Help with water changes, ATO and patience :)

[The Grizz]

When I do water changes all I have done is fill my brute can with water, dump in the amount of salt required, plug in mixing pump & let it mix until there is no sign of salt, check salinity with refractometer if salinity is right in the tank it goes.

A for ATO I would not recommend direct from your RO, find another container around 50 gals and get 2 ATO like an Elos, JBJ or one of the other brands. Run one from your RO tank to your ATO tank and the other from ATO to sump.

[Hustler]

Awesome idea grizz I have the line run for the water to my tank throught the roof joists already for my constant auto drip system i used in freshwater and it would be such a waste to rip it out LOL Ill just set it up for filling my tank next to the sump
Do you not have that cloudy binding (calcium or whatever) when you add the salt and dont let it simmer outside of the tank?
Are your floats, floats or sensors? Im trying to DIY this without having to buy whole kits as I have tons of pumps and line already I just need the mechanics of it

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by The Grizz

A for ATO I would not recommend direct from your RO, find another container around 50 gals and get 2 ATO like an Elos, JBJ or one of the other brands. Run one from your RO tank to your ATO tank and the other from ATO to sump.

Why not direct RO/RI water into the sump with an ATO?

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

Why not direct RO/RI water into the sump with an ATO?

what if ATO fails and you flood your tank with RO water?

[Lampshade]

Also the frequent start stops on the ATO are not always good for it.

I use one of the generic rubbermaid blue bins with a Kent float valve drilled into the top, and a 1/4" hose to another Kent float in my tank. Been going this way for a year now with no issues.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by MarkoD

what if ATO fails and you flood your tank with RO water?

I have a double float on my ATO. If the first one fails for any reason, the 2nd one higher up, will stop the flow entirely.

Is that the only concern? I was wondering if the RO/DI water needed to be aged or something before going directly into the sump, similar to when mixing salt water prior to a water change.

[Aquattro]

I plumb my RO directly to my sump. I use a float valve, with a pressure switch inline. I also run it through a solenoid that only turns on 15 minutes every four hours. My RO unit does about 3.5 gallons in 90 minutes, which is about my evaporation for the day, so I could go a few days at least with a blown float system.
1 year on this system so far.

[Parker]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

I plumb my RO directly to my sump. I use a float valve, with a pressure switch inline. I also run it through a solenoid that only turns on 15 minutes every four hours. My RO unit does about 3.5 gallons in 90 minutes, which is about my evaporation for the day, so I could go a few days at least with a blown float system.
1 year on this system so far.

Ditto

[mike31154]

Interested in more info about the feed line you put through the roof joists? How is that fed exactly, pump or household water pressure? Are you planning on using that as your ATO feed line to the sump?

My system is much smaller and I use a variation of gravity fed ATO through a simple mechanical float valve. Since I don't have room to elevate the ATO container above my display (yes I run sumpless) to use gravity, I use a glass wine carboy next to the tank that is pressurized by a small air pump on a timer. The air pressure provides ATO water at a trickle to the display thru the mechanical valve. This has worked great for me for a number of years now & the 7 gal carboy keeps the display topped up for 7 days. For a future basement sump I plan to use the gravity feed method with an appropriately sized container elevated above the sump.

I don't trust ATOs that have too much complexity and a pile of electrical components, there are more failure modes which can have disastrous effects on your tank or your home in the form of flooding. I've also never trusted the auto shutoff gizmo on my RODI system which is actually a mechanical device. It's never shut the system off reliably. While the float valve in the collection container works well, the waste water will continue to run & it shouldn't. I always make my RODI water when at home & keep an eye on it. With no drain in my basement floor, it's not worth trusting an auto shutoff & then come home to a flood. This is also one of the reasons to avoid feeding your sump directly from your RODI system. The other is that short duty cycles on the RO membrane are not an efficient way to make pure water. I know it takes a good 5 minutes after starting up my RODI for the TDS out of the membrane to drop to 1 or 0 with an incoming TDS of over 200. If you allow a float in the sump to control RODI production, it will likely run for short bursts every few minutes. The DI stage might take care of the excess TDS from the membrane after each short cycle, but you'll be spending a lot more time & money replacing DI media this way.

For mixing salt water, I use a separate container & allow it to stew with a powerhead for at least a day. A few hours before the water change, I'll throw a heater in there to match display temperature.

[Hustler]

The line in the the joists is just a clear 1/4" line from a filter system run to my tank, My laundryroom pipes put out about 80PSI so i have valves on both ends of everything lol. My laundry room is kiddy korner to my tank so I had to go the whole length of the basement to get it there. I used to run a chlorimine/chlorine block and add water 24/7 on a drip to my tank as its got a bulkhead in the sump that goes right to the main drain in the house. I just use it as a back up now incase something goes more wrong than i though it could it will atleast drain and not spill all over the floor.