Vacation top off

[Paul B]

My tank, like most tanks use an auto top off that usually works great, but the last time I went on vacation, a bubble got into it and the tank sitter didn't notice the water level went down 7" which of course killed all the corals near the top of the tank.
So I brought back the device I used to use before I had an auto top off. It is just a plastic 2X4 or a real 2X4 or piece of plywood could be used.
I just drill a hole in it that will fit the top of a 5 gallon water cooler bottle that I happen to have laying around.
I put the plastic top on the water cooler bottle that comes with it when it if filled with water after I drill a 1/2" hole in the cap.
Now I just fill the bottle and invert it over the tank. (The batteries are just in the picture for the demonstration)
I make the hole in the 2X4 so that the bottle neck just touches the water.
As the water level goes down, air enters the bottle and the water level in my tank stays level. This will fill my tank for 8 days and I have been using this for decades with never a problem.
This is exactly how it works in a water cooler.
If you like, you can also put in whatever you want to dose for the week.

 

[noelskii]

Wouldn't this be on the way of your light fixture?

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Neato!!!

 

[Paul B]

Wouldn't this be on the way of your light fixture?

It just touches my lights. If you look at the picture, the hole and therefore the bottle is right at the side of the tank in the rear corner. In my tank, it fits there as I have used it many times. But you just can't invert the open bottle over the tank. You need that cap on with the hole in it so the water in the tank doesn't mix with the tank water and dilute it.
It is even better to add a short tube to into the bottle cap. The tube will make it easier to adjust the water level and make it less likely that the tank water will be diluted by fresh water. An even better system would be to use two 1/4" tubes into the bottle cap with one a little shorter. That way, almost no fresh water will mix with the salt water before it is added.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

I dun understand ir maybe i never encountered it but how does a air bubble stop ur ato... I dunno but with the tunze ato i dont ever see that happening

 

[jaa1456]

This is just the gravity ATO on a larger scale it looks like.

 

[James]

I dun understand ir maybe i never encountered it but how does a air bubble stop ur ato... I dunno but with the tunze ato i dont ever see that happening

Physics dude.

 

[lnevo]

This is just the gravity ATO on a larger scale it looks like.

Its more like a vacuum ATO. No air can get in so water cant come out... When water level drops enough that air can get in water pours out until water seals back up container.

My ATO is gravity based and a float valve controls the flow out. No vacuum necessary or part of the equation..

 

[cmantis]

How do you support it from falling over?

 

[jaa1456]

Its more like a vacuum ATO. No air can get in so water cant come out... When water level drops enough that air can get in water pours out until water seals back up container.

My ATO is gravity based and a float valve controls the flow out. No vacuum necessary or part of the equation..

Yea this is just a gravity ATO on the large scale size. It's not a vacuum because air has to get in to replace the water coming out. If it were a vacuum it wouldn't work because the air would not be able to get into the bottle to displace the water.

 

[lnevo]

The vacuum is what regulates the flow..when the water level is above the neck no air can get in and it holds the water in the reservoir.

 

[jaa1456]

This is a gravity ATO. End of story. There is no float valve or switch needed for a gravity ATO

 

[lnevo]

This is a gravity ATO. End of story. There is no float valve or switch needed for a gravity ATO

There is more than one way to skin a cat. Yes, you are right. It's a gravity ATO. It's regulated by a vacuum. I have a gravity ATO on my tank. It's regulated by a float valve. So, yes you are right. It is a gravity ATO. And you are right again there is no need for a float valve for this type of gravity ATO.

 

[James]

Jaa, this vacuum... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum not this one

Inevo, how do you use a float switch with your gravity fed ATO? I'm trying to visualize it but it doesn't compute (I've never been accused of being a smart man).

 

[jaa1456]

James I use the vacuum you have pictured on my tank lol. It works great for trimming the corals back.

 

[lnevo]

James, i use a float valve not a switch. I have a reservoir that is elevated next to my sump. I have a small bulkhead with 1/4" line running to the float valve which sits in the return chamber. As the level drops, valve opens up and water trickles in. My water level basically does not move.

I have a lid on the reservoir, its not sealed or airtight. if it were this would not work. I keep a water level sensor in there to monitor how much water I have in there. My controller sends me alerts when it gets less than 10%. I have an access port on the top that i can fill it. That process is automated too...i hit a url on my controller and it turns on a pump that fills it...on vacation mode I can turn that pump into a standard ato and i can have a supplemental bucket to top off my top off.

 

[James]

Very cool Inevo ! Now I get it. I am actually in the process of automating my ATO. Going the direct RO/DI to sump route with a double fail-safe because I have no room for a reservoir with my larger setup in my smaller apartment.

Jaa,
I wish I had photoshop skills, I would make a flowbee fragger in a heartbeat.

 

[ecvernon]

In my opinion it's not good to have your rodi constantly on under pressure. In my case I used to run rodi to sump for topoff. And I would always have to john guest check fittings because overtime they would leak. When I began using the reservoir I had no more random leaks.
What kind of double security measure where you thinking of for rodi going straight to sump?

 

[James]

The main one is the leak checker which physically turns off the RODI line.

The second is a float switch for sump height which kills the return if the sump has too much water in it and alerts me of the issue before the sump overflows. There will be no fittings to check. It is a single line split from my RODI under the sink. I am looking into a way to have the rodi on only for an hour or so a day for topoff using something like the leak checker to physically turn it off and on through a controller. I think for times I am not on vacation I will only turn on the line for a couple hours a day. For vacations I will leave it on.... haven't got the system up yet but I have the components and am in the planning stages.

 

[Paul B]

I dun understand ir maybe i never encountered it but how does a air bubble stop ur ato... I dunno but with the tunze ato i dont ever see that happening

My system uses a 1/4" tube that goes over the ceiling from 40' away. My make up water is in a bucket hanging from the ceiling and the bottom of that bucket and the top of my tank are only about 12" difference with the 5 gallon bucket higher.
The water goes into my tank so slowly, that an air bubble could get up past the float switch and get into the tube. When that happens, the flow stops. My system is also very old so there is bacteria in the 40' of tubing. The bacteria generate very tiny bubbles inside the tubing that after a while make it to the highest part in the tube and also stop the water flow. There is no pump in my system so I sometimes have these problems and about twice a month, it stops and I have to suck out water along with the air. I can remedy it but it is not that big a deal and I am used to it.

How do you support it from falling over?

There is a large hole in the PVC support I use and the bottle fits snug in there so I don't have that problem. There is also no one home when I use this so no one will push it over.

My make up water is stored here in this blue bucket and flows to the tank over the ceiling to another room through that small black tube coming out near the bottom of the bucket.