ATO Advice

OK, here goes.

I have set-up a 55g with 20g sump. I currently have LR/LS and two clowns. My aim is to go for 5-7 small reef friendly fish and have a predominately coral/invert tank.

I have done a lot of research along the way, and tried to plan ahead, so I have things in place and working long before I add any animals.

I have on it's way to me a JBJ ATO, Aqua Lifter, Apex system. During my research I read about the importance of kalk in a coral system, so I'm looking for advice on how to best approach this.

1. mix the kalk with the rodi and have the ATO system administer it via the Aqua Lifter. If I do that would it add the kalk mix to fast? Or can the ATO drip feed the sump as water level lowers, I'm not sure how sensitive it is. I'm thinking that a drip feed will not be enough, so to add any quantity will be adding too much kalk

2. Or do I have a separate kalk mix and use the timer on the Apex to turn on for a given period, say 1 min every 15 mins over the 12 hour night period, then have the ATO run plain rodi water straight to the sump with a separate pump?

If option 2 is better, I also want to use the Apex as a wavemaker, so can I still set a timer for the aqua lifter, I assume I can, I just don't have any experience of the Apex yet.

I have also read the aqua lifter has very low wattage and has been known to stop or cut out, is there a way to get around this?

Like I say, I am some way from adding corals to my system, but what I like to do it have the system up and running in a stable condition some time before I add anything, so any advice on how best to set up an ATO with kalk would be great.

Many thanks

 

You should't need kalk until you system is established and you have a lot of hard corals. Once you do, option1 is fine, but I would go to home depotmor lowes etc... And get a ball valve for an RO/DI line. You should find this in the plumbing section for a few dollars. This will allow you to use a drip, by restricting the flow. His is good for an ATO anyways, as the slower it fills the tank, the less likely to overfill when it gets stuck on. I have mine adjusted slightly faster than my evaporation rate, so when it gets stuck on, it takes a long time to become a problem. I also use the ph controller on my controller to shut off my ATO if the ph gets high (I have it set to turn off around 8.3). This also helps overdosing kalk and preventing a precipitation event due to high ph. Together, this makes kalk dosing more safe and reliable. Again though you shouldn't need kalk right away.

Also, I have used a aqualift with an ATO for many years and have never had it cut out. I am not sure why this would be he case. You should clean it with vinegar occasionally though.
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- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

m2434 thanks for the reply and the suggestions. I will do the same with my ph controller when it arrives. I was just reading about ATO and the aqua lifter, and saw several people mention that the pump uses such low wattage that it sometimes shuts off or doesn't come on? That's why I thought I would ask if others had had this.

Thanks again