Water evaporating in the sump?

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kageh124

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 14, 2012
468
2
33
MD, DC Area
The water in my sump seems to be evaporating really fast. I'm thinking its because I have about 600 watts of heaters in there? The sump is about 55 gallons.

Are my assumptions correct? I'm pretty sure there isn't any leaks... As much water is disappearing; if there was a leak the water has to be showing somewhere.


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If you have a lot of heating and no lid its pretty likely you have a lot of waeter evaporating. How much water are you losing per week?
 
gotta have lids! Heat rises and the sump is at the lowest point in your system. Get some scrap acrylic and cut accordingly if you want it to look nice. You can even get the foam sheeting at Home Depot--either will hold in the evaporation.
 
Jc1119 said:
Typical for central Florida. Im in Orlando with an uncovered 75 gallon sump and I lose about the same. 600 watts of heat is alot for Orlando though.....

What size tank and stock?
Click to expand...

It's a 220 with a variety of different juvies from oscars to tinfoils. It's been pretty chilly lately. When it starts to get wArmer I'll lessen it up.


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u need lids. that will help lessen the evaporation as well as keep the heating costs down.
 
I dont totally agree with lids. Theyll totally help with evaporation but limit gas exchange. If your sump has splashing or if you have a bubbler then it doesnt matter but sumps aerate your tank on top of everything else. Its up to you if you need the aeration but I had a 100g that lost almost agallon a day in so cal in the summer. That sump was utter garbage but it worked

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tomomothy said:
I dont totally agree with lids. Theyll totally help with evaporation but limit gas exchange. If your sump has splashing or if you have a bubbler then it doesnt matter but sumps aerate your tank on top of everything else. Its up to you if you need the aeration but I had a 100g that lost almost agallon a day in so cal in the summer. That sump was utter garbage but it worked

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Click to expand...

If you have a sump covered or not, you are increasing your surface area by quite a bit. Unless you have your sump and cover sealed, gas exchange will be more than adequate.

Do you think the same tank filtered with a few large canisters would be an issue? Doubtful and a sump is generally a better option for both water volume and gas exchange.

That being said, I do not use a cover on my sump and have about a 6" drop built in for evaporation.


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