charliedarling
Community Member
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.
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
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!
Charlie
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.
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
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!
Charlie
