ATS Water Source

[infinityends]

I am finally getting around to installing an ATS I purchased from TurboAquatics a couple months ago.

I'm debating connecting the ATS to my primary drain line vs a dedicated feed pump. I know of others that have done this without issue, but I'm wondering if there are any drawbacks that I'm not thinking of. My plan would be to use a Y connection to allow for the primary drain to drain any excess flow. But this also may be an unnecessary complication vs directly flowing the entire return through the ATS.

ATS Feed Pump
Pros:
- Control
- ATS does not dry out during other maintenance which requires the return to be off
- Might be slightly less work to set up vs the drain line
Cons:
- More Power Usage
- More Heat into the system
- Another pump to be maintained and eventually replaced
- Pump takes up space in sump

ATS Fed from Drain
Pros:
- None of the cons directly related to running another pump
- Simplicity
Cons:
- Single point of failure (Return Pump)
- Could complicate downtimes like water changes
--- No water flow with lights left on accidentally could kill the algae causing problems
- Getting enough water flow (unlikely) could be a problem

 

[Saintnovakai]

Plumb it off your return line going back to the tank. It runs in a loop, your return pump is almost always on or not off for very long periods so light burn is doubtful. If your return is DC and you have the extra power you can keep the same flow to your display and just ball valve the scrubber on to it. No additional equipment for heat or anything.

Also if you're tech savvy you can rig something up to make the scrubber light go off when the return is off.