ATO reservoir built into sump?

[Ian]

Im throwing around ideas for a sump for a new tank and Im thinking about incorporating it into my sump.

I know there are pros and cons to this idea but I'd like to hear other's thoughts.

Do you have one and if so, would you do it again?

 

[mpoletti]

Ian, If you have the room, I would suggest not wasting the sump water volume space by including the ATO resovoir in the sump. Plans change over time and then it would be dead space.

 

[Ian]

I don't know where else to put it. I don't want it out in the open..

 

[Ian]

No matter what Ill need to top the tank off and the sump area would be big enough for an upgrade, though there would be no reason to go bigger than what I have now...

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I have my ATO tank under the stand in front of the sump. It only holds 20g though.

 

[Ian]

Rev, do you have a pic of your sump?

Or even what's going on under the stand?

 

[143gadgets]

I have a ten gallon next to my sump. Works great! A friend of mine has a sump with an ATO res built in. Very nice sump, but not worth the expense.

IMG_0424.flv video by livlif - Photobucket

 

[Ian]

What do you mean by expense? The cost of the sump or the sump room?

 

[143gadgets]

Both.

 

[143gadgets]

A friend of mines.

[quote name='pco1988' date='Jul 16 2006, 12:36 AM' post='68799']
Hey everyone, its been a while since I last posted here. Last time I was setting up my 210gal tank, and well since then I have changed the design. The "old" oceanic sump has come out and has been replaced by a new custom made sump. I plan on having water in the tank by next weekend. I will update you guys when some thing else happens.

Here are some pictures of the new sump with it components:

Philip
[/quote]

 

[killingseed2000]

like rev i use a 20 gl rubber made container i fill once a week. but i have seen a couple sump with the reservoir as part of the sump. one person local to me did just that the whole front of his sump is the reservoir , it holds about 10 to 15 gl. as long as it doesnt leak and mix into the tank having the reservoir as part of the sump should be fine.

other then that i would think it would have the same issues as a as having it out side the sump, pumps fail, float switches can get stuck open or closed. main thing would be to keep the reservoir as a min size and check the equipment running once a months or so.

 

[Salt Water Crazy]

If the sump is under the tank, I could see putting the ATO reservoir in the sump to use all the available space under the stand as long as it was a small camber for the ato.

My sumps in the basement so I just run a rubbermaid for my top off.

 

[Ian]

Im going to bump this for the morning crowd. Ill post a diagram of my sump idea then.....

 

[Dejavu]

Ian, I agree with Mark. Why waste sump volume of you don't have to. I have my top off water placed in a remote box that match,s my stand. I used wire lum to run the hose and wire in for my ATO.

Here's the box.. you have seen the stand before.

 

[Sikryd]

To me, its less about sump volume, and more about ease of moving it around, taking it out to clean it and all that. I throw Kalk in there, alk, ect. in there and sometimes it builds up in the bottom.

I have a seperate container for my top-off. It is underneath my tank, and I had it built to my specs. It fits tight under there, and can be taken out to be cleaned or whatever I want to do with it. That is definitely an advantage.
I also put a float valve in it and ran my RODI water right to it. When I want to fill it, I turn a valve in the laundry room and it fills it up and shuts off when it is full. For added protection I shut the valve off in the laundry room though.

I would do it the same way again. It is nice to be able to take it out, clean it out, move it around if I am working under there, ect. It also would have been impossible to add it in my sump unless I wanted to decrease the volume in it.

I get my sump stuff made pretty cheap by a local guy here, so that is probably part of the reason I was able to do this without worrying about how much extra or less it would cost.

 

[JR's Reef]

I dont see why you couldnt have it removeable so if it dont work out or come up with a better idea you could take it out.

 

[ReeferRob]

I had my sump/fug/ATO unit made by a reputable tank builder so I am not worried about the fresh leaking into the fug area. ATO is about 9 gallons and I fill it once a week.
I couldn't imagine anything different. So nice and easy, clean, and compact. Best sump/fug/ATO set up Ive ever had. Its a great sumpugiATOium!!!!:tongue: