please help with ATO

J

JMorris271

New member
Hi RC
I am getting distressed about my ATO situation. We put up a post about this before and thought we would have the problem worked out. Thats not the case.
A few months ago I put a Smart ATO on my tank. It always overfilled the sump which skewed my salinity. Thinking it was a faulty ato pump, i purchased a Tunz that it is doing the same thing so I know its not the pump over pumping or the sensor. I am using a Sincra 5 on a dual corner overflow herbie.. Suggestions please? Below are some shots of my setup

My tubing placement.
tube12.jpg

My sensor placement
sensor1.jpg

my plumbing
plumbing.jpg
 
The sump level stays the same but the tank level rises and salinity drops from 2.06 to 2.01
My level on the overflow is usually at mid teeth.
Could it be my plumbing?


20161013_111202overflow1111.jpg
 
Last edited:
Some conflicting information there that needs clarification..
Sump level overflows then you said sump level stays the same?
Did you just purchase a pump from tunze or their complete ato system? optical sensors or floats? (I think its optical and float backup right?)
Sliding the sensor up the glass the pump should start.. Once it gets to the right level the pump should stop..

salinity 2.06? 2.01? Should be 1.026

The only section that should be changing the water height due to evap is the section that the return pump is in.. Nothing else should fluctuate.

Is that an emergency return into the return pump section? Does it ever take on water?
 
As others have said in this post and your previous post, the issue is with your drain line. Your return pump is pumping more water into your display tank than the drains can handle. This is causing the water level in your display tank to rise. It is impossible for an ATO or even a garden hose dumping water into the sump to cause the level in the display tank to rise.

The only way for water to get into your display tank from the sump is through that return pump. If it's pumping water into the display tank faster than the overflow can drain it, your water level in the tank will rise.

Dial back your return pump and your issue will be fixed. For example, my return pump is too powerful for my overflow to handle at full power. So I tee'd off the return line and put a valve that directs some water back to my sump. I adjusted this valve until the water level in my display tank stayed level. From my return pump, some water gets pumped into the display tank, some gets pumped into the middle section of my sump.
 
mcgyvr said:
Some conflicting information there that needs clarification..
Sump level overflows then you said sump level stays the same?
Did you just purchase a pump from tunze or their complete ato system? optical sensors or floats? (I think its optical and float backup right?)
Sliding the sensor up the glass the pump should start.. Once it gets to the right level the pump should stop..

salinity 2.06? 2.01? Should be 1.026

The only section that should be changing the water height due to evap is the section that the return pump is in.. Nothing else should fluctuate.

Is that an emergency return into the return pump section? Does it ever take on water?
Click to expand...

For some reason, the optical sensor is reading a signal to call for more top off. That topoff is raising the DT tank level. So the DT level does change. and I don't know why

The sump does not overflow and stays the same. the only change is the water level up in the DT where it rises,See pix of overflow teeth

The Tunz is the kit. Pump and optical sensor with the backup.

Return pump area stays the same.

Yes. that is an emergency return but nothing ever flows through there. Ii is strictly for emergency. Bone dry on the inside.
 
Last edited:
Can we get either pics of your plumbing inside the dual overflows or a descriptive drawing? I see a strainer on one of your overflows from the original thread. Pretty sure that part should be under the water level in your overflow of your tank. Do you have an emergency drain on each corner overflow as well?
 
JMorris271 said:
The sump does not overflow and stays the same. the only change is the water level in the DT rises,See pix of overflow teeth

The Tunz is the kit. Pump and optical sensor with the backup.

Return pump area stays the same.

Yes. that is an emergency return but nothing ever flows through there. Ii is strictly for emergency. Bone dry on the inside.
Click to expand...

This is impossible unless you are adding more water to the system which it sounds like is your problem. The ATO should be replacing evaporated water, not adding water volume to the system. The DT level should never rise, as has been stated, your drain is not draining as fast as the return pump is returning. It has nothing to do with your ATO.
 
vhuang168 said:
As I said the 1st time you asked. It CANNOT be your ato affecting the water level in your tank.

