3 Gallon Desk top Pico

[joshh81]

I thought about the same thing. I have a pretty vast background in electronics and from experience I would say its a bad idea because the float valve is now handling full line voltage. You would have to use a relay and the time, parts and energy required would outweigh the $12 for the battery air pump.

It would work without the relay by itself (splicing into the power cord) but in no way could I leave for a week and trust it. For me, the $12 for the battery air pump was worth the piece of mind that $12 could have save my office from burning down.

 

[jauld]

I built a very simple ATO for my 3 gallon Pico.

(I stole the idea from someone else.... ) I bought a nicer air pump and its almost whisper silent. I extended the leads on the float valve and everything is nicely hidden under my desk.

(1) Take a battery powered air pump

(2) Cut the line from the Positive battery terminal that leads to the pump and splice in a float valve.

(3) Drill 2 small holes in the cap of a 2 liter bottle.

(4) Insert an airline tube from the air pump and seal it just inside the cap.

(5) Insert another airline tube into the second hole and have the airline tube go all the way to the bottom.

This way when the water level drops, the float valve completes the circuit. Pumps air into the bottle and due to the pressure, water then travels up the airline tubing into the tank.

Watch the video below... very simple and works well for me. I fill the 2 liter up one every week / week and half.

Watch the video and the link to the website is below. Thank you to whoever built it because you have certainly saved my butt....

http://reefchronicle.com/tag/diy-ato-for-aquariums/



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haha my video finally made it to the forums I see. I'm glad its working well for you, mine is still going strong as well!

 

[karnivorous]

looks good. wish i had kept my pico around

 

[danoreef]

I thought about the same thing. I have a pretty vast background in electronics and from experience I would say its a bad idea because the float valve is now handling full line voltage. You would have to use a relay and the time, parts and energy required would outweigh the $12 for the battery air pump.

It would work without the relay by itself (splicing into the power cord) but in no way could I leave for a week and trust it. For me, the $12 for the battery air pump was worth the piece of mind that $12 could have save my office from burning down.

Thanks, i purchased the float valve and the battery air pump from ebay. I paid $3.00 for the float valve and $14.00 for the air pump. Can't wait til it gets here to start putting together. :thumbsup:

 

[danoreef]

haha my video finally made it to the forums I see. I'm glad its working well for you, mine is still going strong as well!

Thanks for the cool little how to video. :thumbsup:

 

[jauld]

Thanks for the cool little how to video. :thumbsup:

No problem, im glad its helped you out.

Your tank looks great too. How often do you do water changes?

I had a tom aquatic mini deco tank as well, except it was the 1 gallon version. It came out really cool and it was a ton of fun to build...heater malfunction melted everything in the tank though.

Keep it up!

 

[dogstar74]

Make sure the hose on the aquarium side does not stay submerged after the pump kicks off. If it stays submerged in the display tank when the pump stops you will creat a back siphon and may find your tank water being pulled back into the reservoir. Other than that! nice job. Best part is, if the ATO gets stuck on, then you only have about 2L of water to clean up. Not like the 55 gallon barrel I have!

Aaron

 

[reefscape15]

thats an awesome little pico. I wish I had an office to work in so I had somewhere to set something like that up!....................................stupid construction trade.........................

 

[danoreef]

thats an awesome little pico. I wish I had an office to work in so I had somewhere to set something like that up!....................................stupid construction trade.........................

Thank you reefscape. its not at work, its on my computer desk at home. there was a small corner of the desk screaming for something....... this little tank fit perfect.

 

[danoreef]

two things I have in the works for this little tank are a larger ATO system, one that can be stored below the desk, and can hold at least a gallon of water maybe more.
The other thing is a small protein skimmer. Maybe a soda bottle size. with the amount of water changes I do its not something I need but I would like to hook up a small skimmer and see what it pulls out of this little tank even with the water changes.

 

[PalyliCious]

WOW! You have an awesome Picotope build! I have a Picotope myself.. I’m new to the hobby and I’ve been learning everyday.. I just started an RC account, about two days ago, and I’m glad I did because I would have never come across your thread! I’ve been looking for an ATO system for my tank for a while now because I’m in and out of my house a lot for school. Sometimes I don’t have the time to replace my evaporated water with RO water, so I get a little help from my younger brother, but thanks to your thread I have many ideas for an ATO system for my Pico. I’m excited to put one together. Thank you soo much for your thread! :]

 

[danoreef]

WOW! You have an awesome Picotope build! I have a Picotope myself.. I'm new to the hobby and I've been learning everyday.. I just started an RC account, about two days ago, and I'm glad I did because I would have never come across your thread! I've been looking for an ATO system for my tank for a while now because I'm in and out of my house a lot for school. Sometimes I don't have the time to replace my evaporated water with RO water, so I get a little help from my younger brother, but thanks to your thread I have many ideas for an ATO system for my Pico. I'm excited to put one together. Thank you soo much for your thread! :]

Wow! Thank you. I'm glad I could help. This site is by far the best reef website ther is. not only will you find my thread but you will find hundreds with similar builds you can really get some great ideas. I will be ordering some more corals soon I will post some new pics. any pictures of your tank?

 

[PalyliCious]

Cool, I can't wait to see them :] ..It's actually quite random that I was able to find your thread because your from New York and I'm from California.. I have no clue how I did that, lol ..Yea, I have a few pictures of my tank.. Would you like me to post it on your thread?

 

[Dipandots]

Thanks, i purchased the float valve and the battery air pump from ebay. I paid $3.00 for the float valve and $14.00 for the air pump. Can't wait til it gets here to start putting together. :thumbsup:

I'm looking at doing an ATO for my 15g, and am just wondering what float switch you ended up getting? I can only find ones from China, and the shipping makes me nervous.

 

[danoreef]

I'm looking at doing an ATO for my 15g, and am just wondering what float switch you ended up getting? I can only find ones from China, and the shipping makes me nervous.

That's the one I ordered it was $2.66 with free shipping from China...... don't ask me how they do that...... I guess we'll find out. basically if the auto top off works and it fits my needs, I will change anything that I think is shady with so called "quality" parts...... Probably made in China .
basically what I build now will be a prototype.

 

[danoreef]

Cool, I can't wait to see them :] ..It's actually quite random that I was able to find your thread because your from New York and I'm from California.. I have no clue how I did that, lol ..Yea, I have a few pictures of my tank.. Would you like me to post it on your thread?

Sure I would love to see the pics. Or you can start your own thread and put a link here to it.

 

[100%hydrophylic]

that batter ATO is pretty cool, the only thing i dont like is the float valve in the tank. what would be the type of valve to look for for this sort of thing?

 

[Travis1787]

wow you people are so smart it makes me sick!!! would either of these ideas work good for a ten gallon? if its just for like 3 days

 

[Reef_Addict]

Very nice set up

 

[danoreef]

wow you people are so smart it makes me sick!!! would either of these ideas work good for a ten gallon? if its just for like 3 days

Yeah, absolutely.