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DIY ATO for 29 Bio cube..

3K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  badxgillen 
#1 ·
recently I started cycling a Coral life bio cube ( 29 gallon ) as a new home for my H Kuda sea horses... theur current tank is a 20 gallon bow front that they have out grown and in the summer has issues with severe evaporation thus causing a fluctuation in Sg. as I have to add up to a gallon of fresh water daily...often time too much at one time...

so I "invented" an ATO for the new bio cube that will fit in the factory cabinet with the new 900 BTU chiller..

for the project, I used 8" of 1/2 Sch. 80 ( sch. 40 is fine but I I wanted a dark pipe).. one 1/2 X 1/4 fnpt adapter as well as a 1/4 X 1/8 reducer bushing ( I drilled a 1/2" cap 1/8 FPT instead ) you will also need a 1/2" X 1/2 MNPT adapter and a threaded 1/2 FNPT cap.... I used a liquid level float ( purchased at Grainger) P/N 4YM35... to this I soldered 2' of lamp cord and sealed with liquid tape and heat shrink.. the float(liquid level sensor) is installed in the 1/8" hole, being sure to use Teflon tape to seal the threads... a 1/4" hole drilled in the top of the threaded cap ( latter sealed with silicon) to facilitate installation of the float wires... the assembly was installed in replacement heater mount brackets w/suction cups ( bought at Petco)... the relay system consisted of a relay block P/N 6C898 ( purchased at Grainger) and an electronic relay P/N 4 FE15... the power from the relay ( once the switch was activated) was sent to a single outlet mounted in a water proof box.. that the pump could be plugged into... ( all bought at Home depot).. the storage compartment was a container ( bought at home goods) that is used as storage for items like sugar ,flour and rice.. it holds about 1 1/2 gallons of liquid.. it just fits a 150GPH power head ( bought at petco)
that is capable of delivering up to 4' of head.
the 1/2" port is blocked off ( I had some nice rubber caps at work but a piece of wood dowel and a short length of hose would do).. to the air inlet ( remember this is a power head) I attach the air line tubing to the nipple and run up to the center chamber.. a short length of 316 Stainless wire ( bought at McMaster carr) is inserted in the end of the hose to allow installation... once the float is set the water delivery is slow enough so as not to interfere with the salinity of the tank...

In the pictures the relay is in the lower left hand corner below the outlet labeled ATO.. I'd be happy to answer any questions about wiring the relay... all told the whole set up cost around $75 and took a few hours to make and install... I had a lot of the stuff I needed hanging around so my accrual cost was even less.. but after the aggrivation with the 20 G bow front.. it is all worth it.. once it cycles and the rest of the live rock and macro algae go in.. this should make a wonderful stable for my ponies!
 

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#2 ·
Wow, very inventive. You are one handy guy aren't you, you have a couple of very custom systems that you are always modifying\tweaking for performance. It is a good thing you are not into SPS or you would be designing calcium reactors and more efficient effluent chambers, and then there are the denitrate filters for anaerobic bacteria.

Any how great job and thanks for sharing, this tank looks like it is going to be one fine display.
 
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