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Unread 09/11/2019, 05:49 PM   #1
jbomar3771
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Evaporation!

I have a reefer 250 with 2 hydra 26s with an open top. There are no fans running. The temp in the room is 73 and the water temp is 78. Not a lot of movement on the water. Why would it be evaporating 2 gallons a day? I feel like it was evaporating a gallon a day before i ran the line to the skimmer outside. Could that have something to do with it?


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Unread 09/11/2019, 06:24 PM   #2
mcgyvr
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Ambient humidity is?

2g a day for a 65g is certainly excessive..
Ive done close on a 120g/40g sump in the dry winter.

My 80g now (covered though) with an uncovered 40b sump does 5g a week at most now


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Unread 09/11/2019, 06:33 PM   #3
jbomar3771
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Do you think since my house stays cool and the heater has to run a lot to keep it 78 that could cause the evaporation?


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Unread 09/11/2019, 07:42 PM   #4
mcgyvr
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Air conditioning lowers the humidity...
Lower humidity = higher evaporation


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Unread 09/12/2019, 05:45 AM   #5
Dmorty217
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My 800g total of water evaporates close to 40g per week... tank is in the basement near the AC and I have a dehumidifier running 24/7. Tank sits at 75-76 with no heaters


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Unread 09/12/2019, 06:17 AM   #6
RioReefr
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Everything I have read says it is pretty common to lose 1% of total water volume per day given "normal" conditions.

There are thermodynamic equations to calculate exactly the rate of evaporation, such as:

pV=nRT, where p is pressure, V container volume, n moles of vapor, R the gas constant, T the absolute temperature.

I am sure you could find an online calculator to determine your rate of evaporation in a 24 hour period.

For me personally, I have 40 gallon open-lid tank and I lose 1 liter per day under normal conditions and 2 liters per day when it is hot and running the A/C. That works out to roughly 1 - 1.5 % of the water volume per day. My tank runs on the higher-end: 79-80 F degrees just because of where I live it is always warm and I don't want my electricity bill to be sky-high.

This is something else I had noticed -- the return pump. I have to clean mine every week as debris gets built up and it starts to run hot. If I don't do this on a weekly basis, I lose a lot more water.

With all that being said, losing 2 gallons per day on 250 gallons seems normal.


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Unread 09/12/2019, 08:06 AM   #7
mcgyvr
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The 250 is liters so its a ~66 Gallon tank

If it was 250 Gallon then yes 2G is normal..

For a 65 Gallon then that is excessive..


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Unread 09/12/2019, 08:16 AM   #8
steallife904
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the AC is helping it evaporate


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Unread 09/12/2019, 08:52 AM   #9
steallife904
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the AC is helping it evaporate. If its set to 73 and that is causing it to run a lot then its pulling moister.


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Unread 09/12/2019, 12:10 PM   #10
hkgar
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I have a 180 G with a 30 G sump and evaporation is about 3-3.5 G/day. I have 3 dehumidifiers that run 24/7. One one the 2nd floor (tank is on 1st floor), one in basement sump room and one is the room where my wee storage and foundation sump is.

I get a lot of surface movement from my 2 Gyre 250


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Unread 09/12/2019, 12:21 PM   #11
mcgyvr
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hkgar View Post
I have 3 dehumidifiers that run 24/7.
?? huh? tiny ones or something? Why such a need to dehumidify?

Auto drain type I hope at least..


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Unread 09/12/2019, 12:32 PM   #12
hkgar
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The furnace/utility room is an enclose room and the dehumidifier is self draining and after heavy rains the walls get damp and the well storage tank sweats. The aquarium sump is also in an enclosed room and not auto draining. It gets emptied daily. The second floor is a largerr unit and is for my sleeping comfort and gets emptied daily. The house has a/c and is 76 day and 72 night.


