Need help with ATO

Hey guys. I'm in the process of finally building an ATO for my sumpless 55 gal. I'm going to use float switches tied to the Arduino microcontroller. I've got the Arduino programmed and my float switches in place but now I need to pick out a pump.

My freshwater container sits a couple inches off the floor and will need to go up about four feet to get into the tank. I assuming that I will be forced to use 1/2" tubing? Can someone suggest an inexpensive pump? Is there any way to easily reduce to a smaller tubing?

Also, I'd like to put some sort of one way valve to prevent any back siphoning should the tank somehow overfill due to sensor malfunctioning. What are these called and can I add them inline easily?

Lastly, does anyone know of an easy way to attach the tubing to the tank (hang on back style)?

I'm trying to add a bunch of fail safes to keep the tank from overflowing. I've got a couple of float switches for monitoring the water level, one for checking to make sure the water doesn't get above a certain level and one in the freshwater container for monitoring the water level in there so the pump won't run dry. I am also hoping to add a wet floor sensor to shut things down should the tank start to flood.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

You can use a Maxi Jet 900 as the pump It has a head height of 5'+
You can get a tubing reducer at Home Depot or Lowes.
You could get a 90 deg fitting for your tubing and drill a hole in the plastic rim of your tank large enough to run a small zip tei thru it to hold the 90 deg fitting just over the edge of your tank.

You could add a check valve to the tubing, but I would just keep the opening of the fitting well above the water level you are running on your DT.

Make sure your float switch in your tank is unreachable to any snails or critters that could cause it to fail. I would also be a good idea to enclose it in a black container to keep algae from growing on it.

I use two switches on mine. They are both hooked to a timer that comes on 4 times a day for one min at a time. The most water I can pump into the HOB sump is one min worth if both the switches fail

Hope this will help