Evaporation Management?

scmountain

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#1
Now that I have added a frag tank to my system my evaporation is greatly increased...
Knowing I cannot do anything about the DT's top for lighting reasons, that leaves the frag tank and the Rubbermaid trough.
I was thinking of using BPA-free PVC balls to cover the surface area of the trough. much like LA did for their reservoirs in the droughts....
too deep of a cavity for a lid to work well + stepped sides make it difficult to make small covers + skimmer sticking out + all of the returns, probes, doser lines + fuge light + etc
all of this makes me think the pvc balls would be a great idea... Thoughts?

I dont want to have anything leech into the system, but also would this really even change my evaporation that much?

Link to pvc balls: https://smile.amazon.com/Click-Play...ld=1&keywords=pvc+balls&qid=1613028170&sr=8-2
 

TheRealChrisBrown

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#2
How much evaporation are you seeing?

I had never heard of or seen the LA drought ball idea, they claim it to be fairly effective though. I say try it and let us know how it goes. I don't think you would harm anything?
 

SynDen

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#4
Evaporation is a good thing in my book, so I wouldn't mess with it much. I might add a lid on the trough that would cover half of it and allow the evap to condensate and drip back into the tank but otherwise I would leave it alone. Evap provides a way to keep ph up, increases oxygen in the water and helps regulate temps some.
 

scmountain

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#5
Would throwing a tarp over the trough work?
I could try that and have the evap drip backdown, but worried about what would leach off of the tarp? was hoping to cut down condensation in general in that room.

@SynDen you think I need more gas exchange surface area than my DT being topless + new 4' x 2' frag rack? I just feel like I will have have a huge issue this summer
 

Tinyreef

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#6
I use corrugated plastic sheet from home depot. Its like $25 for a 8'x4' sheet. rigid enough to span large gaps, light weight easy to cut for skimmer clearance probes and such.
 

SynDen

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#7
I could try that and have the evap drip backdown, but worried about what would leach off of the tarp? was hoping to cut down condensation in general in that room.

@SynDen you think I need more gas exchange surface area than my DT being topless + new 4' x 2' frag rack? I just feel like I will have have a huge issue this summer
I just think that it hard to overdo evaporation, especially since your sump is located outside in the shed/storage room. During the summer the extra evap could really help you keep the tank temp down too. So I would not want to stop it with the PVC balls, but the cover like Tinyreef suggests, or even a piece of acrylic, would still allow it to evap some and then most of it would drip back into the tank. And with the cover if the tank temp rises to much in the summer just take the top off the sump and put a fan on for instant chiller
 
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