Best bang for Ur buck ATO

[Baldy]

ive been using a pair of float valves from autotopoff.com and an aqualifter for 3 years now. it has worked very well, just make sure to put a siphon break in the line if the top of the waater level in the ato tank is ever higher than the water level in your sump.

[jordsyke]

has anyone tried this one yet???


http://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-st...ff-System.html

[wickedfrags]

Well - not completely fail safe. Get a small snail trapped under your float valve and it can stop your RO unit from turning off. Risk of that is low however.

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

+1. Best bang for the buck, for sure. I have a rodi line plumbed directly to my tank using this. Completely fail safe and trouble free.

[mike31154]

I use an air pump on a timer to pressurize a 7 gallon glass wine carboy. This pushes water through a mechanical float valve to keep my display topped up for about a week. I like simple with a minimum of electrics if at all possible. Fewer failure points. If I had a sump, I'd elevate the top off container & use gravity (eliminating the air pump) to trickle water through the float valve. I've used this set up for a good 5 years now with no issues. Periodically dose alk, calcium, mag through the top off & never had the mechanical valve clog. Just need to ensure you mix whatever you're dosing real well & not overdo it. No a big deal to check the opening during a water change to ensure it's clear. I've shortened the valve by cutting off two of the float chambers to reduce the footprint in the display & it still works great.

Great bang for buck since I had most of the components kicking around the house already.

Solid rubber stopper drilled with two holes to accommodate rigid air tubes. Short one for air in, long one to the bottom to transport water to float valve.


Photo of the valve when it was still full length. I've shortened it by cutting off two sections at the end.

[Simons]

only had my salty for about 6 months but got the Tunze OTA. Been rock solid so far and I like the optical switch style better than a float. Just my preference.

I have not had any issue with my Tunze but it is a bit on the pricey side.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

+1. Best bang for the buck, for sure. I have a rodi line plumbed directly to my tank using this. Completely fail safe and trouble free.

So your RODI runs for short bursts to top off your system? Usually not a good idea due to TDS creep. RO systems work most efficiently when used in longer runs, not short 5 minute bursts. I know you guys on the coast have pretty low source TDS, so might not be an issue. I would never do that here with a source TDS in the range of 180. It takes a good 3 to 5 minutes to get the the RO output TDS down to 1 from 20 or more on initial start up. And if I ran that 20 TDS on start up through my DI stage with multiple short on/off cycles on a continuing basis, it wouldn't take long to exhaust the media. Without the DI stage I'd be adding unwanted TDS to my tank in pretty short order.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by wickedfrags

Well - not completely fail safe. Get a small snail trapped under your float valve and it can stop your RO unit from turning off. Risk of that is low however.

Got that covered, too. I have secondary floats situated just above the water line that will shut off power to my solenoid (which only comes on 5 min every 6 hours) if the primary one fails for any reason.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by mike31154

So your RODI runs for short bursts to top off your system? Usually not a good idea due to TDS creep. RO systems work most efficiently when used in longer runs, not short 5 minute bursts. I know you guys on the coast have pretty low source TDS, so might not be an issue. I would never do that here with a source TDS in the range of 180. It takes a good 3 to 5 minutes to get the the RO output TDS down to 1 from 20 or more on initial start up. And if I ran that 20 TDS on start up through my DI stage with multiple short on/off cycles on a continuing basis, it wouldn't take long to exhaust the media. Without the DI stage I'd be adding unwanted TDS to my tank in pretty short order.

I have a DI stage (which is what goes down to my sump), and my final output is always 0 or 1 TDS (have an inline dual TDS gauge showing after RO and after DI final water). Also my RODI has an ASOV, to reduce wastage, and pressure storage tanks for the RO water, so I always have a ready supply. We have a kitchen RO faucet too, which is used all the time. Have not had to change my membrane for 5+ years, and DI is 2+ years, and still good.

[jason604]

Oooo I will try this method since I already have air pump n mech float laying around. I'm not really afraid of overflowing since my sump can easily handle max 5 gal of water from my water jug anyways

Originally Posted by mike31154

I use an air pump on a timer to pressurize a 7 gallon glass wine carboy. This pushes water through a mechanical float valve to keep my display topped up for about a week. I like simple with a minimum of electrics if at all possible. Fewer failure points. If I had a sump, I'd elevate the top off container & use gravity (eliminating the air pump) to trickle water through the float valve. I've used this set up for a good 5 years now with no issues. Periodically dose alk, calcium, mag through the top off & never had the mechanical valve clog. Just need to ensure you mix whatever you're dosing real well & not overdo it. No a big deal to check the opening during a water change to ensure it's clear. I've shortened the valve by cutting off two of the float chambers to reduce the footprint in the display & it still works great.

Great bang for buck since I had most of the components kicking around the house already.

Solid rubber stopper drilled with two holes to accommodate rigid air tubes. Short one for air in, long one to the bottom to transport water to float valve.


Photo of the valve when it was still full length. I've shortened it by cutting off two sections at the end.

[Ryanerickson]

If I tried putting that 5 gallon ghetto ato in my living room pretty sure the girlfriend would ask me to pack up the tank. I have a 2 gallon tank on a mechanical float cost about $30 to buy float and plexi glass. build small holding tank and place it higher then float it works off gravity.i know the float can fail but 2 gallons in over 250 will not do much.be carefull Jason 5 gallons may not flood your house but pretty sure it would kill your tank.