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180 gallon, 40 gallon sump, 3 250 W MH + 4 80W ATI T5's, MTC MVX 36 Skimmer, Apex controller Aquamaxx T-3 CaRx

Current Tank Info: A 2 Barred Rabbitfish, Red Head Salon, Yellow/Purple, McMaster Fairy, Possum, 2 Leopard Wrasses, Kole, & Atlantic Blue Tangs, 2 Percula Clown, 3 PJ and 1 Banggai Cardinalfish , Swallowtail, Bellus and Coral Beauty Angels
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Unread 09/14/2019, 05:11 PM   #13
Kevin Guthrie
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I've always thought that my skimmer evaporates more water than the tank does.


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Unread 09/14/2019, 05:35 PM   #14
Indymann99
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It’s Sept and you are in GA.... your AC has been running non stop for the last 3mo. AC will pull moisture (humidity) out of the air. This is extra bad if you have a new home that is “tight”. I am in IN and my 120g with 40g sump will loose 2.5g per day in middle of summer (note it will also do this in middle of winter... furnace running non stop for 3mo...). Your all good just make sure your ATO can keep up.


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Unread 09/17/2019, 08:11 PM   #15
wildman926
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Key words...."open top"


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Unread 09/17/2019, 08:39 PM   #16
Gangrene
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Yeah, how much of the surface area of the water is uncovered? That's the key factor. I have a tank with near 100% coverage and it loses almost 0 water. I could really only be measured in gallons per year loss... which might be 1-2 gallons of water evaporation a year if I had to guess. I never perform water changes on it. It's just stable.

My second tank is completely covered in the 75g display, but the sump is entirely uncovered, the sump being a 29 gallon. That seems to be losing maybe a liter a day. I may partially or completely cover the sump to minimize its water loss, but building a cover around the drain lines will take some time to figure out. I will probably need to find some kind of plastic sheets for that side and cut it to the exact shapes needed.

My house has AC running and a dehumidifier in the basement where the tanks are... My tanks run at 80 degrees.


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Unread 09/17/2019, 08:55 PM   #17
Sam2832
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gangrene View Post
Yeah, how much of the surface area of the water is uncovered? That's the key factor. I have a tank with near 100% coverage and it loses almost 0 water. I could really only be measured in gallons per year loss... which might be 1-2 gallons of water evaporation a year if I had to guess. I never perform water changes on it. It's just stable.

My second tank is completely covered in the 75g display, but the sump is entirely uncovered, the sump being a 29 gallon. That seems to be losing maybe a liter a day. I may partially or completely cover the sump to minimize its water loss, but building a cover around the drain lines will take some time to figure out. I will probably need to find some kind of plastic sheets for that side and cut it to the exact shapes needed.

My house has AC running and a dehumidifier in the basement where the tanks are... My tanks run at 80 degrees.


What kind of cover do you have on your display?
How does it react with your lights?
Thanks


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Unread 09/17/2019, 09:25 PM   #18
Gangrene
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What kind of cover do you have on your display?
How does it react with your lights?
Thanks
Glass hinged tops with the plastic strip in the back. If there is something going in or out of the tank in the back I'd cut the plastic to fit as perfectly as you can around those objects to minimize evaporation. I've never noticed a issue with light going through the glass tops.


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Unread 09/18/2019, 01:51 PM   #19
hkgar
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gangrene View Post
Glass hinged tops with the plastic strip in the back. If there is something going in or out of the tank in the back I'd cut the plastic to fit as perfectly as you can around those objects to minimize evaporation. I've never noticed a issue with light going through the glass tops.
What is your lighting? Hard to imagine no heat increase when using glass tops. I have mesh tops and 8 80W t-5's above and still get a noticeable heat increase when the lights come on.


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180 gallon, 40 gallon sump, 3 250 W MH + 4 80W ATI T5's, MTC MVX 36 Skimmer, Apex controller Aquamaxx T-3 CaRx

Current Tank Info: A 2 Barred Rabbitfish, Red Head Salon, Yellow/Purple, McMaster Fairy, Possum, 2 Leopard Wrasses, Kole, & Atlantic Blue Tangs, 2 Percula Clown, 3 PJ and 1 Banggai Cardinalfish , Swallowtail, Bellus and Coral Beauty Angels
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Unread 09/18/2019, 02:01 PM   #20
mcgyvr
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Gas exchange becomes a potential issue when attempting to seal off the top..
Co2/Oxygen/Nitrogen,etc...


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