Goldfisher Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Hello I’m new to the forum and generally new to the saltwater side of the aquarium hobby. I had two standard 75g tanks both freshwater each with 20L “sumps”. One had a major crash so I tore it down and built up my reef. Took three months and went through a couple stages to get it to the 75. Started with a 29g that crashed so I started over in a 45g with a canister. That lasted two months before I needed to move the stock to where my AI primes could penetrate the water better. So on the the 75g. In the time I was using new and old equipment. When the 75 got hook up and it all transferred over I had a mold Toms wet/dry filter with skimmer rebuilt in managing it as well as a canister before I stuck my new cleaned out 20L tank back under it and got a pump going. Now it is running 2 AI prime 16HD max power 6 hours with three hours ramp morning and night with a T5 hybrid that is only half on for 5 hours a day using the 20g sump with an bubble Mangus Nac7 skimmer. Now my next investment will be an ATO and I was looking for suggestions that won’t break the bank. This is a mixed reef Housing a couple anemones. 5 clowns and 2 dottybacks for fish stock. I just seem to be adding lots of fresh water every few days. I have glass lids and a cover on my sump/fuge any help and suggestions would be great. Thanks and PS this is only 5 months old. I test every week and my levels are ideal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil&Fin Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Looks like you're off to a great start. Welcome to the forum!Sent from my SM-G928P using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obrien.david.j Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 19 hours ago, Goldfisher said: Welcome! You mention a couple of crashes, and mention a future addition is ATO. I see something in this picture to ask about. The white hose on the left looks like it comes from the bottom of the skimmer and dumps into the 100% Juice bottle. If this is for skimmer gunk - this setup has bit some people before. If (when) you get something in your water that makes your skimmer go crazy and overflow - it can rapidly overflow the external juice container, drain the sump, and flood your floor. And once you add an ATO, the ATO can kick in and attempt to keep your sump full (of fresh water) and dramatically lower your salinity. These Setups CAN work. Other people run them this way. Since you're new to this, I'd go slowly. Personally, I don't use an external skimmate container (just use the skimmer cup itself, no hose out the bottom) - just dump the skimmer cup once a week or two (when full). It's saved me a number of times. There are fancy skimmate lockers that can detect this condition and shut off your skimmer. Your system doesn't appear to be at that stage yet. My recommendation, remove the hose from the bottom of the skimmer. Just use the skimmer cup itself for skimmate collection. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titus'reef Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Welcome to this forum. You'll find great people here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 Welcome to the forum. I have always been a fan of the Tunze ATO. I am not into automation as some people but definitely feel like for quality of life and stability an ATO is worth the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorW Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 I love autotopoff.com, a member here actually steered me towards them a few years ago and they're great, I think the last ATO I bought from them I paid around ~$60 for a double float switch with a bracket to mount on my sump, including a little pump. You can build your own, a single or double float switch with or without a bracket and a cheap little pump. The owner was very patient with me and my questions, I've ordered from them four times now and IMO they're probably the cheapest and they ship fast Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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