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What's your ATO setup look like?

IOnceWasLegend

IOnceWasLegend

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Currently trying to figure out the best approach to an ATO setup in my large tank after a few years of "reservoir/bucket + Tunze ATO = good", and just wanted to see what you all had. Thanks!
 
I have an ATO for my ATO-

Open RODI output line in house -> through wall into garage -> Tunze water controller -> 5g Home Depot bucket, set to turn on when water low and off when high, backup with float switch drilled in top/side
-> Tunze ATO from bucket -> output line through wall into house -> return portion of sump

Avoids salt creep, multiple safety checks since open to always on water, don’t have to manually refill anything
 
I use a big container with kalk on a constant controlled pump that pretty much does 95% of my ato work. But probably harder to do with a big surface area tank like yours. I do like the ones where people hide theirs behind false wicker baskets or things that match the room decor.
 
ro/di to 55 gallon drum with reef guardian ? Connected to apex. I can turn it on remotely. To litermeter ( evaporation is pretty constant ) to Kalk stir.
I’ve been running it this way for the past 4 years. Never skips a beat so far. My water volume is about 390.
 
JVU said:
I have an ATO for my ATO-

Open RODI output line in house -> through wall into garage -> Tunze water controller -> 5g Home Depot bucket, set to turn on when water low and off when high, backup with float switch drilled in top/side
-> Tunze ATO from bucket -> output line through wall into house -> return portion of sump

Avoids salt creep, multiple safety checks since open to always on water, don’t have to manually refill anything
Click to expand...
U mind posting a pick of the float on the 5g bucket also do you use any magnet water level sensors or all floats?
Thanks
 
PjFish said:
U mind posting a pick of the float on the 5g bucket also do you use any magnet water level sensors or all floats?
Thanks
Click to expand...
I’m not using any magnet water sensors in the water bucket, but am using the magnetic sensor from the Tunze ATO in the sump. I wouldn’t be opposed to using them in the water bucket, just not what came with the water controller kit when I bought it years ago. The large float valve is strictly for failsafe backup, normally the water shuts off before it gets to the large float.

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I have my rodi reservoir outside in a shed and I installed the Red Sea ato 3 weeks ago.
Very happy with it, gives me how many gallons it pushes per day and a leak sensor and a temperature probe.
 
Beanju said:
I have my rodi reservoir outside in a shed and I installed the Red Sea ato 3 weeks ago.
Very happy with it, gives me how many gallons it pushes per day and a leak sensor and a temperature probe.
Click to expand...
Glad to hear the new Red Sea's been working well! I guess my concern is - are you not worried about overflow into the tank? (Part of asking this question is I'm hyper-paranoid about flooding in the house).
JVU said:
I have an ATO for my ATO-

Open RODI output line in house -> through wall into garage -> Tunze water controller -> 5g Home Depot bucket, set to turn on when water low and off when high, backup with float switch drilled in top/side
-> Tunze ATO from bucket -> output line through wall into house -> return portion of sump

Avoids salt creep, multiple safety checks since open to always on water, don’t have to manually refill anything
Click to expand...
Appreciate it! This is exactly what I was looking for, and I admit I didn't know about the float valve. Maybe I'll have to do something similar with the large storage tank outside.
 
Darkxerox said:
I use a big container with kalk on a constant controlled pump that pretty much does 95% of my ato work. But probably harder to do with a big surface area tank like yours. I do like the ones where people hide theirs behind false wicker baskets or things that match the room decor.
Click to expand...
Very nice, what does your setup look like? Been considering that on my nano to fight low ph.
 
JVU said:
I’m not using any magnet water sensors in the water bucket, but am using the magnetic sensor from the Tunze ATO in the sump. I wouldn’t be opposed to using them in the water bucket, just not what came with the water controller kit when I bought it years ago. The large float valve is strictly for failsafe backup, normally the water shuts off before it gets to the large float.

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Click to expand...
Actually, question: given the fairly frequent on/off of water flow given the 5g bucket, how do you deal with TDS creep?
 
I too have an ATO for my ATO. I have an RO unit hooked up to an Aquatic Life Bucket Buddie. The Bucket Buddie automatically fills my fresh water reservoir so I don’t have to. As another failsafe, I also have a float valve hooked up to the Bucket Buddie that will kick in if the water in the reservoir gets too high.
 
The easiest trick to control ATO running is run it on a timer. Default to off. Run it for X minutes, every day or two. Calculate X based on about how long it'd take to fill your reservoir based on normal usage.
 
IOnceWasLegend said:
Actually, question: given the fairly frequent on/off of water flow given the 5g bucket, how do you deal with TDS creep?
Click to expand...
It fills about 3.5 gallons at a time. I haven’t noticed TDS creep to be a significant issue. Been doing it this way for several years. Works well for my evaporation demand vs space.

TDS creep is always a matter of degree. You get a little leaked ions into the DI portion of your RODI system (using up some resin) every time you start the flow, so the fewer times you start flow the less creep. It’s a major issue when you are constantly starting/stopping like every cup or quart. If you have a larger reservoir you’ll get less creep, so that would be better if you can. And the larger the tank (and therefore evaporation) you’d want a larger reservoir probably.
 
Beanju said:
I have my rodi reservoir outside in a shed and I installed the Red Sea ato 3 weeks ago.
Very happy with it, gives me how many gallons it pushes per day and a leak sensor and a temperature probe.
Click to expand...
I also 2nd the Red Sea ato. I have it as well.
Funny enough the first unit was faulty but with the in built time sensor it stopped it from overflowing. On a nano tank it would be not be appropriate-but with a larger tank with sump and the leak detector should be more than enough.

Once Red Sea replaced the controller/sensor-it’s been flawless. Note-there is a sensor on top of the pump. Once the water drops below that sensor by prob a few millimeters-it will pause and send notice. Point being that if you stick this in a very shallow ato resevoir-I can see being annoyed.
 
JVU said:
It fills about 3.5 gallons at a time. I haven’t noticed TDS creep to be a significant issue. Been doing it this way for several years. Works well for my evaporation demand vs space.

TDS creep is always a matter of degree. You get a little leaked ions into the DI portion of your RODI system (using up some resin) every time you start the flow, so the fewer times you start flow the less creep. It’s a major issue when you are constantly starting/stopping like every cup or quart. If you have a larger reservoir you’ll get less creep, so that would be better if you can. And the larger the tank (and therefore evaporation) you’d want a larger reservoir probably.
Click to expand...
Awesome; thanks. I'll probably be putting in a 55 gallon vertical tank, so I'll try and set the float switches maybe ~30 gallons apart.
 
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