[e_baer]

Allright, so some people here thought I was not gonna be able to do this in a foolproof way. Well, I did!

Here are the basic things you need.

A Pump, no more than 2-300 gph. (depending on your tank size and how high the water has to travel. A bucket or some kind of container that will hold water and not leak. Some flexible tubing. Make sure it fits your pump!



I went to home depot today to get the tubing. (20' cost me just under 7 dollars.) But as I was looking at what the best tubing was, I saw a valve that would be perfect, so I got the valve and it now regulates the amount of water that passes through the tube.

As you can see in this pic, the water goes from the orange home depot bucket to the sump:







So, fill the bucket with RO/DI water, plop the pump in, add the tubing to the pump, add the valve to the tubing and you are almost done.

Some of you are thinking "Hey Elliott, how do you get the pump to go on and off and make sure its not on all the time?" My answer to this is "Get a tiemr that you can program down to the minute. My aunt gave me a timer I can set to go on for only a minute and I can also pick the days of the week its on. Another concern you may have is this. What happens if the power goes out? well, the timer has a abttery backup. It wont run the pump, but it will keep track of the time so you dont have to reset everything.

Here is a short demonstration:

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Elliott, just a quick question or two.How long does the pump run?when it runs how much water does it pump? do you have a mop handy?lol

[e_baer]

It runs every other day for one minute. And yes, I timed it and in one minute it pumps 1/2 gallons.

No mop, I have a carpet extractor!

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Good man Elliott I knew you were prepared.

[Lowej82]

Gotta love the DIY stuff I mall about saving some dough.

[glampka]

What happens when you get a change in the evaporation rate of the tank? What happens when the duct tape give out & the valve goes flying into the sump?

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Gary dont worry,I checked already.he has water extraction equipment lol.

[glampka]

Yeah, but is it grounded & does he have it plugged into a GFCI??? lol

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Of course not,its plugged directly into his live rock.

[jimw369]

Rube Goldberg

I havent found a good use for duct tape in the saltwater hobby yet. Strange as I am a big fan of it.

Put some sort of cover on that bucket. Hate to see change from your pocket or something fall in there.

[e_baer]

Originally Posted by glampka

What happens when you get a change in the evaporation rate of the tank? What happens when the duct tape give out & the valve goes flying into the sump?

Well, I have looked into that, and even if the valve goes flying off into the sump, only about 1.5 gallons of water goes into the sump. That is not that much. I lost around a gallon a day, maybe a little more.

[e_baer]

Originally Posted by jimw369

Put some sort of cover on that bucket. Hate to see change from your pocket or something fall in there.

Already taken care of

I put the lid on and cut holes for the wire and tube.

[emccullough1]

If you want to do it the normal way look at EL-CVEFS Price $54.99 at.
aquarium float switches Product List Page
A Float Switch is the only way to go in my opinion. But then again opinions are like A%^ holes every body has one.

[e_baer]

yeah I looked into that.

55$ compared to 13$.............

[emccullough1]

So we are talking about $42.00 now. Let me see $ 42.00 against the need for water extraction equipment and the labor of using it. No I will spend the money. But like I said That is just me.

[e_baer]

lol...no water extraction equipment is NEEDED, my dad just has it from when we were house training the dog a few years back.

[glampka]

Originally Posted by e_baer

It runs every other day for one minute. And yes, I timed it and in one minute it pumps 1/2 gallons.

Your math doesn't add up right. You lose a 1 gal/day yet you only add 1/2 gal every other day. According to my math after 2 days you're down 1.5 gallons. Sooner or later something is going dry!!!

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by glampka

Your math doesn't add up right. You lose a 1 gal/day yet you only add 1/2 gal every other day. According to my math after 2 days you're down 1.5 gallons. Sooner or later something is going dry!!!

Details, details, details

[e_baer]

Originally Posted by glampka

Your math doesn't add up right. You lose a 1 gal/day yet you only add 1/2 gal every other day. According to my math after 2 days you're down 1.5 gallons. Sooner or later something is going dry!!!

I changed it last night. I just never responded here, sorry. Now it runs every day for 2 minutes but I have the valve on so its not full force.

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by e_baer

I changed it last night. I just never responded here, sorry. Now it runs every day for 2 minutes but I have the valve on so its not full force.

EUREKA!!! ELLIOTT!!! YOUVE DONE IT!!! PATENT THAT SUCKER TODAY!!!

[e_baer]

lol, I may have to! Ill be rich and buy a coral for everyone on this site aquacultured of course.

[pogodzib]

Some people do it the same way that you did, but I like my cheap way better. I have a 5 gallon bucket with a hole near the bottom. At the hole, I have a valve and 1/4" tubing connected to a kent float valve in the sump. When the water drops, the float valve lowers and drips my ATO water into the tank. If my float valve were to fail, I could potentially dump 5 gallons of water into the tank, but that hasn't happened to me yet and my sump can handle about 10 gallons of extra water so it wouldn't overtop anyway. BTW - I've had this setup for 4+ years. The thing that I don't like about pumps for ATO is that they rely on a properly set timer, power, and a pump to add water, whereas a float just requires gravity. Total cost was about $20.

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by pogodzib

Some people do it the same way that you did, but I like my cheap way better. I have a 5 gallon bucket with a hole near the bottom. At the hole, I have a valve and 1/4" tubing connected to a kent float valve in the sump. When the water drops, the float valve lowers and drips my ATO water into the tank. If my float valve were to fail, I could potentially dump 5 gallons of water into the tank, but that hasn't happened to me yet and my sump can handle about 10 gallons of extra water so it wouldn't overtop anyway. BTW - I've had this setup for 4+ years. The thing that I don't like about pumps for ATO is that they rely on a properly set timer, power, and a pump to add water, whereas a float just requires gravity. Total cost was about $20.

What type of ATO are you using on your new build?

[e_baer]

I think stephanie also has the same thing.

[pogodzib]

Jim - The new ATO setup is the same way that the old setup was. Why mess with something that has always worked.

Elliot - You'll need to let us know what you think of your ATO device once it's been up and running for a while. I've seen plenty of other people do it your way, but I've never really heard any good feedback as to how well they like it.