DIY Raining ATO idea

Those are some very good points kornaco40B.. I've also run into another issue.. The wall I intended to hide the plumbing in is only about a quarter inch in places from the fire wall between my condo and my neighbor... I can't even get my extension cord (for the LEDs) to pull right now... But I'm going to keep working on it.

Using a salty system worries me about saltcreep.. Could end up being such a mess...

 

think about the mess salty sprinkles will leave all around the outside of the tank

 

Bummer about the wall issue... :-/ That's gonna throw a huge wrench in concealing any plumbing if a small cord won't even fit...

I hear you about the creep... (as if I'm trying to sell you now...) I picture a majority of the creep issue to be related to the spray/splashing from your rain hitting the water surface... So, if it's surface spray causing your mess--that's gonna be a factor in either water, fresh or salty...

It's still a pretty sweet idea though... taking your reef to another meteorological level...

 

Right, it would be a decent challenge to make any rain "un-messy..." (Salty or fresh)

 

This has been discussed a few times before in the past.. Here's an idea & is quite easy. Take 1/4" tubing that is used for RO systems. It's rigid enough to drill into, flexible, and small enough to hide. Cap the end on one side & you should be able to use a lifter pump or a solenoid valve. Install a 1/4" ball valve to control water flow. Remember you want the holes big enough to drip & not mist.

 

As long as the water doesn't end up just running down the tube instead of dripping that would be awesome. I can experiment with that on my next day off. Thanks for the idea!!

 

Here you go. Took me 10min to make this sample. Used a 3/32" drill bit and drilled every 1/2" on the tubing. Play around with the ball valve for desired flow.

Keep on mind, a couple of the holes were crooked do to drilling them quick.

Sent from my HTC EVO using Tapatalk

 

HA! That is downright awesome!! I bet I can get that through the wall!!! You rock, thank you very much.

 

Oh yeah, you can run that through a wall no problem.

Your welcome. Always try to help.

Sent from my HTC EVO using Tapatalk

 

You could always run say a half inherent piece then Tee it a few times to get more coverage and run a slighlty larger pump then you think you will need and control the flow with a ball valve. Are you planning to use this as your only source of top off? I know you said only once or twice a day running it but I'm just curious.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk