A Question about Tunz ATO

[JMorris271]

Hi RC.
I'm reading over the instructions for this ATO before it arrives and see that the level of the water in the reservoir must never be higher than that of the sump . This seems to drastically reduce the amount of top off water that may be stored. For instance, the level in a filled 10 gal reservoir is going to rest well above the operational level in the sump.
What am I missing here?
Thanks

 

[mcgyvr]

Haven't read the instructions but that would be to prevent siphoning when the pump is off..

A body of water with a tube in it higher than another body of water is no different than how an overflow works.. The pump starts the siphon and when it stops it will continue to flow water on its own..
The only way to prevent that is to have the inlet water be lower than the outlet water..

So your ATO containers water level cannot be higher.. Now that might require a more shallow but deeper/wider ATO container....

 

[johnike]

Edit: read wrong, sorry.

 

[vhuang168]

If you keep the outlet of the feed line higher than the water level in the ATO you'll be fine.


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[mcgyvr]

If you keep the outlet of the feed line higher than the water level in the ATO you'll be fine.

Correct..

 

[CarrieB]

I just moved the outlet so that it empties into the overflow of the main tank. Problem solved.


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[Greybeard]

If you keep the outlet of the feed line higher than the water level in the ATO you'll be fine.

Yup. This.

ATO reservoir can be anywhere, as long as the outlet from the pump is higher than the water level in the reservoir, it won't siphon.

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

Also, if you don't want the outlet tube going to the main display, you could still have it pump to the sump, but you'll have to have the outlet still above the ATO reservoir. This can be done be basically having the water fall fairly far into the sump. You could use a funnel or something of the sort to catch the flow if you wanted. I just have mine filling the main display and it works just fine for me.

 

[JMorris271]

Also, if you don't want the outlet tube going to the main display, you could still have it pump to the sump, but you'll have to have the outlet still above the ATO reservoir. This can be done be basically having the water fall fairly far into the sump. You could use a funnel or something of the sort to catch the flow if you wanted. I just have mine filling the main display and it works just fine for me.

Can you still kalk if the outlet tube is going up to the DT instead of the sump







/

 

[SFish]

Glad I read this. My top off tank is much higher then my sump. I'm going to buy the same ATO.

 

[Sk8r]

The feed line, yes.
What they don't want happening is a higher tank emptying into your sump, screwing the salinity and flooding your floor. High goes to low unless you've taken precautions. Think of how the flow might go if you had a tall tank and a garden hose: you want to make sure the tall tank does not send water up the hose except when the pump is calling for it. Also, 'siphon breaks' are a good idea in an ato setup.