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How do you "top-off" your nano reef?


Christopher Marks

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NanoNewb2011

Why spend the money on an ATO? When a dosing pump is about the same price and does much more?

 

I bought a bubble magus dosing pump, measured how much my tank evaps over a day and now dose that volume over 24 hours. I also gained 2 other channels to dose 2 part. All that for the price of most ATO. Got my bubble magus dosing pump on ebay for $250 new in box

 

As long as your light cyle stays the same and your house temps stay fairly constant your evap wont change. Been doing this for a lil over a month now and my tank stays steady at 1.026. I of course monitor my salinity to make sure im still dosing the right amount of RO but you'd want to do this with an ATO also just to make sure things are working as they should

 

Dont see the advantage of a stand alone ATO in most cases

Works for me

Edited by NanoNewb2011
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Why spend the money on an ATO? When a dosing pump is about the same price and does much more?

 

I bought a bubble magus dosing pump, measured how much my tank evaps over a day and now dose that volume over 24 hours. I also gained 2 other channels to dose 2 part. All that for the price of most ATO. Got my bubble magus dosing pump on ebay for $250 new in box

 

As long as your light cyle stays the same and your house temps stay fairly constant your evap wont change. Been doing this for a lil over a month now and my tank stays steady at 1.026. I of course monitor my salinity to make sure im still dosing the right amount of RO but you'd want to do this with an ATO also just to make sure things are working as they should

 

Dont see the advantage of a stand alone ATO in most cases

Works for me

 

Beautiful tank bro!

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Why spend the money on an ATO? When a dosing pump is about the same price and does much more?

 

I bought a bubble magus dosing pump, measured how much my tank evaps over a day and now dose that volume over 24 hours. I also gained 2 other channels to dose 2 part. All that for the price of most ATO. Got my bubble magus dosing pump on ebay for $250 new in box

 

As long as your light cyle stays the same and your house temps stay fairly constant your evap wont change. Been doing this for a lil over a month now and my tank stays steady at 1.026. I of course monitor my salinity to make sure im still dosing the right amount of RO but you'd want to do this with an ATO also just to make sure things are working as they should

 

Dont see the advantage of a stand alone ATO in most cases

Works for me

 

:huh: an ato is 150-200+bucks cheaper than what you paid for the doser depending on whether of not you go brand name. I'd rather pay less and rely on some float switches have to constantly check and recalibrate the dosed amount of water.

Which ato were you looking at that is this expensive if you don't mind me asking. I suppose if you needed a doser and had the available space it would be worth it, but not so in most nano reefers set ups.

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NanoNewb2011
:huh: an ato is 150-200+bucks cheaper than what you paid for the doser depending on whether of not you go brand name. I'd rather pay less and rely on some float switches have to constantly check and recalibrate the dosed amount of water.

Which ato were you looking at that is this expensive if you don't mind me asking. I suppose if you needed a doser and had the available space it would be worth it, but not so in most nano reefers set ups.

 

I was looking at the SpectraPure Ultra-Precise Auto Top Off

On BRS

 

The tunze osmolator is also $200+. What ATO are you getting for 200 bucks cheaper then my $250 bubble magus? Thats an ATO for $50. I see people lecturing people in this hobby that you get what you pay for and see that same reason used for alot of people to spend the money on the "brand name" ATOs. So my point was instead of paying $200 plus for an ATO I thought it better to get a doser.

 

I dont have to constantly be calibrating the doser? I just check my salinity frequently to make sure everything is spot on. I havnt changed my doser settings since i set it up 5 weeks ago and my salinity is stable. I just like to check it frequently because thats how I am. Checking with a refracto takes 10 secs. Better to check then to have livestock die because I didnt catch something that I could have :) (which I'd do the same if I had an ATO)

 

I guess I should have said if your looking at a high end ATO consider getting a doser instead

Edited by NanoNewb2011
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I would love to get an ATO, but I use a carlson surge that literally takes out 1/4 of the water and pours it back in. Most ATOs are float switch powered, and those that rely on drips and timers are too unpredictable to trust. So I do a manual top off each day. Most reliable method IMO.

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I was looking at the SpectraPure Ultra-Precise Auto Top Off

On BRS

 

The tunze osmolator is also $200+. What ATO are you getting for 200 bucks cheaper then my $250 bubble magus? Thats an ATO for $50. I see people lecturing people in this hobby that you get what you pay for and see that same reason used for alot of people to spend the money on the "brand name" ATOs. So my point was instead of paying $200 plus for an ATO I thought it better to get a doser.

 

I dont have to constantly be calibrating the doser? I just check my salinity frequently to make sure everything is spot on. I havnt changed my doser settings since i set it up 5 weeks ago and my salinity is stable. I just like to check it frequently because thats how I am. Checking with a refracto takes 10 secs. Better to check then to have livestock die because I didnt catch something that I could have :) (which I'd do the same if I had an ATO)

 

I guess I should have said if your looking at a high end ATO consider getting a doser instead

 

100 bucks

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/auto-top-off...to-top-off.html

 

100 bucks

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/auto-top-off...controller.html

 

Easy DIY for under 40

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/auto-top-off...it-premium.html

 

What I meant by checking daily is that a Doser will not discriminate against evaporation or over flowing. It is set to what you tell it to, so if today is 90* and a dry heat, when a rainy storm passes over and cools everything down and brings humidity, there will be a HUGE difference in evaporated water. Sometimes I find myself putting over half a gallon of water into my 10 gallon a day, and other times 1 gallon lasts me almost all week.

 

I also top off like a poor person, distilled jug into the ac70 to let it mix about before hitting the corals.

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A diy gravity vacuum style ato made out of a glass jar is the easiest, most reliable (with no moving parts), and cheapest (around $20) style of ato out there. Thats what im gonna go with once get up.off.my.po.folk.ass.........so bored :(

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  • 2 weeks later...
Deleted User 3

I forget to top off... i have about a good 1.5 inches to top off right now. Usually I just mix water w/ salt in a bucket and pour as much as will fit back in if the salt is right, otherwise I just top off with a jug of distilled.

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Ran 75 ft of tubing through the attic and using a UPLC to pull it over from the garage. Going to measure the amount of time it takes to top off 2 gallons and then program my apex to turn it on for that lenght of time. That combined with the pressure tube and float switch and float valve, i should have enough fail safes. There will be an unlimited supply of RO/DI.. well at least 40 gallons worth, enough to cause a flood.

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  • 3 weeks later...
I forget to top off... i have about a good 1.5 inches to top off right now. Usually I just mix water w/ salt in a bucket and pour as much as will fit back in if the salt is right, otherwise I just top off with a jug of distilled.

Wait, you top off with salt water? Is your salinity through the roof?

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just get float switch

 

http://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Water-Horizon...ds=float+switch

 

pump

 

http://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Lifter-3-5g...rds=aqua+lifter

 

tubing

 

http://www.amazon.com/Elite-Silicone-Airli...keywords=tubing

 

container for fresh water .. got one 2gall from 99 c store ..

 

its easily made and u can find lots of StepbSteps or DIY online if you dont know how to connect them ..

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

I don't top off, kinda new to this. At least new to doing it right I guess. I do weekly water changes at 2 gallons on a 12g nc. I haven't noticed much evaporation. I don't add any water in-between.

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