Help with basement ATO resevoir plumbing.

[Hulley]

Hey R2R!

I am picking up a new Reefer 350 next week and my water mixing station will be directly below the tank, in the basement.

I will have two 35 gallon water tanks, one for RO/DI water and the other for mixing salt water. I would like the 35 gallon tank for RO water to double as the ATO reservoir tank.

It'll be very easy for me to run a 1/4 line through the ceiling, I might even consider running another line to use for water changes.

Can someone recommend a system to use to accomplish this? I'm thinking the Tunze 3155 or Neptune ATK but not sure if the pumps are strong enough. Or another set up altogether.

Thanks!

 

[tiggs]

Hey R2R!

I am picking up a new Reefer 350 next week and my water mixing station will be directly below the tank, in the basement.

I will have two 35 gallon water tanks, one for RO/DI water and the other for mixing salt water. I would like the 35 gallon tank for RO water to double as the ATO reservoir tank.

It'll be very easy for me to run a 1/4 line through the ceiling, I might even consider running another line to use for water changes.

Can someone recommend a system to use to accomplish this? I'm thinking the Tunze 3155 or Neptune ATK but not sure if the pumps are strong enough. Or another set up altogether.

Thanks!

The max head pressure on the Tunze is only a hair over 7ft, so that most likely wouldn't cut it. The ATK is listed at 14 feet max head pressure, although I have no personal experience with it, so I'm not sure how accurate that is.

 

[Velcro]

I use an apex to control this.. The pump i use is the avast diaphram pump which has like 50 ft head pressure.. For AWC from the basement i use the DOS.

 

[Hulley]

The max head pressure on the Tunze is only a hair over 7ft, so that most likely wouldn't cut it. The ATK is listed at 14 feet max head pressure, although I have no personal experience with it, so I'm not sure how accurate that is.

Yeah, I read that too. I'm also concerned with the time limit of the Tunze, not sure if it's long enough for the water to travel up even with a different pump.

 

[Hulley]

I use an apex to control this.. The pump i use is the avast diaphram pump which has like 50 ft head pressure.. For AWC from the basement i use the DOS.

I don't have an Apex yet, although I have one in the budget. I was hoping for a set-up not dependent on an Apex.

 

[Velcro]

I don't have an Apex yet, although I have one in the budget. I was hoping for a set-up not dependent on an Apex.

The apex saves you from needing to buy an ATO. Move the apex to top financial priority in my opinion and make due with whatever you are doing now for ato.

 

[Hulley]

The apex saves you from needing to buy an ATO. Move the apex to top financial priority in my opinion and make due with whatever you are doing now for ato.

I'll look into that, I'll have my tank next week and I have ordered most all the hardware except the ATO and Apex.

I'm guessing I'll need float switches and a pump?

 

[Velcro]

I'll look into that, I'll have my tank next week and I have ordered most all the hardware except the ATO and Apex.

I'm guessing I'll need float switches and a pump?

You can get a breakout box for the apex.. Then get float switches and float switch bracket from autotopoff.com

 

[tiggs]

Yeah, I agree going the Apex route for your situation. Personally, I prefer to run my ATO as a separate system from the controller, then use the Apex for added failsafe/redundancy on top of that. In your case, you have a much longer distance to pump, so you're better off getting a pump that can handle the haul, then setting up a couple switches with the controller and breakout box.

 

[Coral Newbie]

I use the apex ATK but I added a sperate splitter from my RODI line that goes directly into my sump. I then used their solenoid that is plug into my APEX and I don’t have to worry about a thing. The pressure from the RODI moves the water to the always closed solenoid. When the level in my sump drops then solenoid opens and bam ATO water