JBJ auto top off

[MikeP]

I need to have something for fresh water top off before we go on vacation in August. What about this one?

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/details/supplies.php?product_ID=JBJ-AUTOT

[Chin_Lee]

works great for me

[andresont]

I know JBJ works well for many people.
Tunze is 50$ more, but it has smaller sensors one is infrared with no moving parts. This is a big plus for some one like me with out the sump.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/details/supplies.php?product_ID=tz-osmolator

[trilinearmipmap]

I need an auto-topoff for a 30 gallon sumpless tank.

I have an osmolator on my other tank and it works well.

I don't know if the osmolator or the JBJ would be better on a sumpless tank.

On the osmolator there is a backup safety float switch to turn the unit off if it fills too high, I don't know if this can be set low enough to work on a tank without a sump.

[surgeonfish]

I also have the osmolator and think it is great. No moving parts.

[Geofrog]

I have the JBJ one and it works great. Just need to remember to clean the float valves every few months or else build up on the valvle may cause them to stick open and result in a flood.

[Melina]

I was thinking of getting one of these but I'm not sure how I'm going to hook it up to my tank. I'm a total newbie here. I was told it needs to be directly connected to my RO/DI unit, but my tank is like 15 meters away from the nearest sink and I don't want a hose lying across the floor. Can anyone suggest to me a way to do auto top off without having a direct line to my RO/DI? I thought I could use a bucket of fresh RO/DI beside the sump? I guess I'd need a pump? I suck so bad at technical stuff like this! Eventually I'd like to do auto top off with kalkwasser when my calcium demands are higher but I have no idea how to set this up...

[MikeP]

So I did pick one of these units up and it didn't take long to set up. All you need is a reservoir, a pump, and some tubing. The JBJ system only comes with the controller, 2 float valves, and some brackets. I set up a spare 20g tank I had beside my main tank. In that tank I put one float valve and a maxijet 900 pump. The other float valve is set up in the sump at the level I want to keep the water at. There is a couple feet of 1/2 inch vinyl tubing going from the maxijet to the sump. The controller is plugged in and then the maxijet is plugged into the controller. When the float valve in the sump drops the maxijet turns on and fills the sump until the valve comes back up. The float valve in the 20g tank is there so that if the reservoir runs out of water the pump won't turn on. It all works very well, I'm quite happy with it. If you want some pics of my set up I can take some and PM them to you when I get a chance.

HTH

[mseepman]

Please post pics as I'm thinking of doing this for my tank when I get my sump up and running.
Thanks.

[MikeP]

I made a short video yesterday but I guess it's to big of a file to load onto photobucket. I could try to email it so if you want to give that a try PM me your email address. Otherwise I will take a bunch of pics but I won't have time to post them until I return from vacation on Aug 26th.