kalkwasser ATO Unit less than USD $150

tmartin412 · Jul 25, 2023

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to combine ato and kalkwasser on my 15 gallon setup. I'm hoping to stay below $150 for the ATO reservoir. Less than $300 ($250 would be ideal) for the reservoir and pump/detector. Is this reasonable? Are there setups I should consider? Looks like most reservoirs are over the 150 price point and up. Then add on $75 to $130 for the pump.

Townes_Van_Camp · Jul 25, 2023

$80 Kamoer F1wifi dose pump
$80 Kamoer ATO One 2 (yes the name is accurate)

That's $160 use Tupperware or buckets for.a reservoir until you want to upgrade

blaxsun · Jul 25, 2023

I think $150 might be a bit unrealistic (especially if you want a good ATO). See above.

tmartin412 · Jul 25, 2023

blaxsun said:
I think $150 might be a bit unrealistic (especially if you want a good ATO). See above.

Maybe a bit of a rephrase of the initial question. Are the cheap acrylic reservoirs on Amazon any good when paired with a $70 ATO unit? Especially when running kalk?

blaxsun · Jul 25, 2023

tmartin412 said:
Maybe a bit of a rephrase of the initial question. Are the cheap acrylic reservoirs on Amazon any good when paired with a $70 ATO unit? Especially when running kalk?

I'm fairly certain if Tupperware is a go most of the acrylic reservoirs would also be fine.

tmartin412 · Jul 25, 2023

blaxsun said:
I'm fairly certain if Tupperware is a go most of the acrylic reservoirs would also be fine.

Fair... Fair...

Townes_Van_Camp · Jul 25, 2023

tmartin412 said:
Maybe a bit of a rephrase of the initial question. Are the cheap acrylic reservoirs on Amazon any good when paired with a $70 ATO unit? Especially when running kalk?

No ATO unit is good with kalk. It destroys pumps. It's why I rec'ed a peristaltic pump. They can handle kalk.

tmartin412 · Jul 25, 2023

Townes_Van_Camp said:
No ATO unit is good with kalk. It destroys pumps. It's why I rec'ed a peristaltic pump. They can handle kalk.

Appreciate the input. I'm seeing both an ATO and a peristaltic pump in your recommendation above. I'm looking at the Kamoer X1 pro T2 but its dosing something like a minimum of 110 ml/min which seems too much. I've seen some 2 gallon acrylic units on Amazon for $40-60.

tmartin412 · Jul 25, 2023

Townes_Van_Camp said:
No ATO unit is good with kalk. It destroys pumps. It's why I rec'ed a peristaltic pump. They can handle kalk.

I'm also seeing a two unit acrylic with about .8 gallon per side. So 2.6 gallon total for $80. Is your recommendation to run one ATO pump with RODI and another "side" with kalk? This would put me at the $240 mark for the entire setup.

Thanks for the clarification!

workhz · Jul 25, 2023

Why do you need acrylic? Is this going to be visible and the centerpiece of your viewing area?

I like the 5 gallon hedpack on Amazon for $18

tmartin412 · Jul 25, 2023

workhz said:
Why do you need acrylic? Is this going to be visible and the centerpiece of your viewing area?

I like the 5 gallon hedpack on Amazon for $18

No sump so yes visible.

MoshJosh · Jul 26, 2023

tmartin412 said:
Maybe a bit of a rephrase of the initial question. Are the cheap acrylic reservoirs on Amazon any good when paired with a $70 ATO unit? Especially when running kalk?

I use a horse feed bucket and Tupperware for my reservoirs so. . .

EDIT: I see it will be visible. . . I would probably still use a bucket haha

rja · Jul 26, 2023

tmartin412 said:
Hi everyone,

I'm looking to combine ato and kalkwasser on my 15 gallon setup. I'm hoping to stay below $150 for the ATO reservoir. Less than $300 ($250 would be ideal) for the reservoir and pump/detector. Is this reasonable? Are there setups I should consider? Looks like most reservoirs are over the 150 price point and up. Then add on $75 to $130 for the pump.

Kalk on a 15g? I would just change water

Townes_Van_Camp · Jul 26, 2023

tmartin412 said:
Appreciate the input. I'm seeing both an ATO and a peristaltic pump in your recommendation above. I'm looking at the Kamoer X1 pro T2 but its dosing something like a minimum of 110 ml/min which seems too much. I've seen some 2 gallon acrylic units on Amazon for $40-60.

It's why I said Kamoer F1 and I'd skip the kalk and go to all for reef. In a 15 gallon it's an affordable and easy way to keep your weeds growing.

Townes_Van_Camp · Jul 26, 2023

For a visible reservoir, still do what I said above and buy a blemished trigger systems 3 or 5 gallon reservoir
They list them on the trigger systems website.

workhz · Jul 26, 2023

tmartin412 said:
No sump so yes visible.

Just put the mess in a fancy box or get a broken speaker from a thrift shop and cut the inside or cheap cabinet anyway, it doesn’t have to be visible but I get the attraction of a fancy acrylic box.

Btw, what’s behind this set up? On the other side of the wall behind the stand?

tmartin412 · Jul 26, 2023

55 gallon fresh so I could use the corner for a "less nice" less expensive setup. Probably need to stretch the budget a bit for both ATO and kalk.

cwerner · Jul 26, 2023

Something like this looks clean and would work. I don't know how a diaphragm pump handles kalk, but I would think that it would handle it well considering that there's no metal parts inside of the pump chambers.