Remote ATO Setup?

[BW1199]

For those of you that have your ATO container a good distance away from your tank (garage, basement, etc.), how do you have your system setup? I'm planning a new setup and will have my saltwater and freshwater reservoirs about 30' away from the tank. Do I also need to have a container adjacent to the tank? If so, what are you using to get the the freshwater from your reservoir to the container at the tank? Or is it possible to have your level sensor and float switch in the sump and the Tunze pump 30' away? The tank and my reservoirs are on the same floor so I'm not worried about head pressure. Thanks in advance.

 

[Water Dog]

I’m assuming you have a Tunze 3155, right? You will need to get a stronger pump. Pick up a Spectrapure stand-alone peristaltic pump and do as this guy did in this YouTube video...

https://spectrapure.com/DOSING-TOP-OFF/LITERMETER-DOSING-SYSTEMS/Basic-LiterMeter-Dosing-Pump

 

[Water Dog]

Or you can get the Tunze switched socket outlet and essentially use any AC pump you want.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/tunze-osmolator-switched-socket-outlet.html

If you go this route, I’d get the Avast Marine diaphragm pump.

https://www.avastmarine.com/products/diaphragm-pump

 

[shred5]

Or you can get the Tunze switched socket outlet and essentially use any AC pump you want.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/tunze-osmolator-switched-socket-outlet.html

If you go this route, I’d get the Avast Marine diaphragm pump.

https://www.avastmarine.com/products/diaphragm-pump

The Avast pumps are powerful and a little noisy but I have had a few fail on me.
I am a little afraid of them now. Certainly better than Tom's Aqualifter though.

I may go with the Spectrapure litermeter myself. I mean those things might be expensive but I have known people who have had them last 10 years plus.

 

[Water Dog]

Agreed. Those Spectrapure peristalic pumps are the best in our hobby IMO.

 

[reefwiser]

I have one of my GHL doser heads set up to pump ATO water from my garage to the tank. Using a float valve installed in the rear chamber of the tank.

 

[rvitko Verified Sponsor]

Keep in mind the Osmolator only allows a pump to run for 10 minutes, this tends to limit the use of peristaltic pumps because they are too slow. The factory pump can handle a long run, it can handle up to 8ft of head pressure. The main drawback to extending the wiring and hosing is the potential failure of the electrical splice and more difficulty priming the tubing and the potential for clogs, it just means if something goes wrong, their is more to troubleshoot and check.