auto top off help

[petere1989]

so i came up with two design ideas but need a little help. I am planning for when i am traveling, going out of town at the end of the month and then again for a week or so in march. I have a small tank auto top off system under my cabinet right now but it will not last long enough when i am gone, and the person feeding my tank will have to put water in it. I want to have a way to feed water into the container instead of having her messing around underneath, potentially knocking something loose. I have two sketches below that show both my ideas, and if i can get some input and ideas on the best way to do this, let me know.

The first one, i have a table thing across from the tank, i was going to put a brute garbage can on top of the table, have a pump hard plumbed from the garbage can to my auto top off. this way requires more tubing and less 90 degree turns.

or the second way, the garbage can next to the tank and hard plumbed that way but this would require more 90 degree turns, and i don't want a powerful pump because its just for filling water, it doesn't need to be massive amounts of water.

I don't really know the best way, if I should add a ball valve anywhere or a quick disconnect, because when i'm home, this will be put away. I wanted to have it set up on the Apex with a ip cam to be able to turn on the pump myself and fill it but i think that is a little risky and would prefer to have somebody do it for me, just in a easy way that they don't have to make water and carry it up to the tank and mess around underneath.

 

[reefergeorge]

either way you are going to create a syphon and overflow something.

 

[MrRyanT]

^+1

 

[petere1989]

either way you are going to create a syphon and overflow something.

how do I stop that then, by maybe using rubber tubing instead and having the pump taken out of the water? that way its not permanent and can be disconnected.

 

[reefergeorge]

I'm not sure how other people have it setup, but I have my fill tube above the water line and my reservoir is even with my sump. That way when it shuts off it sucks air not water. I figured it out after a near flood

 

[reefergeorge]

If you already have an ATO, why don't you just rig up a bigger reservoir for a week?

 

[fit]

I rely on a siphon and use a regular rodi float valve to stop the flow. I have used this for about a year and have never had an overflow.

So I have a stable table (actualy a small cart) about 1.5 feet high. I place a 5 gallon bucket on top of the table. Fill the bucket with fresh water. (In my case I put kalkawasser). I put the end of a refrigerator ice-maker hose in the bucket, slap on an inline valve about a foot downline (for convinience to stop ato or prevent loss of siphon when the bucket gets low), and the other end goes to the float valve in my sump. You neet to clamp the hose at the bucket or it could fall out too easily and you'd loose your siphon.

Introduce water to the hose to create a siphon anyway you want. I use my mouth full of water to prime the hose at the bucket. One or two mouthfuls sarts the siphon for me.

If the float valve fails, I'd have up to 5 gal of fresh water introduced pretty quickly, and if my sump cannot handle it, some saltywater overflow on my floor. Is this likely to happen? Many people routinely use these valves at high pressure to shut off rodi.

I guess I could put 2 float valves in series and periodically check that each does indeed shut off flow. But dont think it necessary.

 

[petere1989]

If you already have an ATO, why don't you just rig up a bigger reservoir for a week?

i would have to get longer tubing and hoses but i could i guess.

 

[fredfish13]

i use a 5 gallon menards bucket normally. When I am gone for a weeks's time, I use a 35 gallon brute container for my ato. I also have an airline check valve connected to my aqualifter pump and have my airline hose that goes into sump actually not in the water in my sump. It hangs above the waterline. I had to do this because it would siphon from my container when I did a WC.

 

[Portsie]

If you already have an ATO, why don't you just rig up a bigger reservoir for a week?

+1 Just throw your ato pump in the garbage can beside the tank.

 

[petere1989]

+1 Just throw your ato pump in the garbage can beside the tank.

alright. i guess i'm making more work for myself. I have a Tunze auto top off from bulk reef supply. does anybody know if they sell longer tubing? because i'll need it, the tubing provided was cut to fit in its location nice and snug.

 

[ireef86]

Purchase a larger tank for your top off for vacation time. I was out of town for 14 days. I Invested in a 29g. It was still half full when I got home.

 

[petere1989]

would like, an ace hardware or walmart have the longer rubber tubing i need?

 

[galoot]

Use quarter inch watts tubing from the check valve on

 

[Timber77]

how bout a funnel so your caretaker can refill your current tank, or a watering can like for flowers.

 

[petere1989]

how bout a funnel so your caretaker can refill your current tank, or a watering can like for flowers.

I thought of that too. I'm drilling a hole in the lid and putting in a bulkhead anyway so i can do it that way, because taking the lid off is a pain, its tight under my cabinet and my return tube rests on top of it, i don't want to keep messing with it.