ATO help please

I'm having some trouble picturing what pieces I am going to need to do what I want to do. I'm hoping someone can give me some guidance. I'm planning two things at once, automating top offs and automating dosing.

This is my ATO thread.

I really do not want to do a DIY ATO, wiring something up thing. I am not handy in that way.

I have a tank on a stand with no sump, refuge or anything. I currently top off water with a bucket and my hands.

I now have a little room directly behind my tank that I am going to use to automate top offs and Alk/Ca dosing.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/peredhil-fish-room-66572.html

This room shares a wall with a sink, so I can tap into that for the RO/DI I will get.

But since I want to top off using gravity, I'm going to need the ATO reservoir to be like 4 feet off the ground. This, in itself, is not a problem. I want this to also be where the RO/DI unit normally fills (where the output will normally "live").

• How much higher can an RO/DI unit put its output than the unit itself is mounted? We're talking <4ft in my case. I'd rather not involve a pump.
• The little float valve I see comes with these units, how does that "shut-off" the unit? It's just attached to the output line right? Is it just not enough pressure from the unit to keep it open?
• How can I make this, um, fault tolerant in case the float valve fails? I do not understand the threads that talk about this.

So once I get to that point, I'll have a never ending supply of clean water without over flowing.

• How air tight can this reservoir be w/o impeding function? Just concerned of something falling in.
• Would one of those 5 gallon camping collapsible contairs work fine?

After this, I need to set the reservoir up to actually ATO the tank. This is the third line I'll have running through the wall. And I do not understand how this works.

• Do I just create a siphon with a float valve on the tank end of the line? (with the earlier question of making these fault tolerant applying here too)

I've seen these ATO units



But I do not even begin to understand how they work or how they would fit into my little system here...

I will be auto topping off directly to my DT. So whatever I do has to lend itself to that.

Thanks

 

well the water doesnt actually go through the float in most cases
you put the float into wherever will be fluctuating and when it is floating it breaks the circuit and when the float is down it completes the circuit turning on a pump that will put water into your tank until the circuit breaks because it isnt touching anymore
so i dont think putting it 4 feet up would be neccesary
does this help?

 

Gravity ATO is completely separate from all the ATO units I've seen, they all operate off of pumps, the exception being one that hooks the RO unit directly to the tank, which scares me personally.
Maybe there is an ATO out there for gravity feed but I think most people don't have the setup to allow for gravity feed since the reservoir has to be higher than the sump/tank.

This will hook your RO unit to the tank directly but it's pretty ugly.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/RO/DI-Filters-&-Systems-RO/DI-Accessories/c9_11/p647/Level-Loc-auto-top-off-unit-for-RO-systems/product_info.html

I think there is really 2 parts here to figure out, plumbing the RO unit to the ATO reservoir and then getting the water from the reservoir to the tank, is that right?

I don't know how you're going to get it from the reservoir to your tank but this will keep your RO reservoir from overflowing, drill a hole in the side of your reservoir and mount this float switch and it will shut off the RO unit when the float switch is raised by the level of the water.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/RO/DI-Filters-&-Systems-RO/DI-Accessories/c9_11/p665/Auto-Shut-off-Kit-for-RO-Systems/product_info.html


Is there a reason you don't want to use a pump? It just seems so much simpler.

 

+K for screwtape who is going around answering all my threads! ;D

My problem, mostly, is that I don't have any one's ATO to look at... I didn't realize they used pumps and thought they were mostly gravity fed... ignorant really. I don't have a problem with a pump, I just thought, all things equal, less moving parts the better.

I don't want to do the first link as I do want to use a reservoir between the RO and the DT.

You are correct, 2 things to figure out here.

I am watching the video on the second link and this seems to make sense to me. So the RO shut off to not overflow the reservoir, I think I have a handle on that now.


So now I just need to figure out how to go from reservoir to DT. It is good to learn that I don't have to mount reservoir on high. Now that you have said this, it seems obvious to me the preferred method is pump : but I still don't know the correct thing to buy.

If I get RO and such from BRS, I'd want to get all the necessary parts there too to complete the ATO (minus the reservoir, which, I guess can be anything that's food grade).

 

I like the Tunze Osmolator, that's what I use to go from reservoir to my sump. It has a redundant sensor/float switch and the primary sensor is optical so it can't get stuck like float switches are prone to. It should contain everything you need to go from the reservoir to your tank.

I think it can also be made fairly unobtrusive since this will be in your display. You may consider cutting off the lower part of the mounting bracket(s) so it doesn't extend down into your tank as much. Making it look good might be the tough part.

Tunze 3155 Osmolator Universal 115V/60Hz Bulk Reef Supply

I have no experience with the JBJ or any other ATO system though but some people seem to like them and maybe one of them would look better in the tank, I don't know.

The reservoir should be food grade, yeah. Also keep in mind if you're using that auto shutoff kit you want it to be pretty sturdy so that the float valve doesn't just bend the wall of the container when it gets full. Also a trick I learned from someone with that float valve is to rotate it down a little bit at a steeper angle so that when the water level rises it really torques the valve closed so water doesn't dribble out.

 

Excellent dude, thanks!

This linked unit, it has the pump and all that right? I wouldn't need anything additional?


Wife asked me to wait until next credit card cycle : to get the RO and this ATO stuff. So that's after the 10th of July...

Will probably see if I can get the auto dosing pump sooner though... daily dosing is more of a PITA to me than water top off

Very excited that I now don't feel so in the dark about this stuff. Hurray

 

:thumb_up:

Yes the osmolator comes with the pump and all the mounting parts/tubing/power stuff.

Costs a couple dollars but getting dosing and topoff automated sure will be nice, totally worth it.

 

Peredhil, I just bought this ATO and had it set up for my week long vacation and it worked GREAT! Do you still need any pointers or help with it?

 

Which ATO are you referring to?


I haven't bought anything yet. I have been instructed to wait until next credit card cycle ;-)


My biggest problem is that nobody around me does this - I haven't been able to look and feel at one of these setup. It's like I'm shooting in the dark a bit.

So I am content w/the info I have so far... but am VERY open to more explanations or POV on it. Pictures of the pieces installed and working would help me quite a bit too! (and will earn K)

 

Well,
With no sump and no RO/DI unit, you will need to take from a bucket and add to the DT.
Something like this unit
Aquarium Maintenance & Plumbing: Auto Top Off Controller

Would work for you. May need a bigger pump and longer tubing though.

I'm not saying this one persey, but a similar setup anyway.


Good luck.