Good evening, I would like some suggestions or pictures for ato reservoir ideas to go outside of my cabinet in my formal living room. Has to be in good taste, don't want to cause any problems with the misses!!! I would anticipate at least 1 gallon evaporation especially during the summer time. So the bigger the better! Thanks
Ato reservoir vessel
- Thread starter Reefchef
- Start date
trigger makes 5 & 10 gallon ato reservoirs
http://www.triggersys.com/ts/
http://www.triggersys.com/ts/
I was trying to get some outside the box ideas, for example one guy on r2r was actually using a 55 gallon wine barrel!!! I should have classified more, something decorative that will hold water. Ive thought about maybe checking out one of the tall flower vases.
I use a large clear heavy duty storage tote that I painted (All except a vertical sliver so I can visually and quickly check the water level by sight and from a distance).
If your Mrs disprefers the look of plastic or paint; you could do the same but construct a wooden box around it. Then stain/paint it to match your aquarium or house cabinets.
If your Mrs disprefers the look of plastic or paint; you could do the same but construct a wooden box around it. Then stain/paint it to match your aquarium or house cabinets.
"If your Mrs disprefers the look of plastic or paint; you could do the same but construct a wooden box around it. Then stain/paint it to match your aquarium or house cabinets."
Great idea, you could even house a 54 qt. rectangular cooler or similar, and upholster the top to make a bench.
Great idea, you could even house a 54 qt. rectangular cooler or similar, and upholster the top to make a bench.
I'd recommend a big ATO reservoir & Innovative Marine builds about as nice of a one as there is.
It's glass with a slide out fill drawer, to help prevent spills. Also has a cable slot for your ATO pump & a float/level indicator.
The 15 gal. model is $149 list, but it's been on sale at least twice in recent memory (10 or 20% off?).
Here's a video for you with link to Marine Depot below that-
www.marinedepot.com
It's glass with a slide out fill drawer, to help prevent spills. Also has a cable slot for your ATO pump & a float/level indicator.
The 15 gal. model is $149 list, but it's been on sale at least twice in recent memory (10 or 20% off?).
Here's a video for you with link to Marine Depot below that-
Desktop NuvoSkim DC Protein Skimmer
Keep your Innovative Marine All-In-One tank running crystal clear with the NuvoSkim DC Protein Skimmer! Finding a skimmer that will fit in the back chambers of an AIO aquarium can be challenging, but Innovative Marine's NuvoSkim DC has a small form factor and gives great results. The DC powered...
www.marinedepot.com
Dude if you want a wine barrel we could make you a wine barrel. Just use a tall garbage can or some container inside and use the lid to cover it. Or you can have a granite guy make you a circular lid for it to make it look really nice
No, I was only using that as an example! That would be a bit big for the area, actually it's going on the side where I had planned to put my cabinet. I may just go with the 15 gallon one above. Advanced acrylics have some nice ones, but their a bit pricey for something just to put water in. Just my opinion.
I agree. I paid about $15 for mine, which is about 15g. Plus $8 in paint. And a little extra for miscellaneous parts that I didn’t already have extra laying around.
This acrylic ATOs just aren’t worth it, in my opinion.
This acrylic ATOs just aren’t worth it, in my opinion.
I have the 5 gallon version of this on a 30 gallon tank. It's a nice solution and if they made them big enough I would use them on my larger systems.I'd recommend a big ATO reservoir & Innovative Marine builds about as nice of a one as there is.
It's glass with a slide out fill drawer, to help prevent spills. Also has a cable slot for your ATO pump & a float/level indicator.
The 15 gal. model is $149 list, but it's been on sale at least twice in recent memory (10 or 20% off?).
Here's a video for you with link to Marine Depot below that-
Desktop NuvoSkim DC Protein Skimmer
Keep your Innovative Marine All-In-One tank running crystal clear with the NuvoSkim DC Protein Skimmer! Finding a skimmer that will fit in the back chambers of an AIO aquarium can be challenging, but Innovative Marine's NuvoSkim DC has a small form factor and gives great results. The DC powered...
Don't under estimate how much top off water you could go through - I can easily go through 1 to 1.5 gallons of top off on my system that is roughly 150 gallons total volume.
I think to either build or buy some sort of wood box to encapsulate an ATO container is the easiest. You can try TJ Maxx, Ross, Marshals, Ikea, etc... maybe an antiques shop. Not for my reef tanks, but for my planted tank, I bought a wooden cabinet super cheap from Walmart.com that I used to hide a canister in; I have since went back to a HOB filter and just use the cabinet to hide the wires and keep fish food in. But maybe something along those lines.
Also, I usually aim for a container that will last a week for vacations, but you could always go smaller and swap it out with something temporary for a vacation.
Also, I usually aim for a container that will last a week for vacations, but you could always go smaller and swap it out with something temporary for a vacation.
Great idea! You can also probably find a pre-made wooden box at Home Depot or other store’s gardening section to hide unsightlies in peoples lawns (for example, hiding a large hose wheel).
@Reefchef, a 750XXL is going to evaporate more than a gallon a day year round. If you use and fans for evaporative cooling you could easily see 3-4 gallons a day.
