jmsalt1
04/27/2011, 09:28 AM
I have an ATO situation that I am having difficulty figuring out. I'll try to be specific without getting too wordy. My tank is in a section of my basement that was added on to our home in 1998. As a result, it was dug deeper than the preexisting portion of our basement so it would have higher ceilings. My aquarium room is in the preexisting part of our basement which sits about 3 feet higher than the new part of our basement where my display tank is located. In the aquarium room I have access to a sink, floor drain, RO and all the space I could ever need. Currently, my sump and gravity fed fuge are located in the aquarium room. The dowside is that the location of the sump here makes flow from the display to the sump a bit of a balancing act as the drop from where the overflow exits the display tank to the sump is not as significant as it would be if the sump were located directly under the display which is most often the case. As a result, I cannot keep a water level any higher that about 5-6" in my current sump without creating back pressure on the overflow.
If I move the sump to under the display, I would be relocating the low spot of the system to the room where the display is located rather than having it in my aquarium room. The chamber where the return pump would be pulling from (where evaporation causes the water level to drop) would be smaller than it is now and would leave me less "play" for changes in that level than I have now.
I have a 44 gallon reservoir that holds RO/DI water and would like to have an ATO sensor in the sump if I were to move the sump to under the aquarium. However, the 44 gallon reservoir would need to remain in the aquarium room which is about 3 feet higher than the room where the display tank is located. I looked and the Tunze and Elos ATO systems and neither would work having a large reservoir that could drain to the sump if the water column of the reservoir is higher than the point where the water is added to the sump. Many people seem to solve this by have a pretty small ATO reservoir which defeats the purpose of having one to some extent in my mind. Are there any ATO set ups that allow for a larger reservoir to be used without this becoming an issue?
One way I could do it would be to have the sensor located in the sump but actually add the top off water to the gravity fed fuge. The downside to this would be that I would need the level in the sump to adjust as the water addition to the gravity fed fuge works its way to the sump before the sensor would shut down. Not sure if that would become a problem. The other problem this solution presents is that I would need a longer probe / sensor to extend from the sump to the aquarium room where the ATO head unit, RO/DI reservoir and fuge are located. I am checking with Elos to see if the Digital Osmocontoller can be fitted with a longer sensor cable as that might be a possible solution.
Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
If I move the sump to under the display, I would be relocating the low spot of the system to the room where the display is located rather than having it in my aquarium room. The chamber where the return pump would be pulling from (where evaporation causes the water level to drop) would be smaller than it is now and would leave me less "play" for changes in that level than I have now.
I have a 44 gallon reservoir that holds RO/DI water and would like to have an ATO sensor in the sump if I were to move the sump to under the aquarium. However, the 44 gallon reservoir would need to remain in the aquarium room which is about 3 feet higher than the room where the display tank is located. I looked and the Tunze and Elos ATO systems and neither would work having a large reservoir that could drain to the sump if the water column of the reservoir is higher than the point where the water is added to the sump. Many people seem to solve this by have a pretty small ATO reservoir which defeats the purpose of having one to some extent in my mind. Are there any ATO set ups that allow for a larger reservoir to be used without this becoming an issue?
One way I could do it would be to have the sensor located in the sump but actually add the top off water to the gravity fed fuge. The downside to this would be that I would need the level in the sump to adjust as the water addition to the gravity fed fuge works its way to the sump before the sensor would shut down. Not sure if that would become a problem. The other problem this solution presents is that I would need a longer probe / sensor to extend from the sump to the aquarium room where the ATO head unit, RO/DI reservoir and fuge are located. I am checking with Elos to see if the Digital Osmocontoller can be fitted with a longer sensor cable as that might be a possible solution.
Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.