diy auto-top off and painting
 

so first off im looking at having a ATO that works like a cheap refilling pet waterdish with a 2l popbottle and ideas why this would or wouldent work for an ato? and any recommendations on a waterproof paint for inside a canopy?

Not that I think it wouldn't work but I loose about a gallon a day in my 70 gal tank, so depending on the size of your tank you might be refilling that 2 liter pop bottle once a day, maybe more.

its a 20g with 10g fuge/sump im using a 4l milk jug so ill assume ill fill it once a week ish

If you'd like a similar (cheap) solution but one that will be much easier to refill why not just put a simple floar valve in yor sump? Tie it into a reservoir that's above sump level for a gravity feed?

Ihave vey little room under my stand for anything bigger then 4l jug and I assume that if its above the sump there's no need for a pump?

You can setup a pretty simple ATO with a milk jug or any other container that you can seal. I’ve attached a sketch to show how such an ATO works. First you need to drill and attach a drain/feed line to the base of the water container. Next in either the lid of the container or the very top of the container drill and attach another line, this line needs to run to the water level in the sump.

That’s pretty much it. When the water level drops in the sump it will expose the top line to air which will allow the fresh water to drain through the feed line into the sump. Once the water level covers the top line again the water flow will stop.

It’s important that both lines seal into the container 100% and you don’t use hose larger than ¼” for both top and bottom lines.

Thank you this is exactly what I was looking for ill post pics on my tank thread once I get the ball rolling

Gravity feed as illustrated is a great way to go. If lack of space in the stand is an issue and you don't mind a little something set up beside your tank, you could go with a variation of the gravity feed option using a small air pump and a glass wine car boy. This is what I've done since gravity feed is not an option on my sumpless 77. It evaporates close to a gallon a day, so a 7 gallon glass wine carboy lasts me a week. A rubber stopper in the top seals it. The stopper is drilled with two holes through which two rigid air lines are pushed. Flexible tubing connects an air pump on a timer to the car boy. The pump runs a few minutes every hour or so and pressurizes the carboy. More flexible tubing transports the water to a mechanical furnace humidifier float valve attached to the rim of the display with a diy acrylic bracket. Nice steady trickle keeps things stable. Only real downside I can think of is the carboy sitting there on its stand next to the display. Things I like, simple with no electrical gizmos (i.e. float switches & pumps) in direct contact with the water.

http://public.blu.livefilestore.com/...boy.JPG?psid=1

http://public.blu.livefilestore.com/...lve.JPG?psid=1

lol that would be a great idea only im having a hard enough time trying to convice my g/f that a qt tank is needed and who cares if the tank is ugly n sits beside the stand :P

With some artistic creativity you can always hide or disguise the container, maybe a wicker thing to make it look like it's actually full of wine... In my case I just can't be bothered since I don't really mind the look and am planning a basement sump build... some day... Then it will all be outta sight.