flowing will not occur (guess what happens!)
2. To start the water siphoning into the sump once the jug is filled, just blow into the 'air-in' line. You will force water out of the jug and start the siphon, just stick the 'air-in' line back on the jug to stop the water flow.
3. remember, the short piece of airline tubing does not make contact with the water in the jug, it is for air only. Although, when the jug is full, the water from the sump will be sucked into this line to the level of the jug. Don't worry, the water will flow out when the sump water level goes down.
4. I support the gravel cleaner/air-intake with rubberbands(yoiu could use silicon or something similar).
5. I find that I need to keep the output for the water below the tank level.
6. Also, the jar/reservoir needs to be above you sump for the gravity feed.