ATO Question?

Beausoleiljacob · Jan 18, 2016

Hi!
Sorry for posting another thread. I was just curious how much water should my 70-gallon Total Volume Tank at 78 degrees be evaporating a day? Right now it evaporates 2 gallons a day sometimes. Is that normal or is it malfunctioning?

Downbeach · Jan 18, 2016

That's about what I would do in a 180 gal system.

steve&mari · Jan 18, 2016

Sounds little high but a lot of variables go into it. Air humidity n even the dryness of the house some suck more moisture then others. Air temps air circulation ect all factors into it.

dnyceli · Jan 18, 2016

That seems very high. To keep the tank stable you should incorporate an ATO system

Beausoleiljacob · Jan 18, 2016

dnyceli said:
That seems very high. To keep the tank stable you should incorporate an ATO system

Yeah I really don't know. But from what I see it is keeping my salinity right were I want it.

ReeferBob · Jan 18, 2016

It is what it is. All tanks evaporate at different rates. Get an ATO ASAP.

cmcoker · Jan 18, 2016

Running the heater a lot? That tends to dry out my air and make to evaporation go up.
What's your setup like? Fans from your lighting hitting the water? Or waterfall areas, like hob filters?

dbl · Jan 18, 2016

As said above, varies by tank. I go through 2 to 3 gallons per day on a 120g.

Beausoleiljacob · Jan 18, 2016

ReeferBob said:
It is what it is. All tanks evaporate at different rates. Get an ATO ASAP.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I have the JBJ ATO.

ReeferBob · Jan 19, 2016

Beausoleiljacob said:
Sorry if I wasn't clear. I have the JBJ ATO.

The best IMO. I have both the JBJ and the Tunze Osmolator. Lot's of issues with the Tunze, never had any problems at all with the JBJ. I wish I could trade my Tunze for 3 JBJs. What a waste the that Tunze!

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 19, 2016

In my opinion, 2 gallons per day in a 70 gallon tank is quite within the normal range.

Typical evaporation rates are about 1-4% daily, and they do not scale linearly with tank size.

Skimmers and tank top surface area are the driving factors of the system, along with indoor humidity (low in Connecticut this time of year) and how hot you keep the tank water, fans in hoods, etc.

Regardless of what anyone else observes on their tanks, if the water level in the system is not rising (or falling), then the ATO is going its job.