auto top off

toddanddaneen · 01/26/2010, 01:54 PM

Can you make a top off that fills your tank directly off your ro/di? Can you buy one premade? i'm concerned about leaving town and a bucket going dry. If someone has made one and could share what they used or point me in the right direction would be great

Sisterlimonpot · 01/26/2010, 02:08 PM

I would strongly advise against having your RODI hooked directly to a sump. (too many horror stories of floods and drastic salinity drops). Now there are ways around this and I think this is what you are meaning in your question is to have the RODI fill up a container that is part of your ATO. This is a little safer set up in the fact that 2 systems will have to fail to crash your tank.

What people do is add a float valve or switch to the ATO reservoir that triggers the RODI unit to fill the container and shut off when it's full.
HTH

patsfan1130 · 01/26/2010, 02:09 PM

It certainly can be done but I strongly advise against it. configuring it that way gives the ATO an infinite amount of water to dump into the sump in the event of a failure. MY ATO is a simple 5g bucket that I can refill when I am home. When I go away (and I travel a lot) I hook my ATO up to a full 30g container.

Paul B · 01/26/2010, 02:16 PM

I have my tank set up that way. My RO/DI feeds water into a 5 gallon bucket that is higher than my tank (and in another room. There is an electrical float switch on that that shuts off intake water to that bucket when it is full. There is also an overflow tube near the top of that bucket in case the switch fails, the excess water would go into a drain. (That has happened once in about 20 years)
From the bucket, the water travels in a 1/4" tube to a float switch on my reef. This system only feeds the tank with about a drop a second so if the float fails, there will not be too much water overflowing but it did happen to me last week. It was the first time the tank overflowed and I got maybe five gallons of water on the floor as it was running all night. I accidently laid an airline over the float switch and it kept it down so it did not shut off. I am presently working on an electrical overflow switch that will prevent that in the future. But that is also not bad to not have an accident like that in decades

Fizz71 · 01/26/2010, 02:20 PM

Most RO setups have a reservoir that has a float to stop the RO when it's full. You can do the same thing direct to your sump but I would not recommend it. SERIOUS potential issues there (been there, flooded that).

Having said that my setup can go forever (until the RO needs to be replaced or a float needs to be cleaned) without interference. Here is what I do:

First I have a water timer on the spigot that feeds the RO to only run twice a day for 30 minutes...which is more than I evaporate in one day.

That line feeds the RO into a barrel that has a float on it so not only is the timer controlling the water feed, but the float as well so it's redundant to fill the barrell twice a day and only use as much water as it takes to fill it.

Then I have the barrel gravity feeding my sump with a float in the sump as well. The water level in the barrel is above the float so gravity does the work. However not the WHOLE barrel so the amount of water above the sump is only a foot or so which means even if the float sticks it would only do 10 gallons tops (340g system). The float is a new eshoppes design that drips from above so nobody will interfere with it and there is an automatic siphon break.

Bottom line..I am hands free with redundancies on top of redundancies. The setup has been up about a year and the only issue I had was the gravity feed float getting gunked up with algae and not letting water in fast enough so my sump would get low in a few days if I didn't bucket water over. 5 minutes of maintenance and I'm back on my way bucket free.

All I do is look at the sump and barrel every day or so to make sure the levels are all where they should be, which is how I noticed the slow drip issue. If I go on vacation for a week or two...all I do is ask whoever is feeding my fish and cat to make sure the corals all look happy everytime they're there. Eventually I'll have a computer on it so I can get salinity readings remotely, but that's future $$$ I don't have right now.

I hope you followed all this. This is setup #5 or 6 for me in the last almost 20 years of doing this and automation was a big goal for me, but making sure Murphy is kept in check as well!!

Good Luck.

--Fizz

toddanddaneen · 01/26/2010, 02:39 PM

Thanks for the input guys. I understand what your saying and you have definately changed the plans for the ato. Looks like i need to go pick up several float switches and a timer just to be completely safe. You probably just saved me alot of grief from the wife and probably killing my tank off

toddanddaneen · 01/26/2010, 02:42 PM

Anyone have a recommendation on float switches and timer (looking for reliability)

Fizz71 · 01/26/2010, 03:18 PM

I searched all over for the most appropriate water timer to feed my RO and this is what I'm using:

http://www.amazon.com/Orbit-2-Dial-D.../dp/B000YDUDKK

It's simple and allows it to be left on for manual fill or timed fill for when I need to fill the whole barrel (after a water change), and works nice and easy for daily or twice a day fills. 2 seconds to set no matter what I need done.

It got bad ratings from people using it OUTDOORS, but I've had no problems with it in my basement. Lowes sells them too, I ordered mine from lowes but it had to be shipped.

All my floats are non-electric on purpose. I had an electric one fail on me last setup so this round it's all gravity--no pumps and no swithes connected to my tank. I use this in the sump:
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/243611/product.web
It's designed to go in with or without drilling.

