Cheap ATO?

[osiris4evr]

Hey i was just wondering if anyone out there could steer me in the right direction? I am looking to set up at Auto top off under my 55 but am NOT looking to spend a million dollars!!!! I've heard that there are float values out there to be used in conjunction with a gravity feed water supply! If anyone knows where to fine one i' love to know where to find them!! I was think that this would be the most cost efficient way to go about setting a ATO but i've heard that the valve has a tendency of getting clogged with salt creep so you have to check it every few days to prevent it from flooding the tank. Which isn't that big of a deal since i was planing on only using a 5 gallon bucket as the reserve tank so worse come to worse 5 gallons isn't going to make my wet dry overflow onto the floor ...too much! lol . I do have a few extra smaller powerheads laying around if there is a way i could use them to to supply the water but i would prefer to not have another powerhead running 24/7 burning up my power bill if i can use gravity as an option. Well i am pretty much up for any an all suggestions and discussions about options and all the pros and cons but just keep on this in mind the cheaper the better .

Thanks in advance!!!!!

 

[ccampo]

Check Melev's site for cheap ATO options :

http://www.melevsreef.com/plumbing/auto_topoff.html

 

[Cheekymonkey]

I built a cheap one for my 40G tank. I drilled the sump for a cheapo float valve about $9 that I found at Exotic Aquarium, they work great.

Then I hooked up that to airline tubing leading from a bucket to a aqualifter. The aqualifter barely pumps any water, so its a nice slow drip into the sump when the valve is low.

However if you are going to do an auto top off and already have a RODI unit, I would urge you to consider plumbing it to the RODI with an autoshut off switch. It has its own risks but it elminates carrying buckets of water around your house.

 

[AngGenova23]

jbj auto top off

 

[chrisstie]

I have a new but never used tunze ato i'd be willing to sell pm me if you decide to go that route.

 

[MitchReef]

http://www.autotopoff.com/