charliedarling

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Heya, wanted to share my build of a DIY ATO! This is for my 8gallon nano. I’m lucky that there is a shelf above my tank and I definitely put it to use!

It’s not the absolute prettiest thing out there but it’s not as ugly as a plastic water bottle. It’s also sort of niche in that I think this would only be doable for a small nano set up like mine, with a shelf, and your tank doesn’t evaporate an insane amount of water.

I used the following items:

4.2L OXO good grips POP container ($20)
Lifegard Aquatics 1/2” bulkhead kit ($9)
1/2” soft silicone tubing from BRS ($6)

Total cost: $35 & about 2hrs

Basically I made a 1/2” hole in the oxo container with a soldering iron, smoothed it with sandpaper and metal file, and put it all together. I put the guard from the bulkhead kit on the end of the tubing to deter critters from traveling up the tube or blocking it. I positioned it so that it will automatically add R/O water if the water column drops about 1/2cm. The lid also keeps the tube from moving.

IMG_6554.jpeg


Since it holds a gallon of water perfectly and my system is so small I’m not terrified of it failing. It would suck if it did, but I think it’s fairly fool proof. As long as the tube doesn’t get taken out of the water or the container looses its seal, it should be good. Hopefully the container holds its seal. That would be the main drawback to this system; a bottle or bucket can have a screw on cap which is potentially more “secure” . We shall see. I might tape down the lid for extra piece of mind

IMG_6560.jpeg


Replacing water in this thing will be so easy - take it off the shelf, fill it with R/O, punch the silicone tube and then put it back on the shelf and unpinch the tube.

Pretty sweet I think. Let me know if you have a similar system and how it’s worked for you. Happy reefing!

image.jpg


Charlie
 

NeedAReef

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you could always replace the tubing with a valve if you want to control flow on and off but that might be overkill.
 
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charliedarling

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Well,
That’s pretty nice! What stops it from draining all water?
Well, that’s what I’m trying to figure out actually lol I guess I got the design wrong. I figured that it would not drain if there was some sort of vacuum going on and it would only disperse water as the water level drops and breaks the vacuum. But we completely honest I can’t get it to work lol.
 
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charliedarling

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you could always replace the tubing with a valve if you want to control flow on and off but that might be overkill.
I think that’s what I’m going to do. I’m just gonna put a valve on it, so that I can just manually top off the tank when needed. Kind of defeats the purpose of having an auto top off, but also doesn’t make me worry that I’ll flood my tank and desk
 

MoshJosh

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That’s pretty nice! What stops it from draining all water?
The vacuumed inside the container.

I have used similar top off but the premade kind. . . I am curious if the larger diameter tubing will have any effect on the salts ability to “creep” up into the container. I did not conduct the test myself, but I have read that when using narrow air line tubing the salinity in the container does not change.
 

TangerineSpeedo

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Well,

Well, that’s what I’m trying to figure out actually lol I guess I got the design wrong. I figured that it would not drain if there was some sort of vacuum going on and it would only disperse water as the water level drops and breaks the vacuum. But we completely honest I can’t get it to work lol.
I think your tube is too big.
 

MoshJosh

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Well,

Well, that’s what I’m trying to figure out actually lol I guess I got the design wrong. I figured that it would not drain if there was some sort of vacuum going on and it would only disperse water as the water level drops and breaks the vacuum. But we completely honest I can’t get it to work lol.
Have you manually dropped the water level below the strainer? As soon as air is able to flow back through the tube it should start flowing until water level rises.
 

MoshJosh

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I get that the added volume is a plus. . . But if it fails or you forget to “turn it off” during a water change that bigger volume becomes a liability

I would recommend this or similar:


Or even better:


+


I use the latter on my 11 gallon (shameless shelf plug):

1705259931295.png
 
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charliedarling

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The vacuumed inside the container.

I have used similar top off but the premade kind. . . I am curious if the larger diameter tubing will have any effect on the salts ability to creep up into the container. I did not conduct the test myself, but I have read that when using narrow air line tubing the salinity in the container does not change.
Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about too. When the tube was in the tank, I could actually see the freshwater and the salt water mixing and could see that density difference. I was concerned it would affect my salinity too much so I took it out.
I get that the added volume is a plus. . . But if it fails or you forget to “turn it off” during a water change that bigger volume becomes a liability

I would recommend this or similar:


Or even better:


+


I use the latter on my 11 gallon (shameless shelf plug):

1705259931295.png
Thanks!!
 

GSPClown94

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Well,

Well, that’s what I’m trying to figure out actually lol I guess I got the design wrong. I figured that it would not drain if there was some sort of vacuum going on and it would only disperse water as the water level drops and breaks the vacuum. But we completely honest I can’t get it to work lol.
Make sure the lid has a good seal and not letting any air in, or it will drain the whole container. Only air that should be entering the ATO container is through the tube that gets exposed as the water in the tank evaporates.
 
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