Easy ATO build

travis32 · 02/15/2010, 09:34 AM

Right now I have a 55 gallon tank setup with around 70 to 80 pounds of live rock. The tank setup is new to me. I filled with RO water and have added well cured (rock that's been established for 2 years). The rock came with some corals that seem to be surviving so far.. (some leathers, mushrooms, button polyps, zenia, and other hardy corals.)

All corals seem to be doing good on day 3 of being inserted in the tank and day 10 of the tank's existing.

Getting on to the question, I have a 14 gallon 3 chamber acryllic sump. I may be replacing this with a 30 gallon tank at some point (have to buy the tank) and in the mean time, I'd like to prevent my sump pump from running dry due to evaporation in less than a day.

There's a couple ideas I have. I have a home RO system that only does around 7 or 8 gallons a day of water. I have 2 4 gallon water jugs of purified water I bought. I'm thinking of reusing the jugs as an ATO for the sump.

I'm pretty sure the openings are large enough to get a small pump into the jugs. (I have a small pump with 1/2" tubing I could possibly use).

I need to figure out how to do that auto shut off. I saw the DIY instructions on the Aqua hub site, and I'm not sure those are all that simple of instructions. They don't look simple to me.

So, are there any prebuilt auto shut offs that would work with a 14 gallon 3 chambered sump and a 4 gallon water bottle? Any other relatively inexpensive ATO solutions? I'm guessing I could only use one bottle at a time unless I setup to ATOs. (Depending on cost, may be an option). Or get a PVC Y adapter and have 2 pumps feed into one hose line with 2 auto shut offs. NOt sure how that would work.

My goal is to give me roughly 5 to 7 days of water supply before my sump runs dry and without risk of overflowing the sump. Given the slowness of my RO unit that gives me roughly 2 days a week spent filling the water bottles instead of manually 7 days a week of filling the sump.

Thanks for any info, suggestions, etc.

The Velvet Sea · 02/15/2010, 11:08 AM

I have a float switch from autotopoff.com that turns an aqua lifter pump on and off to pump ro water from a storage jug. Very easy and not too pricy.

Also, to get double duration by using 2 of your jugs... you can drape a siphon line from one jug to the other. As your top off draws from one jug the siphon line pulls water over from the second jug so in essence you have a 2 jug volume serving your top off.

travis32 · 02/15/2010, 01:33 PM

Sorry, I didn't see your reply Velvet Sea. I couldn't find my original post, still getting used to the forum. LOL. I posted again. (oops.)

I'll check out the autotopoff.com site. I appreciate the link! neat idea on the siphon idea. Is there a reason one couldn't use the siphon concept with the sump?

02/15/2010, 09:34 AM	#1
travis32 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: West Fargo, ND Posts: 2,161	Easy ATO build Right now I have a 55 gallon tank setup with around 70 to 80 pounds of live rock. The tank setup is new to me. I filled with RO water and have added well cured (rock that's been established for 2 years). The rock came with some corals that seem to be surviving so far.. (some leathers, mushrooms, button polyps, zenia, and other hardy corals.) All corals seem to be doing good on day 3 of being inserted in the tank and day 10 of the tank's existing. Getting on to the question, I have a 14 gallon 3 chamber acryllic sump. I may be replacing this with a 30 gallon tank at some point (have to buy the tank) and in the mean time, I'd like to prevent my sump pump from running dry due to evaporation in less than a day. There's a couple ideas I have. I have a home RO system that only does around 7 or 8 gallons a day of water. I have 2 4 gallon water jugs of purified water I bought. I'm thinking of reusing the jugs as an ATO for the sump. I'm pretty sure the openings are large enough to get a small pump into the jugs. (I have a small pump with 1/2" tubing I could possibly use). I need to figure out how to do that auto shut off. I saw the DIY instructions on the Aqua hub site, and I'm not sure those are all that simple of instructions. They don't look simple to me. So, are there any prebuilt auto shut offs that would work with a 14 gallon 3 chambered sump and a 4 gallon water bottle? Any other relatively inexpensive ATO solutions? I'm guessing I could only use one bottle at a time unless I setup to ATOs. (Depending on cost, may be an option). Or get a PVC Y adapter and have 2 pumps feed into one hose line with 2 auto shut offs. NOt sure how that would work. My goal is to give me roughly 5 to 7 days of water supply before my sump runs dry and without risk of overflowing the sump. Given the slowness of my RO unit that gives me roughly 2 days a week spent filling the water bottles instead of manually 7 days a week of filling the sump. Thanks for any info, suggestions, etc.

02/15/2010, 11:08 AM	#2
The Velvet Sea Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 450	I have a float switch from autotopoff.com that turns an aqua lifter pump on and off to pump ro water from a storage jug. Very easy and not too pricy. Also, to get double duration by using 2 of your jugs... you can drape a siphon line from one jug to the other. As your top off draws from one jug the siphon line pulls water over from the second jug so in essence you have a 2 jug volume serving your top off. Last edited by The Velvet Sea; 02/15/2010 at 11:30 AM.

02/15/2010, 01:33 PM	#3
travis32 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: West Fargo, ND Posts: 2,161	Sorry, I didn't see your reply Velvet Sea. I couldn't find my original post, still getting used to the forum. LOL. I posted again. (oops.) I'll check out the autotopoff.com site. I appreciate the link! neat idea on the siphon idea. Is there a reason one couldn't use the siphon concept with the sump?