Let's here and see how you reefers out there use your (GFATO) gravity fed auto top off.
I've been using GFATOs for the past 7 years. I've been using this method of top off because back when I was thinking of hooking up an ato I heard to many horror stories of people crashing there tanks from a pump not turning of or a float switch getting stuck. Well I started looking at a float valves. It's a simple mechanical valve that has the lest amount of failure. At first I thought about using a pump to push the water through the line to the float valve but didn't want to add any extra power consumption then what was needed.
So I came up with the plan of using a GFATO. This would eliminate the pump and make the ato as simple as can be.
So here's my current GFATO that I'm using on a 300 gallon system. I have two 25gallon food grade drums in a storage shed outside in my backyard. I use this as a mixing station and a GFATO.
These barrels are on a stand so that they would be high then my sump of the tank located inside. The barrel on the right is a salt water mixing barrel. The left barrel is a ro/di and top off storage barrel. I have 2 bulkheads plumbed into the bottom of the RO barrel. The 1" bulkhead is used for the mixing or if I need to ro for anything. The other bulkhead is 1/2" and has a 1/4" connection plumbed to it.
The 1/4" line runs through the wall of the house and to a float valve in the sump.
I like using the float valve on an adjustable clip so if I need to change the water level in the sump I can do it by the float valve mounting clip. Instead of having the float valve installed in a fix location.
Let's see how you other reefers run your gravity fed auto top offs on your tank.
I've been using GFATOs for the past 7 years. I've been using this method of top off because back when I was thinking of hooking up an ato I heard to many horror stories of people crashing there tanks from a pump not turning of or a float switch getting stuck. Well I started looking at a float valves. It's a simple mechanical valve that has the lest amount of failure. At first I thought about using a pump to push the water through the line to the float valve but didn't want to add any extra power consumption then what was needed.
So I came up with the plan of using a GFATO. This would eliminate the pump and make the ato as simple as can be.
So here's my current GFATO that I'm using on a 300 gallon system. I have two 25gallon food grade drums in a storage shed outside in my backyard. I use this as a mixing station and a GFATO.
These barrels are on a stand so that they would be high then my sump of the tank located inside. The barrel on the right is a salt water mixing barrel. The left barrel is a ro/di and top off storage barrel. I have 2 bulkheads plumbed into the bottom of the RO barrel. The 1" bulkhead is used for the mixing or if I need to ro for anything. The other bulkhead is 1/2" and has a 1/4" connection plumbed to it.
The 1/4" line runs through the wall of the house and to a float valve in the sump.
I like using the float valve on an adjustable clip so if I need to change the water level in the sump I can do it by the float valve mounting clip. Instead of having the float valve installed in a fix location.
Let's see how you other reefers run your gravity fed auto top offs on your tank.
