Gravity Fed ATO Better Bottle Options?

[Ober_Reef]

Hey Everyone,

 

First post here and excited to find another forum for content to learn from. I currently have a 90 gallon mixed reef and jump on the IM Fusion 15 Nano as a fun project to go along with my larger tank. I bought a gravity fed ATO meant for a typical water bottle because I read good think on Reef2Reef about it but I’m not really interested in the look of an old water bottle on the tank. Anyone else have creative idea for this ? 
 

Feel free to my journey on Instagram I’m Ober_Reef 

[Superdave]

Anything gravity fed is going to be some vessel above the tank.  Bigger the container, the less often you need to refill it.  Not many other variables.  Most just use a pump fed system from a reservoir below the tank.  

[Ober_Reef]

22 hours ago, Superdave said:

Anything gravity fed is going to be some vessel above the tank.  Bigger the container, the less often you need to refill it.  Not many other variables.  Most just use a pump fed system from a reservoir below the tank.  

Yes I know this as that’s what I use for my other tank. For this fifteen gallon I wanted to give the gravity fed a try and I figured someone else like me would think an old water bottle or the like is unsightly like I do and maybe have found a better looking solution. 

[Superdave]

11 hours ago, Ober_Reef said:

Yes I know this as that’s what I use for my other tank. For this fifteen gallon I wanted to give the gravity fed a try and I figured someone else like me would think an old water bottle or the like is unsightly like I do and maybe have found a better looking solution. 

Oh I agree the water bottle is unsightly.  Just not sure of another options where it isn't visible.  Maybe if you had a shelf or space above tank (not sure what you set up is) where you could hide the bottle.  

[mcarroll]

Hard to imagine this is worth very much "engineering" because most of the point of using a gravity system would seem to be how simple and cheap one is.  

 

After a certain point, why not add a pump and sensor so it operates predictably as a real ATO?

 

That said, you ought to be able to run tubing from the tank-end where the water is dispensed to wherever your reservoir is...even if it's far away.  Only the reservoir needs to be above the tank....the tubing can run at any level/out of sight.

 

Gravity ATO's are notoriously unreliable though.....be careful about using a reservoir that's so big it could overflow your tank or make a big salinity swing in the event that the ATO dumps the whole reservoir.....and test it thoroughly!

[Koleswrath]

I went through the wall with my tubing and hid a large reservoir in a closet. I just use a good quality needle valve to adjust flow rate. 

I'm all for minimalistic visual appeal and I don't want to see the floats and optical sensors. 

 

[mcarroll]

9 minutes ago, Koleswrath said:

Just curious about the tank's overhang.  How many inches of tank are hanging over?  Are you worried about this?  Has it been installed like this for long?

[Koleswrath]

13 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Just curious about the tank's overhang.  How many inches of tank are hanging over?  Are you worried about this?  Has it been installed like this for long?

It's less than it looks. This tank has a plastic framed bottom that raises it off the stand about 3/4" and that frame is actually recessed about 3/4" in from the edges of the tank. We're only talking about 60lbs as well but it's been here for a few years as a freshwater tank for my son and since December when I repurposed it.