How to Prevent siphoning Auto Top Off

[oneilwiz]

Hello Everyone,

There are many threads about ATO but little to no resolution to "Prevent ATO from siphoning into sump when turned off" . The suggested solution of not making the top off container higher than the sump is almost impractical for people who do not have a basement to store Top off water reservoir lower than the sump.

My question is, for those who have their sump at the same level as their ATO container ( 5 Gallon Water jug), how do you prevent siphoning?

 

[richieii]

the auto line needs to be run high. Could connect it to a pvc cap like a durso cap then the cap connected to pipe. Then somehow connect the pipe to the sump wall. As long as ato line is higher than the reservoir water line it can't continue to siphon into the sump.

 

[Sk8r]

it's called a 'siphon break', which is ANY interrupt that clears water from the ato line---or any line prone to siphoning.
Some make a small hole at the high point of the hose. I use only a 1/4 airline as the hose, so I simply assure (with a strong clip) that it will NOT touch the water of the sump: it pours in from a slight height.

 

[brewtus]

Don't let the hose touch the water

 

[CStrickland]

Yup
Here's mine. When the pump stops it just sucks air. No problemo.

 

[skeeter_ca]

Having the hose not touch the sump water only works if the reservoir is lower than the sump level. That is not his problem. His reservoir is higher than the sump water level. Mine is also like that and it is a very easy problem to solve. You place a small hole in the hose right before it comes out of the reservoir. When the pump is running it sprays some water back into the reservoir and then the pump shuts off and the small hole sucks in air and breaks the siphon. With this setup it won't matter how high the reservoir is or if the hose going into the sump is submerged or not.

 

[hogfanreefer]

Not sure if I can explain it well enough to understand but I will try. Loop your line from your ATO reservoir to the top of the stand (as long as the high point is higher than the ATO and the sump it's ok) and have it insert in to a slightly larger tube at it's highest point and just start to turn back down (while inside the larger tube). The larger tube then goes on to the sump to actually deliver the water. There is no way to siphon with this set up

 

[StrangeDejavu]

Both my sump and ATO (5 gallon glass aquarium) sit directly on the floor. I ran the hose up the back of the tank and set to empty DI water into the display. Since it'll have to go overflow > drains > sump > baffles and finally your return, it will take longer to trip the sensor which means you'll go above your line you set on your sump. To fix this, I just pushed the ATO sensor magnets down a little, so it shuts off early. By the time the water balances out and reaches the return, it's right at the line. You could also skip a step and have the hose empty into your overflow.

 

[tennesseebob]

my ato is taller than my sump, so in my case I run the ato line up to my display to dump into my overflow. I wasn't certain how to go about a siphon break on an ato tube. Running the line to a higher point than the ato water level seemed the easiest method.

 

[ryeguyy84]

here you go.

 

[oneilwiz]

Thank you very much guys I really appreciate the suggested solutions; I will definitely try the new solution placing the return line from the RO reservoir to the top of the tank but no where near my tank water. This will prevent siphoning from the main tank. Thank you very much guys, I will update as I am also having problems with the JBJ ATO sensor keeps getting stuck, guess it did its time 4yrs)

 

[BlueRoofTang]

Yeah, just keep the end of the hose above the water in your display tank. Then it cant suck water up inside it.