I have a 12g top off reservoir for my 210g display. It lasts about a week. It is part of my sump, located under the stand. To make things easier last weekend I installed some piping to pump water from a brute can in the basement directly above to the reservoir at the flick of a switch. I was planning a 2 week trip and needed something easy for an inexperienced tank sitter
Poll: ATO consumption
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tony'stank
Active Member
90 Gal RSR 450. ATO uses 2-3 Gal/ day. I find that the rimless main tank and the large open sump leads to more evaporation. Also mu Gyre 150 causes agitating waves across the water surface that may increase evaporation
WWIII
2500 Club Member
I generally fill up my 25 gallon ato reservoir once a week, although I could probably go about 9 days until it's empty. (Depending on time of year). This is on a 250 gallon system.
I have a 55 gallon reservoir I'm planning to use once I get the maxi doser doing the ato for me instead of my aqualifter pump. I just don't like the idea of 50 gallons of fresh water being emptied into my system in a day or less should something fail. I do have a profilux watching the ato for me, between that and the maxi doser I will feel comfortable enough with the 50 gallon reservoir, which should give me 2 weeks of ato no matter the season!
I have a 55 gallon reservoir I'm planning to use once I get the maxi doser doing the ato for me instead of my aqualifter pump. I just don't like the idea of 50 gallons of fresh water being emptied into my system in a day or less should something fail. I do have a profilux watching the ato for me, between that and the maxi doser I will feel comfortable enough with the 50 gallon reservoir, which should give me 2 weeks of ato no matter the season!
LovesDogs_CatsRokay
Valuable Member
The 2.5g top off on my reefer 350 tank only lasts about 2 days ... I fill it up every day to be safe ... eventually I will get a bigger one
Crabs McJones
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Reef Tank 365
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Wisco Reefers
My Tank Thread
I have a 5 gallon reservoir, and in the winter it's worse. During the summer it probably lasts a week to 10 days, during the winter i'm lucky if i get 5 days out of it.
Flippers4pups
Fins up since 1993
I'll play. 180 gallon total volume. 16 gallon ATO Reservoir. Depending on time of the year, around two gallons a day.
My Philosophy on how much water volume an ATO should have in it is based on failure. The way I look at it you should not have more water in your ATO than your sump can handle if it fails.
My Philosophy on how much water volume an ATO should have in it is based on failure. The way I look at it you should not have more water in your ATO than your sump can handle if it fails.
skiergd011013
Well-Known Member
i have never used an ato. I just pour a bit of water in twice a day and keep the level just above the black trim on the tank. I have never seen my salinity fluctuate from 1.026 with this method. I could probably easily get away with topping off once every 24 hrs. 30 gallon reef.
Greybeard
2500 Club Member
Pure gold. All mechanical and electrical devices will fail, at some point. Redundancy and intrinsically safe design is the key... don't let a single point of failure damage anything. Of course... there is a certain amount of risk in keeping a glass box full of water in our homes that cannot be eliminated... a sudden failure of a bottom panel seam in your display, for instance... rare, true, but it can and does happen.
I run a 5g reservoir on a 140g tank. It's not enough to impact salinity, so I'm safe on that... but I run that ATO through a kalk reactor, and dumping 5g of saturated kalk into my system would most certainly be a problem. So... Tunze ATO, with it's speed set to low and it's 3 way safety system (optical sensor, mechanical sensor, timer)... and a pH probe that will shut the thing off (and send an alert) if pH varies outside my target window.
ATO reservoir is automatically refilled... safely. Low sensor in the reservoir triggers a refill, high sensor stops the refill. Refill is through a mechanical float valve, just above the high sensor. Refill cycle longer than normal sends an alarm, closes the solenoid. Water alarm on the floor next to it to catch anything that my plan doesn't cover
I sleep pretty well at night... and the only manual process I need to do is check my TDS meter, replacing filters as needed, refill my kalk reactor, and inspect the system once in a while to make sure everything is working as expected.
Amps Reef Life
That Fish Guy
My ATO last two weeks if not longer. I absolutely love not having to fill it up constantly like my past ATO's on past tanks. I had a custom ATO built for this setup it's around 24 gallons on a 180 gallon tank. Still working on cleaning up the room but it's coming along nicely picture below. I have two 55 gallon drums in the garage for salt and RO water ready to go when I need it. The 65 gallon tank I have last maybe a week if not less. The ATO is only 8 gallons on that tank.
I get about a week sometime a little less. 375 gallons total system with open top. I evaporate between 5-7 gallons a day depending on the time of the year. My ATO hold about 40 gallons. My rodi system automatically fills the ATO when it drops to about 10 gallons left so I never have to bother with it.
OP
OP
NowGlazeIT
Happy to help, Ask away.
Moneyball!Pure gold. All mechanical and electrical devices will fail, at some point. Redundancy and intrinsically safe design is the key... don't let a single point of failure damage anything. Of course... there is a certain amount of risk in keeping a glass box full of water in our homes that cannot be eliminated... a sudden failure of a bottom panel seam in your display, for instance... rare, true, but it can and does happen.
I run a 5g reservoir on a 140g tank. It's not enough to impact salinity, so I'm safe on that... but I run that ATO through a kalk reactor, and dumping 5g of saturated kalk into my system would most certainly be a problem. So... Tunze ATO, with it's speed set to low and it's 3 way safety system (optical sensor, mechanical sensor, timer)... and a pH probe that will shut the thing off (and send an alert) if pH varies outside my target window.
ATO reservoir is automatically refilled... safely. Low sensor in the reservoir triggers a refill, high sensor stops the refill. Refill is through a mechanical float valve, just above the high sensor. Refill cycle longer than normal sends an alarm, closes the solenoid. Water alarm on the floor next to it to catch anything that my plan doesn't cover
I sleep pretty well at night... and the only manual process I need to do is check my TDS meter, replacing filters as needed, refill my kalk reactor, and inspect the system once in a while to make sure everything is working as expected.
OP
OP
NowGlazeIT
Happy to help, Ask away.
Auto refill haha man now that’s livin
Radman73
Valuable Member
Currently, only 4-5 days. Soon moving reservoir and pump to the garage and will use a 25gal Brute. That should last me close to two weeks which will be a life saver on vacations.
I personally hate having water barrels next to my tank so I got the icecap 36xl sump. I believe cleaning my ato often and giving it fresh water not water that was sitting for over a week is the best case scenario.
SashimiTurtle
Turtle
35g cube display, 15g Eshopps cube sump, 5g BioTek tote ATO resevoir. Usually lasts me a week, I usually top it off before it runs out though. If I'm going to be working nightshift for a few days I'll top it off no matter where it's at. I'm jealous of those guy with the mixing stations up above. I'd love to set one up in my garage but the shipping on the containers is so expensive. You could buy a whole extra container for what the shipping costs.
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