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Coral Vue Hydros

DIY gravity ato


sprite

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Hard to make myself spend the money for an ato no more than what it is, when I can do it basically for free. So i printed my own holder and cap to tidy it up a bit. Last pic the bottle is just sitting propped up in the return chamber and it’s been working awesome so I am keeping it but with the stand I made

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I've seen this setup a few times and to me it makes total sense for a Freshwater setup.

 

With a Saltwater aquarium where salinity range is a consideration, I always figured that when the salinity will dilute via osmosis with the water in the bottle mixing at surface contact.  So defacto your reservoir water bottle and tank will lower mix to a lower salinity when you put on new bottle, and as tank water evaporates salinity will normalize to your mixed saltwater and repeat the cycle on refill 

 

Perhaps the small water amount isn't enough water to be problematic to your system, Have you been testing your salinity before and after filling bottle on tank.  I'd be curious how much numbers change. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I'd be interested to see that, too. My thinking is, saltwater is heavier than freshwater, and that's a pretty small nozzle. Rain puddles actually form on top of the ocean, and stay there for a bit before absorbing- sea snakes drink them. I think those two factors might help counteract the mixing, and I don't think you'd end up with the whole bottle as salty as the tank. Not in any reasonable amount of time, at least. But I'm curious if there's any effect at all.

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5 hours ago, Tired said:

and I don't think you'd end up with the whole bottle as salty as the tank

That's not really the problem

 

If the hypothesis is true

 

The freshwater is diffusing into the salt water

 

Lowering the specific gravity.  At least until the remainder of the ATO reservoir empties(then it will be equalized at starting SG)

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I'm inclined to think that what would happen in practice is a layer of salty water in the bottle, right around the cap, and the rest of it unaffected. Which would mean the tank would be largely unaffected. 

 

For the tank to have a notable change, the bottle would have to have a notable change. And I think the narrow entrance, density of saltwater, and the fact that water is periodically going out of the bottle (and pushing any saltwater in the nozzle out) would make it difficult for much of the bottle to be affected. 

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My Apology for missing the cap with modification on the ATO bottle.  I saw pic and went to prior example I had in my head with a wide open cap in tank water.  

 

However, I'm still curious of the result on water bottle and tank. If the owner of tank had a refractometer, it'd be easy to test the SG of water bottle after a day or so in the tank for confirmation.  

 

Does Osmosis balance dissolved salt in water bottle and the tank or not.   Inquiring minds want to know.  

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It works like a barometer

 

Or a pet drinking bottle.  Or a 5 gallon drinking dispenser

 

By a vacuum in the container which holds the liquid inside the container

 

There are two tubes coming out of the ATO reservoir

 

On short, one long

 

When tank water evaporates, it lowers the water level in the tank.  This exposes the short tube to air, a few bubbles of air escape into the bottle.

 

The water this displaces, flows out the longer tube into the tank.  Raising the tank water level, closing off the short tube to air.

 

Ok, double checked the OPs pics.  His tubes are almost the same length.  The commercial version I have seen has two notably different lengths of tubing

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jefferythewind

i like this system, and the bottle is over the water so worst that can happen it it spills into the tank water. im designing a sump and thinking about automating the ATO, love the power-free options.

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  • 2 months later...
lambogriffin

IMG_20191209_220505.thumb.jpg.8560cdbdf56fca52e97067b2e71ca1dc.jpgAnyone still thinking of doing this.. I used this design for over 1 yr, 0 issues, and no potential for disaster. The top off water never statically contacts the saltwater, so there is no chance of mixing in between top off events, even tho the concern there is really minimal.. these things are sensitive and constantly toping off (ie. flushing out any mixed water) especially if your return pump chamber has a small footprint, which increases the rate of water level change due to evaporation. At any rate, similar idea, and could be better with the 3d printed mount. The air seal/water height tube is larger diameter and goes to the top of the reservoir to ensure air bubbles don't push water into reservoir, and the reservoir drain tube is normal airline tube. The airline tube sits over the water, not in it.. when the water level drops enough it breaks the seal on the larger tube and water from the reservoir drains into the tank. As soon as the enough drains to to cover the airlock it continues draining for a couple seconds and begins to vacuum up the larger tube until there is equilibrium. Materials used were.. dollar store turkey baster tube, airline tube, pet store reptile spray bottle, super glue. I think if someone made a solid 3d print of this it would win over the people who are skeptical of the mixing lol.

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  • 3 months later...
Diego Allen
On 12/6/2020 at 9:42 PM, sprite said:

Updated

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This is my hobby and I love doing various experiments with my aquarium.  I am currently studying at the university and doing an internship at school. I need to write a lot of academic papers, which is helped by the company https://edubirdie.com/top-writers where I found a lot of top writers who can write both essays and an individual lesson plan.

I like this system.

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  • 6 months later...
MartianArmada

Nice print! I don't have a 3d printer myself but I have a good few friends with them. I have enough hobbies as is! 

 

Anyway, I am actually in the process of drafting up a design of my own for a gravity-fed ATO for my Recife 24 AIO. It's threaded to accept a large mouth mason jar, and has holes the right size to be threaded for a nylon 1/2npt fitting. From there, I'll add on some hose to the fittings and cut to length:

 

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The slots on the bottom are sized to allow it to sit level on the back of the tank and the divider between the tank/return section. 

 

Hopefully I'll get this printed here soon and give her a go!

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1 hour ago, MartianArmada said:

Nice print! I don't have a 3d printer myself but I have a good few friends with them. I have enough hobbies as is! 

 

Anyway, I am actually in the process of drafting up a design of my own for a gravity-fed ATO for my Recife 24 AIO. It's threaded to accept a large mouth mason jar, and has holes the right size to be threaded for a nylon 1/2npt fitting. From there, I'll add on some hose to the fittings and cut to length:

 

image.thumb.png.d68dfaf4a5730829799054add9ea8f72.png

 

image.png.212da7c39c736d5549abefaa4ca8142f.png

 

The slots on the bottom are sized to allow it to sit level on the back of the tank and the divider between the tank/return section. 

 

Hopefully I'll get this printed here soon and give her a go!

Let us know how that goes, I'd probably just print that version instead of making my own.

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MartianArmada
14 minutes ago, JachPot said:

Let us know how that goes, I'd probably just print that version instead of making my own.

If it works I'd be glad to share!

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jefferythewind

i just had an idea to just hold the tubes with one of those standard holders and run them to the outside of the stand where I will mount a water container to refill.

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  • 4 months later...

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