Cheap reliable ATO

[midna]

I will be converting to MH on my little 5.5 and will probably need an ATO. A quick search saw that most systems are upwards of $50+. You guys are ingenious and great at saving money, so I'm asking what you guys use for a cheap reliable ATO.

 

Also as a side note, could someone explain (or provide a link explaining) gravity fed ATOs.

[ddr_phish]

I will be converting to MH on my little 5.5 and will probably need an ATO. A quick search saw that most systems are upwards of $50+. You guys are ingenious and great at saving money, so I'm asking what you guys use for a cheap reliable ATO.

 

Also as a side note, could someone explain (or provide a link explaining) gravity fed ATOs.

 

 

Bump^^

 

<<Curious also..

[Bonsai]

I will be converting to MH on my little 5.5 and will probably need an ATO. A quick search saw that most systems are upwards of $50+. You guys are ingenious and great at saving money, so I'm asking what you guys use for a cheap reliable ATO.

 

Also as a side note, could someone explain (or provide a link explaining) gravity fed ATOs.

 

The only way to get a "cheap" ATO is to make one.

 

Here is the thread describing how this can be done for $10 - $20ish.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;p=entry

[petkingdom619]

i think jbj ato are good but like 100 bucks . i need one too

[HankB]

I've seen the stuff here mentioned a couple of times:

http://www.aquahub.com/store/diygaquarium.html

 

Also check out Mr Fosi's tank thread for his DIY ATO.

 

-hank

[bluegrizzlies1]

http://www.autotopoff.com/products.html

 

got mine from here works great

[midna]

Cool, thanks for the links guys.

 

I looked at autotopoff.com but that kit is $50 (and aquahub's a bit better at $40) which still seems a bit on the expensive side to a college kid like myself. I like the battery powered pump mod, but I'm scared the battery will die right when I need it most (you know, one of those long weekends away when it gets really hot, my light timer fails, the lights stay on, and a fan falls over pointing at the tank evaporating all the water ).

 

I didn't see Mr. Fosi's topoff system in that thread, although I may just be a dolt.

[petkingdom619]

if its just the little glass bottle that you fill that is worthless

[HankB]

I didn't see Mr. Fosi's topoff system in that thread, although I may just be a dolt.

I'm afraid I'm the dolt. I know he's mentioned an air over water ATO but the only thing I see about it in this thread is "I also think it might be time to move off the air-powered ATO. It has too much overshoot on this system because it doesn't have to pump up so high."

 

He uses an air pump to pressurize a sealed reservoir to deliver top up water. The advantage is that if the reservoir runs low you do not burn up the ATO pump. The disadvantage is that the system tends to overshoot when the sensor hits the mark.

 

-hank

[herranton]

I'm just going to throw my two cents in here.

 

If you do decide to build your own ATO, or even if you purchase one, you should put it on a timer for the shortest amount of time that the timer will allow. That way the system is only activated for a couple of minutes each day; so if something goes horribly wrong, it wont affect your salinity to terribly much and the puddle under your tank will be minimized.

[glennr1978]

I've been runnging this ATO on my 40g for about 6 months now without a single problem. I bought another one for my 30g, just haven't got around to hooking it up yet. FYI, I run it with an aqualifter.

[d0ughb0y]

I used the float switch from this thread.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=1611609

 

and total cost was under $20 ($7.49 float switch + $4.99 pump on sale at a local store) including pump. At the bare minimum, you need a pump, the top off switch (wire the switch in series with the pump) and a short length of pvc hose from the pump to your tank. I just used a wire to hang the switch on the tank. I have been using it for a month and a half with no problems.

 

If you are not handy with DIY, then the top-off.com basic unit for $40 looks good, you need to add the cost of pump so you are looking at around $50.

 

The wet's top off is misleading, because you can never get anywhere close to $10 cost if you buy all the parts listed.

[midna]

Thanks for all the replies guys! It looks like the cheapest route so far is jut to cut a wire on a pump and wire in the float switch. Downsides of this method are that I must make sure that the float switch is rated for the voltage and/or use a battery powered pump. That should run me about $20. I may add an extra float switch in series and flip it upside down for a failsafe shutoff in the event the other float switch sticks. I like the idea of putting the ATO on a timer, if I have one laying around I will definately do that.

 

If you had to chose, would you do the extra failsafe float switch or the ATO on a timer?

[d0ughb0y]

If you make it fancy by adding failsafe, make sure it is designed correctly, otherwise, you just turned something with a single point of failure to something with two points of failure.

 

Just make sure the float switch is out of reach of snails. That is the main reason that will cause the ATO to fail. (prevent problem from occuring rather than add more stuff to handle probllem if it occurs) I just made my wire holding the float switch extend about 1.5" from the edge of the tank out of reach of the snail. I initially had it at 1" and I actually saw a cerith snail trying its darnest to reach the switch from the side of the tank.

 

Going along the line of preventing problem from occuring, is to make sure you have a large enough reservoir of fresh water for the length of time you will be gone. Some expensive ATO has sensor so it will stop running if reservoir runs dry. I just use a bigger container if I am going to be gone more than 5 days. I think if you run out of fresh water while you are gone, you have bigger problems to deal with than a burned out pump when you return.

 

The biggest cost is the float switch, though I think it really cost $2 or so, just severely overpriced. I've seen float switch sold for as high as $40. I think the canadian ebay seller I got it from does not sell the switch anymore, I would not recommend him anyway because the seller is dishonest. If I did not find the float switch for $7.49, I would probably end up buying the $28.95 mini top off from top-off.com, as you will find that with the high price of the swtich only, you might as well just buy one that is already made.

[midna]

Good point. I'll have to do some searching for float switches and see what comes up.