Auto Top Off

[46cobraguy]

ok so after the chit chat..... which is the safest most cost effective way?....im going to be going home( i have a townhouse at school) for the holidays, and my fish & qt TANK are coming with me because i have to do hypo. The Display tank will be up and running while im gone but i dont want to have to have some1 come over all the time to add water, but on the same note i dont want my tank being doused with freshwater and my living room turned into a swamp. Kind of be specific cuz im n00b to this autotop off and the lingo. thanks
also what RODI units are good/easy on the wallet? i heard some1 up above mention that some have shut off valves? Can some1 shed some light on this for me?

 

[wattsupdoc]

There are several methods to do an ATO. It just depends on how involved you wanna get and how much cash you wanna spend. They can be as cheap as 10 -15 bucks. And as simple as a 5 gallon bucket and a float valve. Heres a link to a drip ATO I had for a while.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/257510/my-new-diy-auto-top-off
Also I had one that was an inverted water jug. Hurt posted a basic float valve setup there. But you could just use a 5 gallon bucket, filled with water you either bout or processed yourself, place it on a chair and use a float valve. Also of course theres the JBJ type. Really they're all pretty reliable setups. But the drip type involves either matching it perfectly which is a little tediouse, or compesating by either adding small amounts periodically to catch up, or shutting down periodically to evaporate.
I believe the porpouse of the auto shut off is an option on a RO unit that lets the unit actually shut down when not processing water to avoid waste/premature filter changes. You will need one with an RO fed ATO. Or if you are not constantly processing water. But I may miunderstand the actual use there. Iknow I have one and I need it.
Hey if your ever up this way Ameno, give me a shout. Well hook up and check out Bass Pro or something..

 

[t316]

That link was pretty informative whatsupdoc.

Good job. Sounds like you have worked on this issue a lot.

 

[ameno]

good info Doc. I think for the cheapiest easiest way to top of safely the gravity feed from a jug thru a float valve or from a ro/ thru a float valve idea would work best, although with the ro you would need the optional auto shut-off valve on the ro/and if something like the float does stick you will run water until you get back home. probably wouldn't happen but with my luck it would. So if you got room to gravity feed I would go that route for now.IMO.
will let you know Doc I always like the bass pro shop there it's the best

 

[ameno]

to answer your other question 46cobra, check out the TyphoonIII, that's what I bought, seems to be the best for the buck IMO.