You have to tune the drain and return flows or 1 will overpower the other and can cause the issues you have.

Link to old thread.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2592898



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
The problem is something is causing the water added from the ato to raise that DT level.I have posted a photo to show the difference between night and morning. In the night, my reservoir is half full. I the morning it is 1 inch from the bottom. The only change I see in the morning is a much lower water level in that reservoir and a raised level in the DT,.
 
Potatohead said:
This is impossible unless you are adding more water to the system which it sounds like is your problem. The ATO should be replacing evaporated water, not adding water volume to the system. The DT level should never rise, as has been stated, your drain is not draining as fast as the return pump is returning. It has nothing to do with your ATO.
Click to expand...

u nailed it!
this happened to me on my new setup. The return flow is more than whats going back into your sump so basically you need to have a valve on the return line and dial it down a few.
 
Cymonous said:
Can we get either pics of your plumbing inside the dual overflows or a descriptive drawing? I see a strainer on one of your overflows from the original thread. Pretty sure that part should be under the water level in your overflow of your tank. Do you have an emergency drain on each corner overflow as well?
Click to expand...
I can get a pix but in both overflows, the returns and emergency are 1 inch below the skimmer chamber water level
 
JMorris271 said:
For some reason, the optical sensor is reading a signal to call for more top off. That topoff is raising the DT tank level. So the DT level does change. and I don't know why

The sump does not overflow and stays the same. the only change is the water level up in the DT where it rises,See pix of overflow teeth

The Tunz is the kit. Pump and optical sensor with the backup.

Return pump area stays the same.

Yes. that is an emergency return but nothing ever flows through there. Ii is strictly for emergency. Bone dry on the inside.
Click to expand...

The ATO is getting a signal to fill because your return pump is over powering your overflow, that is causing the water level in the sump to lower.
 
vhuang168 said:
As I said the 1st time you asked. It CANNOT be your ato affecting the water level in your tank.

You have to tune the drain and return flows or 1 will overpower the other and can cause the issues you have.

Link to old thread.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2592898



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I do remember you saying that and you were and are correct. Both of the drains and the pump are maxed open. If the drains are closed any more the overflow will really hit the emergency. I'll cut the pump back . I was in error thinking that cutting the pump back would cause the middle chamber to over run the baffle just before the return chamber?.
 
Last edited:
creep said:
As others have said in this post and your previous post, the issue is with your drain line. Your return pump is pumping more water into your display tank than the drains can handle. This is causing the water level in your display tank to rise. It is impossible for an ATO or even a garden hose dumping water into the sump to cause the level in the display tank to rise.

The only way for water to get into your display tank from the sump is through that return pump. If it's pumping water into the display tank faster than the overflow can drain it, your water level in the tank will rise.

Dial back your return pump and your issue will be fixed. For example, my return pump is too powerful for my overflow to handle at full power. So I tee'd off the return line and put a valve that directs some water back to my sump. I adjusted this valve until the water level in my display tank stayed level. From my return pump, some water gets pumped into the display tank, some gets pumped into the middle section of my sump.
Click to expand...
OK. I'll try that again. I must be cutting back too much when I did that before.
 
JMorris271 said:
I do remember you saying that and you were and are correct. Both of the drains and the pump are maxed open. If the drains are closed any more the overflow will really hit the emergency. I'll cut the pump back . Thanks.
Click to expand...

Place a valve and dial back the return pump a bit and I bet your problem subsides.
 
JMorris271 said:
I do remember you saying that and you were and are correct. Both of the drains and the pump are maxed open. If the drains are closed any more the overflow will really hit the emergency. I'll cut the pump back . I was in error thinking that cutting the pump back would cause the middle chamber to over run the baffle just before the return chamber?.
Click to expand...



You may need to remove some water from the sump when you dial bk the return.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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