ATO ideas

[jon_703]

So I need to setup my ATO. I don't have a lot of room in my stand, I do but no doors on the sides.

 

What is the minimum size container I should have for an ATO?

 

Any ideas how to set it up with the kind of stand I have. I can post photos of stand soon.

 

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[Hopeitlives]

I use a 5 gallon bucket In 100 gallon system: you could use a 1 gallon jug if that's all the space you have.

[jon_703]

Hmm ok. How often did you have to refill your 5 gallon bucket

 

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[Origami]

How big is your tank? And, does it have a cover on it? Do you have any idea of how much evaporation you typically get in a day?

[jon_703]

How big is your tank? And, does it have a cover on it? Do you have any idea of how much evaporation you typically get in a day?

I have a 75 gallon tank with glass covers. Honestly not sure how much evaporates everyday.

 

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[Origami]

I have a 75 gallon tank with glass covers. Honestly not sure how much evaporates everyday.

 

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Your evaporation rate should give you an idea of your ATO volume needs. An uncovered 90 gallon tank will typically evaporate off a 1 to 1-1/4 gallons per day. This can vary through the year. A 75 gallon tank has the same exposed surface area as a 90, so I'd expect the same. You're using glass covers so that'll cut it down considerably. (They'll also block light as the covers will get coated with condensate. So, in the long run, you might be considering taking the covers off.)

 

If you were to figure that you want to refill your ATO container once a week (for convenience), then at 1-1/4 gallons per day, you'll want an ATO reservoir a little larger than 9 gallons. Say, 10 gallons to give you an extra day of reserve. This allows you to take a few days off, go on vacation, etc. An ATO will save you from a daily chore, enhance stability but, more than most upgrades, will take some of the drudgery away and allow you to enjoy your tank more. 

 

On the flip side, you don't want to go too large. In the event of an ATO failure, all your fresh water could conceivably be dumped into your tank at one time. If the reservoir is too large, then this could lead to a really significant salinity crash. In the case of a 10 gallons getting dumped into a 75 gallon tank (assume that with a sump and rock, etc. you have 75 gallons of actual water), then a tank regularly maintained at 1.0264sg could drop to 1.0231sg. Not great, but probably survivable.

[Origami]

Oh, and if you can't fit 10 gallons under your tank, you may be able to hide it elsewhere or go with less (but you'll be refilling it more often).

[mr11]

You can add something similar to this storage cube to the side of your stand. It perfectly fits a 5 gallon bucket and if you get something with more optimal dimensions than a bucket you can fit a larger ATO resovoir. 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Winsome-94418-Wood-Storage-Cube/dp/B000GLPQRA?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

[thakki]

I was in the same situation with my nano...I got this...almost fits a 5 gallon bucket.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Songmics-Leather-Ottoman-Collapsible-ULSF50B/dp/B00V47N6C2/ref=sr_1_14?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1459198870&sr=1-14&keywords=black+ottoman+with+storage

[jon_703]

Oh, and if you can't fit 10 gallons under your tank, you may be able to hide it elsewhere or go with less (but you'll be refilling it more often).

Gotcha. I don't mind refilling it. Probably will go with a 5 gallon container.

 

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[John]

Are you doing gravity-fed ATO or electronic?

[Origami]

Gotcha. I don't mind refilling it. Probably will go with a 5 gallon container.

 

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As long as the tank is covered, your evaporation rate will be less and refilling will be less frequent.

 

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[jon_703]

Are you doing gravity-fed ATO or electronic?

I think I'll do electric. I may have to buy a pump. Just not sure which kind yet.

 

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[WheresTheReef]

If you have a sump, then could do an aqua lifter. They are cheap and work well as long as they don't have to lift the water up much. Might need a peristaltic pump if lifting from floor to over the top of the tank.

[bbyatv]

Here is a link to an article I wrote that has a section on an easy DIY ATO.  It also explains how you can determine how much evaporation you have each day.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5QJJLprX7aQclZsN2pyLU1zTU0/view?pli=1

 

Bruce

[jon_703]

Your evaporation rate should give you an idea of your ATO volume needs. An uncovered 90 gallon tank will typically evaporate off a 1 to 1-1/4 gallons per day. This can vary through the year. A 75 gallon tank has the same exposed surface area as a 90, so I'd expect the same. You're using glass covers so that'll cut it down considerably. (They'll also block light as the covers will get coated with condensate. So, in the long run, you might be considering taking the covers off.)

 

If you were to figure that you want to refill your ATO container once a week (for convenience), then at 1-1/4 gallons per day, you'll want an ATO reservoir a little larger than 9 gallons. Say, 10 gallons to give you an extra day of reserve. This allows you to take a few days off, go on vacation, etc. An ATO will save you from a daily chore, enhance stability but, more than most upgrades, will take some of the drudgery away and allow you to enjoy your tank more. 

 

On the flip side, you don't want to go too large. In the event of an ATO failure, all your fresh water could conceivably be dumped into your tank at one time. If the reservoir is too large, then this could lead to a really significant salinity crash. In the case of a 10 gallons getting dumped into a 75 gallon tank (assume that with a sump and rock, etc. you have 75 gallons of actual water), then a tank regularly maintained at 1.0264sg could drop to 1.0231sg. Not great, but probably survivable.

Thanks! I think I'm going to do a 5 Gallon container. What kind of pump would you recommend to use to pump the water. My bro-in-law had one and it was way too strong. I'm using a JBJ ATO. Also, I konw it's not related to this thread but I want to put a small sump in my stand. I don't have a lot of room so what is the minimum size sump I can do and still be effective? I have a 75 Gallon Tank. 

[Origami]

For ATO, I've used a Tom's aqualifter (when I started out), then switched to using a maxijet with a DIY adapter, and (later) a peristaltic pump. With the first two systems, you need to be sure that you don't get into a situation where your ATO system sets up a siphon that drains your ATO reservoir. This isn't a problem with most peristaltic pumps (it shouldn't be with any, but there are some cheaper two-roller peristaltic pumps that I've heard stories about). 

 

To envision the sort of siphoning problem that I'm talking about, imagine this:

 

The top of the water in your ATO bucket is higher than the end of the ATO tubing that leads to your sump. Then, your Aqualifter or Maxijet kicks in filling the tubing end to end with water, and topping off your system. Then, when the pump shuts off, because the water level in the ATO container is higher than the end of the tubing (which is now filled with water), water continues to pour into your sump. That's the siphoning problem. Note that the Aqualifter has a set of one way valves in it, but that doesn't address this problem. It prevents back-siphoning but not forward siphoning. You can address this by providing some sort of air-gap (or siphon break) above the maximum height of the water in the ATO reservoir. Here's a story that I just found of a guy that had this sort of problem when using an Aqualifter back in 2013.

 

BTW, I went with the maxijet back then for reliability reasons. Not that Aqualifters are inherently unreliable when properly maintained (you can replace their innards). But because Maxijets required little maintenance in this role over a longer period of time.

 

In your situation, you can probably do any of these. Whatever makes you most comfortable. You can always switch out later if you get an idea to do so.

[s2nhle]

for the JBJ ATO, you can use smaller pump or Tom's aqualifter. Just make sure the output is above the water level and the ato water source. I set mine so that the replacement water would enter my overflow box of my DT.

Edited April 7, 2016 by s2nhle