diy auto-top off and painting

[Aquaria]

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?

[Bloodasp]

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.

[Aquaria]

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

[lastlight]

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?

[Aquaria]

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?

[sphelps]

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.