Ato pickup placement

[csterling86]

I've got a tank I built very close to the same specs of a 40 gal breeder with a 10 gallon sump.i made my weir off an old over the top overflow box an drilled a single 1 1/4 drain.im wondering if the pickup for the ato would best suited in the tank or sump? Or the weir I see some ppl placing it in there as well.i really wanted it in the sump but it seems it would be more stable in the tank an not be cutting on an off all the time.just wondering who has had the best results an where.in my sump as it's setup my last return chamber doesn't change water level unless my weir gets close to running empty an starts sucking air then flow slows but that is so close to running dry I don't like it.so I'm thinking in the sump it would be doing a lot of off an on.

 

[TokenReefer]

With your setup, as water evaporates, where does the water level change? For me it is the return pump chamber of my sump. That's where I've set my ato up

 

[TheBear78]

Having the sensor in a section with a large volume means that a lot more water needs to evaporate before it is triggered. A stable ATO is one that maintains salinity, not one that isn't open very often.
Also, most tank set ups tend to maintain the water level everywhere except the return chamber, hence the obvious location of the ATO sensor there.
It's unusual that your weir box is emptying before the return chamber and this suggests something isn't quite right with the design. Maybe your flow needs adjustment, the return speed possibly needs reducing or the plumbing needs to be able to flow more?

 

[jrill]

Has to be in pump return chamber if running a sump.

 

[csterling86]

Having the sensor in a section with a large volume means that a lot more water needs to evaporate before it is triggered. A stable ATO is one that maintains salinity, not one that isn't open very often.
Also, most tank set ups tend to maintain the water level everywhere except the return chamber, hence the obvious location of the ATO sensor there.
It's unusual that your weir box is emptying before the return chamber and this suggests something isn't quite right with the design. Maybe your flow needs adjustment, the return speed possibly needs reducing or the plumbing needs to be able to flow more?

I know this is a saltwater site when I had saltwater but I'm using this on a high tech co2 planted aquarium so I'm not worried about salinity I do however want small water transfers still to maintain parameters. Can't you setup your ato to where the two pickups are very close so the water doesn't dump a bunch at one time.?only place I notice my water level changing is in the tank an when it gets down to the bottom of the slots in the overflow/weir then that lowers rapidly of course.im allmost thinking that would be my best bet their that moves more then my tank does with water level.i guess the way I setup my sump the water level doesn't move in the return chamber unless it runs out of water coming from the tank.i set it up with a gate valve in my drain an a variable dc pump. So the flow allways stays the same entering my sump unless it starts to run dry from low water level in the tank.idk I'm up for any ideas.

 

[csterling86]

Has to be in pump return chamber if running a sump.

I'll try it there again maybe it's just too new an I'm not doing something right but when I had it hooked up to my return chamber it wouldn't do anything till my tank was low enof that it stopped pulling water down the drain then my return chamber in my sump goes dry in about 10 seconds an of course then it turns on cuz the water level changed.but that's way too late.like I said my return chamber does not move water level till it's literally out of water.tthis is prolly my 4th sumped setup I'm not new or dum to this that's what baffles me.do you think the way my weir/ overflow is setup that's doing it? I feel like it's actually a good problem to have lol

 

[csterling86]

I'll try it there again maybe it's just too new an I'm not doing something right but when I had it hooked up to my return chamber it wouldn't do anything till my tank was low enof that it stopped pulling water down the drain then my return chamber in my sump goes dry in about 10 seconds an of course then it turns on cuz the water level changed.but that's way too late.like I said my return chamber does not move water level till it's literally out of water.tthis is prolly my 4th sumped setup I'm not new or dum to this that's what baffles me.do you think the way my weir is setup that's doing it? I feel like it's actually a good problem to have lol

The level in my weir does change with level in the tank tho that's why I'm thinking about jamming it in their

 

[jrill]

I'll try it there again maybe it's just too new an I'm not doing something right but when I had it hooked up to my return chamber it wouldn't do anything till my tank was low enof that it stopped pulling water down the drain then my return chamber in my sump goes dry in about 10 seconds an of course then it turns on cuz the water level changed.but that's way too late.like I said my return chamber does not move water level till it's literally out of water.tthis is prolly my 4th sumped setup I'm not new or dum to this that's what baffles me.do you think the way my weir/ overflow is setup that's doing it? I feel like it's actually a good problem to have lol

Your description of "pulling water" is confusing me. The return pump pushes water back up from the sump so the tank must remain constant. Only the level in the return chamber will change unless the sump runs dry and the pump stops.

 

[csterling86]

Your description of "pulling water" is confusing me. The return pump pushes water back up from the sump so the tank must remain constant. Only the level in the return chamber will change unless the sump runs dry and the pump stops.

Well idk what to tell ya then.its not pulling water it's gravity draining into my sump.i think you get it.an that's why I started this whole post my return chamber doesn't move at all with the water level changing in the tank till it's too late.

Your description of "pulling water" is confusing me. The return pump pushes water back up from the sump so the tank must remain constant. Only the level in the return chamber will change unless the sump runs dry and the pump stops.

 

[csterling86]

Well idk what to tell ya then.its not pulling water it's gravity draining into my sump.i think you get it.an that's why I started this whole post my return chamber doesn't move at all with the water level changing in the tank till it's too late.

Witch I don't even care about that my water level doesn't move in my return chamber Im just trying to figure out where would work better in the weir or tank.

 

[jrill]

It almost sounds like you don't have enough water in your system or your baffles in the sump are installed incorrectly.