And I think I bought this for the RO:
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/198059/product.web

My RO already had the check valve from the last system so I only bought a new float this time around.

toddanddaneen · 01/26/2010, 06:36 PM

Thanks very much for the help

01/26/2010, 01:54 PM	#1
toddanddaneen Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 59	auto top off Can you make a top off that fills your tank directly off your ro/di? Can you buy one premade? i'm concerned about leaving town and a bucket going dry. If someone has made one and could share what they used or point me in the right direction would be great

01/26/2010, 02:08 PM	#2
Sisterlimonpot R.C. Fraternity President Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Litchfeild Park AZ Posts: 11,490 Blog Entries: 2	I would strongly advise against having your RODI hooked directly to a sump. (too many horror stories of floods and drastic salinity drops). Now there are ways around this and I think this is what you are meaning in your question is to have the RODI fill up a container that is part of your ATO. This is a little safer set up in the fact that 2 systems will have to fail to crash your tank. What people do is add a float valve or switch to the ATO reservoir that triggers the RODI unit to fill the container and shut off when it's full. HTH __________________ Jimmy MASVC President Dishes are done man! Current Tank Info: 300 in progress

01/26/2010, 02:09 PM	#3
patsfan1130 Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Woburn, Ma Posts: 2,010	It certainly can be done but I strongly advise against it. configuring it that way gives the ATO an infinite amount of water to dump into the sump in the event of a failure. MY ATO is a simple 5g bucket that I can refill when I am home. When I go away (and I travel a lot) I hook my ATO up to a full 30g container. __________________ My cat's breath smells like cat food Member of the Boston Reefers Society Current Tank Info: 75g lps, 90g sps, 120g mixed, 180 nem tank, 300g reef, 600g up & coming reef

01/26/2010, 02:16 PM	#4
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	I have my tank set up that way. My RO/DI feeds water into a 5 gallon bucket that is higher than my tank (and in another room. There is an electrical float switch on that that shuts off intake water to that bucket when it is full. There is also an overflow tube near the top of that bucket in case the switch fails, the excess water would go into a drain. (That has happened once in about 20 years) From the bucket, the water travels in a 1/4" tube to a float switch on my reef. This system only feeds the tank with about a drop a second so if the float fails, there will not be too much water overflowing but it did happen to me last week. It was the first time the tank overflowed and I got maybe five gallons of water on the floor as it was running all night. I accidently laid an airline over the float switch and it kept it down so it did not shut off. I am presently working on an electrical overflow switch that will prevent that in the future. But that is also not bad to not have an accident like that in decades __________________ I used to get shocked when I put my hand in my tank. Then the electric eel went dead. Current Tank Info: 100 gal reef set up in 1971

01/26/2010, 02:20 PM	#5
Fizz71 FragSwapper Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: West Lawn, PA Posts: 5,800	Most RO setups have a reservoir that has a float to stop the RO when it's full. You can do the same thing direct to your sump but I would not recommend it. SERIOUS potential issues there (been there, flooded that). Having said that my setup can go forever (until the RO needs to be replaced or a float needs to be cleaned) without interference. Here is what I do: First I have a water timer on the spigot that feeds the RO to only run twice a day for 30 minutes...which is more than I evaporate in one day. That line feeds the RO into a barrel that has a float on it so not only is the timer controlling the water feed, but the float as well so it's redundant to fill the barrell twice a day and only use as much water as it takes to fill it. Then I have the barrel gravity feeding my sump with a float in the sump as well. The water level in the barrel is above the float so gravity does the work. However not the WHOLE barrel so the amount of water above the sump is only a foot or so which means even if the float sticks it would only do 10 gallons tops (340g system). The float is a new eshoppes design that drips from above so nobody will interfere with it and there is an automatic siphon break. Bottom line..I am hands free with redundancies on top of redundancies. The setup has been up about a year and the only issue I had was the gravity feed float getting gunked up with algae and not letting water in fast enough so my sump would get low in a few days if I didn't bucket water over. 5 minutes of maintenance and I'm back on my way bucket free. All I do is look at the sump and barrel every day or so to make sure the levels are all where they should be, which is how I noticed the slow drip issue. If I go on vacation for a week or two...all I do is ask whoever is feeding my fish and cat to make sure the corals all look happy everytime they're there. Eventually I'll have a computer on it so I can get salinity readings remotely, but that's future $$$ I don't have right now. I hope you followed all this. This is setup #5 or 6 for me in the last almost 20 years of doing this and automation was a big goal for me, but making sure Murphy is kept in check as well!! Good Luck. --Fizz

01/26/2010, 02:39 PM	#6
toddanddaneen Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 59	Thanks for the input guys. I understand what your saying and you have definately changed the plans for the ato. Looks like i need to go pick up several float switches and a timer just to be completely safe. You probably just saved me alot of grief from the wife and probably killing my tank off

01/26/2010, 02:42 PM	#7
toddanddaneen Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 59	Anyone have a recommendation on float switches and timer (looking for reliability)

01/26/2010, 03:18 PM	#8
Fizz71 FragSwapper Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: West Lawn, PA Posts: 5,800	I searched all over for the most appropriate water timer to feed my RO and this is what I'm using: http://www.amazon.com/Orbit-2-Dial-D.../dp/B000YDUDKK It's simple and allows it to be left on for manual fill or timed fill for when I need to fill the whole barrel (after a water change), and works nice and easy for daily or twice a day fills. 2 seconds to set no matter what I need done. It got bad ratings from people using it OUTDOORS, but I've had no problems with it in my basement. Lowes sells them too, I ordered mine from lowes but it had to be shipped. All my floats are non-electric on purpose. I had an electric one fail on me last setup so this round it's all gravity--no pumps and no swithes connected to my tank. I use this in the sump: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/243611/product.web It's designed to go in with or without drilling. And I think I bought this for the RO: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/198059/product.web My RO already had the check valve from the last system so I only bought a new float this time around.

01/26/2010, 06:36 PM	#9
toddanddaneen Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 59	Thanks very much for the help