ATO on a small budget

mfinn

mfinn

Active member
Recently a friend asked me if I knew of a good dependable ato that would work well on her 40 gallon reef tank.
Off the top of my head I mentioned 2 that I use, the JBJ ATO and a Tsunami AT1.
Then I mentioned that Tunze makes a pretty nice one for smaller tanks.

But she said she is on a small budget and really couldn't afford any of those.
I know there has to be some, but I'm not sure where.
Would probably have to be a complete kit.

Any help?
 
on the cheap.. a 5 gallon bucket with a small bulkhead for 1/4 inch line
a float valve.. there are some on amazon that has a aquarium/ sump rim mount
and 1/4 inch line to match the above fittings..

prob 30.00 tops
its similar to how mine is and it has NEVER Ever give me issues.. the only issue is the resivour has to be above the float valve of course
 
On a real tight budget you can use a float valve and gravity feed. The valves are about $8 at us plastics and any food safe rubber maid container will do. I ran my first two tanks with float valve top-off systems and a 10 gallon rubber maid container on a stand as the reservoir. The caution is the valves can get stuck open or rust and fall apart, but with very little maintenance they can last a few years. The one I use to fill my containers for water change and what not is over 10 years old.
 
mfinn said:
Was hoping to find a complete ato system rather than buckets or just parts.
Click to expand...

the hydor runs about 70.00 but you have to add the cost of a pump to that ..

and all ato need a water resivour to draw from.. rather its a pump type or just a simple float valve
 
I will also go with atotopoff.com i've been using one for 8 years and it works great, did have to change out the relay 1 time though.
 
My DIY ATO costs £12 / 15 USD. It uses a small 12v DC pump, 2 float switches and a 12v PSU. It's not pretty but it does the job

Sent from my LG-H955 using Tapatalk
 
I use my RO/DI unit to feed a float valve. Total of $8. I also have a safety system that was around $30, but its not "required"
 
ericarenee said:
on the cheap.. a 5 gallon bucket with a small bulkhead for 1/4 inch line
a float valve.. there are some on amazon that has a aquarium/ sump rim mount
and 1/4 inch line to match the above fittings..

prob 30.00 tops
its similar to how mine is and it has NEVER Ever give me issues.. the only issue is the resivour has to be above the float valve of course
Click to expand...



AND that the reservoir should be small enough that if the valve fails, there won't be a flood.
 
Tunze osmolator Nano, appx. $99 bucks and a complete system, along with a metering pump that will only allow a preset amount per fill, adjustable by the user.
Again the Nano not the regular osmolator. Good luck.
 
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