Best method for ATO?

Kyuss

Kyuss

Megistered Rember
Finally getting my tank setup finished after having to let it sit half finished for the past year to deal with some other stuff. It's a 150g in the basement, and I have a 75g for a sump/fuge that's on the other side of the wall to the right of the tank. So I put a bench over the sump (with plenty of room under, 44" of vertical clearance underneath) and my top-off reservoir (a 35g hex tank I got for free) sits on top.

My dilemma comes in on how to control the top-off. Gravity fed would be extremely easy, but I'm not so sure that it would be the most reliable. I'd rather have some float switches (2, for a little redundancy) and a pump, but if I use something like an aqualifter pump, is the water going to continue to siphon through the pump after it shuts off? Or am I safe with just a float valve and a siphon hose?

Bad cellphone pic of sump/reservoir setup...
atot.jpg
 
I used a jbj ato for a long time with a dosing pump to provide a slow top off.

Eventually I just converted everything to my apex controller and that's what I would recommend there pricey but it's an all one device.
 
Oh and your other questions yes most pumps will continue to siphon the output line must be higher than the level of your top off reservoir. I also put a check valve on the end of my line to keep from back siphoning since I use a dosing pump it would loose the prime.

Float valves are dangerous I use two float switches. One to turn the pump on/off and one to cut it all off if it rises to high. Also my pump is set to run only a certain amount of time before it times out.

Even more redundancy since I topoff with limewater if my ph rises above normal the ato shuts off. All this can be done with the apex.
 
I have used float valves for years and never had a problem. The best thing and the worst is you never have to fill a the ATO tank.

I did build a drain into the top of my sump which drains to the outside just in case that bad day does happen to come.
 
In 2004 I bought a Tunze Osmolator. I thought it was expensive at the time but it has lasted 8 years. I only have to replace the feed pump every 2-3 years a low cost. I highly recomment this unit for reliability and longevity. Worth every penny!
 
Thanks guys. Though I'm thinking the water is still going to siphon after the pump shuts off, and that's a pretty steep price to pay when gravity moves it for free. ;) Unfortunately, that seems like a bigger problem than if I had to pump the water up from a reservoir to the sump, but I can't really do that with the space I have. An NC solenoid valve that's saltwater safe would be ideal really (along with some float switches) but those seem hard to come by.

I still have plenty of time to think about this. Once I get the tank cycling I can play around a bit and see what I can come up with.
 
You don't need a saltwater safe solenoid since your using RO water.

If you are concerned with an aqualifter still siphoning you can just put a tee at the top of the reservoir to act as a vent of sorts. The float valve will work fine.

The best setup since you asked IME is dual in sump float switches operating a cole-parmer peristaltic pump that takes roughly an hour to do the entire top off for the day. Total cost is roughly $300.
 
I use a controller with redundant float switches
(switches cost $10 and being cheap on redundancy is plain dumb)

...BUT if I had it to do all over again I would consider a standalone unit...
 
poakley723 said:
I have used float valves for years and never had a problem. The best thing and the worst is you never have to fill a the ATO tank.
Click to expand...

X2 If they stick/fail, it is in the closed position. I clean my Eshopps float valve once a year with vinegar. It is really simple and reliable.

ato2.jpg

bce8feb0.jpg
 
Use a peristaltic pump, they will not to continue siphon when they power is shut off. Then have dual floats in the sump on for on off and a high for safety shut off. Bulkreefsupply has a decent one that is rated at 50ml an hour, kinda slow but i really depends on how much evap you have.
 
I like the JBJ autotop off. I put a 12 gallon rubbermaid next to my sump and only fill it up once a week. It has two float value and one ensures you dont burn up a pump in case your ATO bucket is empty.
 
My bad, yes it is 50ml per minute. But that is still only like 3/4 of a gallon an hour still not a whole lot. True that would be enough for most, me included, but if you have a large system and huge rate of evap this might not work for you. But still suggest peristaltic pump in general as they will not continue siphoning water like other pumps wil.
 
After researching for my upcoming tank I'll probably go with the Tunze Osmolator and a 10-15 gal. reservoir of RO/DI. If it ever did fail I would only be dumping a max of 15 gallons into the system. Not enough to crash it.
 
den75 said:
After researching for my upcoming tank I'll probably go with the Tunze Osmolator and a 10-15 gal. reservoir of RO/DI. If it ever did fail I would only be dumping a max of 15 gallons into the system. Not enough to crash it.
Click to expand...

+1. I use a Osmolator in conjunction with my Apex, attached to a 5 gallon tank. The tank is fed directly from my RO/DI and has a float valve. I like that the Osmolator has 2 different types of switches, one optical and a float back-up. It would be extremely rare for both to fail. Not the cheapest option but definitely easy to set up right out of the box.
 
I've used the Avast Marine topoff system on a few tanks now and I'm happy with it. It uses a pneumatic sensor as the primary measuring device, but comes with a float valve to shut off flow in case it ever malfunctions. I'm a big fan of dissimilar redundancy. I use the 50 ml/min BRS pump.
 
Ahh excellent guys. That peristaltic pump from BRS is perfect, now I can look at the various redundant float switch setups mentioned here. I'm seriously considering some type of controller and it looks like there's some great ATO solutions there.

I was tempted by the cheaper alternative of a float valve, but I really like the redundancy you can have with a pump. Plus if I ever decide to move the ATO reservoir off the bench I'm still in business.

Thanks again!
 
Just a little update, I ended up going with the 50ml BRS peristaltic pump and the autotopoff dual float switch setup. I ordered a ton of stuff last night to finally get my tank up and running, the next week or two I'm gonna be like a kid at Christmas with all the goodies enroute. :D
 
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