I use a 32 gallon Brute for my ATO container. With my 210 before the addition of a 60 frag tank, 30ish gallons lasted 10-14 days. Right now with fans my system will kill that in 6-8 days. Granted there's the 60 frag too but still +3gal/day will not be out of the question for you if you need to use fans to cool the system.
How & where are you planning to store the filtered water and mixing container? This part of your plan is going to be very important if you don't want to be lugging water around the house all the time. The easier you make this the more likely you'll be doing water changes in a timely manner. For the ATO container try to use the biggest vessel your wife will allow and get a way to pump the RODI water to it. A Brute can with a decorative box that conceals it would be a good cost effective choice.
I'm going to be moving soon but feel free to stop by and take a look at what I have if you need some ideas.
I use a 32 gallon Brute for my ATO container. With my 210 before the addition of a 60 frag tank, 30ish gallons lasted 10-14 days. Right now with fans my system will kill that in 6-8 days. Granted there's the 60 frag too but still +3gal/day will not be out of the question for you if you need to use fans to cool the system.
How & where are you planning to store the filtered water and mixing container? This part of your plan is going to be very important if you don't want to be lugging water around the house all the time. The easier you make this the more likely you'll be doing water changes in a timely manner. For the ATO container try to use the biggest vessel your wife will allow and get a way to pump the RODI water to it. A Brute can with a decorative box that conceals it would be a good cost effective choice.
I'm going to be moving soon but feel free to stop by and take a look at what I have if you need some ideas.
Just though of another idea. If you have the space, you could buy a standard 29gal or 40 breeder and make/buy a bench to go around it.
I also agree with going as big as possible. This will provide you the most flexibility.
That said; keep in mind what are your failing limits. For example; Let’s say that you like to keep your salinity at 1.025 SG, and you don’t want it to drop below 1.023. If it fails in the ON position, you would want your ATO to be filled to a max of 8.5% of your system size. The same example but at 1.026 would yield 13% ATO. Assuming your sump is able to handle the additional capacity.
On the flip side, if it fails in the OFF position, you want to maximize the amount of days that your tank will last before it becomes too salty. This will be dependent on your evaporation rate; not your ATO size. And unfortunately, let’s just say that you don’t want it to fail in the off position. Tanks can get salty quick!
A larger ATO gives you more flexibility and security. I choose at least 8% if not 13% of my systems volume, to maximize value without adding risk. With my evap rate; this gives me 11-15 days between refilling.
That said; keep in mind what are your failing limits. For example; Let’s say that you like to keep your salinity at 1.025 SG, and you don’t want it to drop below 1.023. If it fails in the ON position, you would want your ATO to be filled to a max of 8.5% of your system size. The same example but at 1.026 would yield 13% ATO. Assuming your sump is able to handle the additional capacity.
On the flip side, if it fails in the OFF position, you want to maximize the amount of days that your tank will last before it becomes too salty. This will be dependent on your evaporation rate; not your ATO size. And unfortunately, let’s just say that you don’t want it to fail in the off position. Tanks can get salty quick!
A larger ATO gives you more flexibility and security. I choose at least 8% if not 13% of my systems volume, to maximize value without adding risk. With my evap rate; this gives me 11-15 days between refilling.
I really like to have as much redundancy with as many aspects of the system as I can. With the ATO I use a Tunze Osmolator. It gives me one level of redundancy built in and it's connected to an Apex EB8 for the 2nd level. If the Salinity gets too far out of range I get an alert. Salinity drops too low it also shuts down the ATO. This is really all I use that probe for.
On the new system I'm going to incorporate a dual set of optical sensors (4 total) for Hi & Low levels and connect them to a different Apex or Base GHL unit for alerting purposes.
This level redundancy is also a very good idea with heaters. Don't use one larger one for a system, use two or three smaller ones. One fails ON it's not big enough to cook the the tank and the others won't turn on much if at all. On the other end, if one dies and it stays OFF the others can pick up the slack. And this is all after connecting them to some type of heater controller. Apex, Inkbird... something.
On the new system I'm going to incorporate a dual set of optical sensors (4 total) for Hi & Low levels and connect them to a different Apex or Base GHL unit for alerting purposes.
This level redundancy is also a very good idea with heaters. Don't use one larger one for a system, use two or three smaller ones. One fails ON it's not big enough to cook the the tank and the others won't turn on much if at all. On the other end, if one dies and it stays OFF the others can pick up the slack. And this is all after connecting them to some type of heater controller. Apex, Inkbird... something.
Oh, an make sure the line coming out of the ATO reservoir doesn't end below the highest filled level of that container. That way it won't create a siphon.
This may cause a noise issue and/or splashing from the sump depending on your layout. To fix that, affix a section of 1/2" pvc so it stays about 1/2-1" above the bottom of the sump and then is long enough so the other end is higher than the ATO water level. Run your tubing from the ATO pump to just inside the top of that pipe. No more noise or splashing.
This may cause a noise issue and/or splashing from the sump depending on your layout. To fix that, affix a section of 1/2" pvc so it stays about 1/2-1" above the bottom of the sump and then is long enough so the other end is higher than the ATO water level. Run your tubing from the ATO pump to just inside the top of that pipe. No more noise or splashing.
