Diy auto top off system

Bucsfan80

Bucsfan80

Well-Known Member
I'm wanting to build an auto top off tank to add to my dwc. I have float valves and a bunch of stuff to use for it and have an idea in my mind. I just want to pick some brains. If you have something like this let me know how you did it. Thanks
 
Bucsfan80

Bucsfan80

Well-Known Member
bk78 said:
Wouldn’t you need a full auto dosing system as well?

Dust off the old MasterCard, this is about to get expensive

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Hmm I hope not. I was thinking more like just 20 gallons at a time or something. I've seen a top off calculator somewhere. Hell maybe it won't work, now I'm questioning it. I thought I've seen people mention them on here
 
bk78

bk78

Well-Known Member
Bucsfan80 said:
Hmm I hope not. I was thinking more like just 20 gallons at a time or something. I've seen a top off calculator somewhere. Hell maybe it won't work, now I'm questioning it. I thought I've seen people mention them on here
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As your plants eat and drink throughout the day , ph and EC will have to be dosed accordingly. No way around it without a dosing system
 
O

oztoka

Well-Known Member
Ive made one with a float valve on the main res. Drill a hole that fits the float valve into the main res. Adjust the float valve so that its at desired water depth. I placed a smaller res that sits on top of the main res with a 1/2 inch hole connected to the float valve.
Easy as takes the hassle out of topping to desired levels.
 
Bucsfan80

Bucsfan80

Well-Known Member
oztoka said:
Ive made one with a float valve on the main res. Drill a hole that fits the float valve into the main res. Adjust the float valve so that its at desired water depth. I placed a smaller res that sits on top of the main res with a 1/2 inch hole connected to the float valve.
Easy as takes the hassle out of topping to desired levels.
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So how did you do the nutes in the top off rez?
 
Bucsfan80

Bucsfan80

Well-Known Member
bk78 said:
As your plants eat and drink throughout the day , ph and EC will have to be dosed accordingly. No way around it without a dosing system
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I was thinking I'd ph the top off rez lower like 4.5 or 5 since the ph drifts up.
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
Bucsfan80 said:
I'm wanting to build an auto top off tank to add to my dwc. I have float valves and a bunch of stuff to use for it and have an idea in my mind. I just want to pick some brains. If you have something like this let me know how you did it. Thanks
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i have a 30 gal res that auto feeds to the plants. i used it when i was using waterfarms. one feed until i got runoff out of the blue tubing (cut to the white line) . submersible pump, a DiG manifold and some tubing amd a timer
 
Hiphophippo

Hiphophippo

Well-Known Member
You can always have a premixed reservoir with nutes and get a dosatron on to add in at a controlled volume so your fresh water is the same as your old water they come with pipe taps to tap into any type of line I use them for chlorine and other chemicals also rebuild kits for them are very cheap and easy to replace
 
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myke

myke

Well-Known Member
Isnt it just easier to plumb a bulkhead and hose from dwc to a large 27g res,rdwc then.
No dose a tron BS , larger volume of water pH stays within range, ppm doesn't go out of wack.You can go days without top ups,easier to check levels ,water stays cooler.Benefits are endless with rdwc compared to just dwc.
 
Bucsfan80

Bucsfan80

Well-Known Member
myke said:
Isnt it just easier to plumb a bulkhead and hose from dwc to a large 27g res,rdwc then.
No dose a tron BS , larger volume of water pH stays within range, ppm doesn't go out of wack.You can go days without top ups,easier to check levels ,water stays cooler.Benefits are endless with rdwc compared to just dwc.
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I have all that. And yeah ph is more stable but my big plant drinks at least a gallon a day and I was wanting to do auto feed when we was out of town. I can do it with plain phe'ed water but wanted to see if I could with nutes
 
Star Dog

Star Dog

Well-Known Member
When you top up is it with a predictable ec and ph?

If it's predictable a reservoir with pre mixed nutrient via the stop cock should work?
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
Bucsfan80 said:
I have all that. And yeah ph is more stable but my big plant drinks at least a gallon a day and I was wanting to do auto feed when we was out of town. I can do it with plain phe'ed water but wanted to see if I could with nutes
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Your missing the pump that runs 24/7,RDWC is the answer not an auto top up for dwc.
With a big res say 27g and one 5g bucket for your plant you have approx 20-23g of water.
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
myke said:
Your missing the pump that runs 24/7,RDWC is the answer not an auto top up for dwc.
With a big res say 27g and one 5g bucket for your plant you have approx 20-23g of water.
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i would disagree. an isolated feed res will have a steady pH and EC while an rdwc system (at least mine did) needed almost daily ph adjustments and the EC dropped alot by the end of a week
 
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