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Coral Vue Hydros

Auto Top off Water


slevin007

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Hello all,

 

This might be a really stupid question to post here, but whenever I have used an ATO, the water I kept in the reservoir was always mixed water, with a small rio runing constantly to keep it flowing and mixed. I was wondering if everyone else also uses mixed water in their respective reservoirs, or if you just use pure RO/DI water without salt mixed in.

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You do not want to top off with saltwater, if that's what you're saying. The salinity of the tank would be continuously going up since salt isn't removed with evaporation.

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AZDesertRat

ATO should be only RO/DI. Some people add supplements to the top off but I prefer to keep dosing and top off separate myself.

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Yep that makes sense, And I should clarify, Mixed meaning supplemented, Not salt mixed.

 

I have always just added the supplements straingt to the RO/DI. I have heard a lot of people dont really do that anymore, any particular reason.

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Yep that makes sense, And I should clarify, Mixed meaning supplemented, Not salt mixed.

 

I have always just added the supplements straingt to the RO/DI. I have heard a lot of people dont really do that anymore, any particular reason.

 

That's what I figured. In that case, it's fine but I would throw a small powerhead on a timer to mix it a few times a day to prevent it from settling too much.

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Evaporation happens at different speeds on any given day depending on temperature and humidity of the room and what time of year it is so adding supplements via top up water is inconsistent and inaccurate and you cannot maintain stable levels. That's the main reason for moving away from dosing via the ato water.

Dosing has evolved into a very exact and accurate science and most reefers add multiple chemicals/compounds often in small amounts daily to maintain optimum tank conditions for our stock.

 

On saying that though, there are a lot of people who do still have great success keeping it simple using a kalk mix in the ato and regular water changes for everything else.

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If your using kalk (lime water) then it needs constant mixing, another reason people have moved away from dosing this way as the kalk sediment can foul pumps and clog pipes if it isn't kept moving.

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VW_TDI_02

If your using kalk (lime water) then it needs constant mixing, another reason people have moved away from dosing this way as the kalk sediment can foul pumps and clog pipes if it isn't kept moving.

Depends on the concentration. If you are using a fully saturated kalk solution then yes but if you are using less than 2 tsp/gallon then you should be be fine.

 

[Edit]

Oh, and you can also put the pump in a simple filter bag/sock. My ATO pump came with a very fine drawstring bag.

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slevin007

Im going to stop mixing I think and just use the new dosing pump from Jabeo that I bought.

Sounds like that's the way to go.

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