Here is a really simple method to control and maintain the exact water level in your aquarium coffee table
Step 1: Acquiring Resources
Tools:
Drill bit and drill bit
knife
Materials:
(1) large airtight container (I used a 1 gal tea pot), preferably made out of thick plastic (not milk jugs). Free
(1) vertical or horizontal float valve. This depends on your hood that gave me a high vertical area over the water so I used a horizontal switch. ~ $ 8 on Amazon.
(~ 8ft) some lengths of airline tubing. You need enough to go from the air pump, the jug, then the jug onto the valve. Free
Optional: Airline pressure reducing valve. $ 3-4 on Amazon.
Step 2: preparing the hood and jug
You will need to drill two holes in the lid of your jug slightly smaller than the outside diameter of the air hose. One of them is for the supply air, the other is for the outgoing water.
Then drill a hole big enough for the valve to go through your hood (mine is a 12 gallon Eclipse system).
Optional step: make a plastic water repellent out of the bent part of a milk carton so the water runs away from the lip. (see next step).
Step 3: connect everything and test
Now force the hose from the air pump into the cap just a little, see picture. then pull the other tube through the second hole so that it can reach the bottom of the jug. You can seal the tubes into the cap if desired, but I've been using this for the better part of a year, and haven't had to seal / in glue.
Place the valve in the hole in the hood and add the deflector on the water side if desired. Now, connect the hose from the jug and pull on, using an inline valve near the float valve, if desired.
Add water and you're done! the pressure from the pump will put the jug under pressure and if the water level in the aquarium drops, the float valve opens. This allows the water to leave the jug and trickle into the tank.
Adjust the float arm to seal the valve at the desired water level, this takes a bit of tinkering, but it's not that bad.
Other notes: for this to work you either need a separate air pump, or in my case a secondary one, does not mean flow into a low resistance air stone or whatever.
This served me very well, the dead simply and all I have to do is add water to the jug every time I make a water change.
Stay tuned for an electronic version soon on my new 60 gallon tank!
