ATO system

[mleibowi]

I’m thinking about setting up an ATO system. Can someone enlighten me as to how to set one up? Any good videos out there or ge er advice? Thanks

[bossanova]

Hi, I’ve got one in my sump. It’s very simple to set up, and I wish I’d done it much sooner.

The little kit I got was about $100, it’s a magnetic “eye” to set your level, a small pump that goes in a reservoir of your choice, and a power adapter. FZ something from Amazon. I also have one from brs (see their YouTube channel for video tutorial) that I don’t like as much.

I’m using a 10g aquarium for reservoir because it’s what fits in the cabinet and I had it laying around, but I wish it were bigger. My system is a 142 rimless with 30g sump. I love about 3gallons every day to evaporation.

Make it easy on yourself to turn it on/off because you’ll need to do it at every WC. I use wifi outlets and an iPhone.

Now, cue the “if you were changing water daily you wouldn’t need one” reply, lol! I’m really glad I got mine.

[mleibowi]

Thanks- can share some pics?

[Iminit]

Ok well I’m not understanding it . Yes I do understand the sumps show the evaporation but with water changes we’re refilling them. So why an ATO. For saltwater and other keeper I can understand but with the water changes I don’t see the need.

[dspeers]

Tom, at 50% per day WC your solute concentration only increases a little more than 1% at steady state assuming 1 % evaporative loss. If you were to move that to every 10 days your solute change would be ~ 12% which might matter. Would be reflected by a TDS change of the same magnitude only due evap. loss. Add fish and the value increases even more.

[bossanova]

Ok well I’m not understanding it . Yes I do understand the sumps show the evaporation but with water changes we’re refilling them. So why an ATO. For saltwater and other keeper I can understand but with the water changes I don’t see the need.

In my particular rimless system it’s a very, very nice to have, but not a need. I usually do WC at night, say 10pm. By the next day the level in my sump starts dropping. If I don’t do a WC that day it starts to splash and it’s super annoying. With this, water stays level in the sump.Also great for vacations.

[bossanova]

Thanks- can share some pics?

Even better, here’s a video of it:
https://youtu.be/EaWq2tWgZ9E