ATO back syphoned, SG dropped!

[crustytheclown]

so i woke up this morning to my return making noise. looks like the head of my ATO line got pushed under the water line in my sump
while i was doing a WC the other day! It back syphoned some tank water into my ato reservoir, while still kicking in a lil bit of water to the sump. so in turn my salinity dropped from 1.026 to 1.024. So i have a few questions.
1. If i plug my ato sensor/pump back in to fill the sump this will lower my SG even further, right?
2. In theory, wouldnt the SG rise back to the original level if i just let the ATO do its thing and kick all the back syphoned water back into the tank?
3. The level in the sump is low now, keeping my skimmer and heaters from working properly, so should i make up some WC salt water w a high SG to add to the tank asap to get it back up to the proper SG and add it to the tank ASAP?
Thanks for your input.

 

[Blindrage]

Any salt water that went into the ATO reservoir will have completely mixed. So if you let the ATO reservoir completely empty back into the sump then you should be back at stable SG of whatever you started. At least very very close to it since you do have to account for the small amount of evaporation within the ATO reservoir to be 100% accurate. At least all the salt should be returned.

If you do decide to refill the sump with newely made salt water, and assuming you use this to return your overall salt level to the normal range, then clean your ATO reservoir and fill it with fresh RODI.

 

[crustytheclown]

but if i let the ato kick on to fill the sump, i feel it will drop the SG in the tank even more because the SG in the ato reservoir is super low

 

[jahmic]

1. If i plug my ato sensor/pump back in to fill the sump this will lower my SG even further, right?
Yes, adding more freshwater would decrease the SG

2. In theory, wouldnt the SG rise back to the original level if i just let the ATO do its thing and kick all the back syphoned water back into the tank?

Not necessarily. How big was your reservoir, and how much freshwater was in there? Chances are the SG in that ATO bin extremely low. It could help raise the level since there is some salt in there...but it would be a very, very slow process. It wouldn't decrease your SG since there is some salt in there still, but it probably wouldn't go to the original SG in your tank due to the FW that was in there when it siphoned off.

3. The level in the sump is low now, keeping my skimmer and heaters from working properly, so should i make up some WC salt water w a high SG to add to the tank asap to get it back up to the proper SG and add it to the tank ASAP?

As for making water at a "high SG"...depends...if you were asking whether it's a good idea to make WC water at a level higher than 1.026, I would say no, as you might get precipitation and just cause more problems. Also, you don't want to raise your SG too rapidly as it could stress your livestock.

What I would do in your situation, is make some WC water at your target salinity level of 1.026, and fill the tank back up to a normal water level. Dump out whatever is in your ATO bin. Check your tank's salinity...if it is still low, put WC water at your target salinity level in the ATO bin and use that to top off the tank. Check the SG daily until you hit your target level, then switch back to freshwater in the ATO bin.

 

[Jeremiah]

I would top off to your normal levels with some salt at around 1.026. That should average you out a little higher then then 1.024 you are currently at, see where you end up. Then just toss in extra salt water above your ATO line every day till you creep that level back to the 1.026 you want through evaporation.

As for the ATO water I'd just put fresh RO and manually work on getting your levels right per above.

It shouldn't take you but a day or 2 to get it back to normal levels with evaporation.

 

[crustytheclown]

1. If i plug my ato sensor/pump back in to fill the sump this will lower my SG even further, right?
Yes, adding more freshwater would decrease the SG

2. In theory, wouldnt the SG rise back to the original level if i just let the ATO do its thing and kick all the back syphoned water back into the tank?

Not necessarily. How big was your reservoir, and how much freshwater was in there? Chances are the SG in that ATO bin extremely low. It could help raise the level since there is some salt in there...but it would be a very, very slow process. It wouldn't decrease your SG since there is some salt in there still, but it probably wouldn't go to the original SG in your tank due to the FW that was in there when it siphoned off.

3. The level in the sump is low now, keeping my skimmer and heaters from working properly, so should i make up some WC salt water w a high SG to add to the tank asap to get it back up to the proper SG and add it to the tank ASAP?

As for making water at a "high SG"...depends...what is the target SG for your tank? If you keep your salinity at 1.024 (or it is currently below that level), then go ahead and mix some water at 1.026 and and use that to top-off the tank back to a normal level in your sump. If you were asking whether it's a good idea to make WC water at a level higher than 1.026, I would say no, as you might get precipitation and just cause more problems. Also, you don't want to raise your SG too rapidly as it could stress your livestock.


What I would do in your situation, is make some WC water at your target salinity level, and fill the tank back up to a normal water level. Dump out whatever is in your ATO bin. Check your tank's salinity...if it is still low, put WC water at your target salinity level in the ATO bin and use that to top off the tank. Check the SG daily until you hit your target level, then switch back to freshwater in the ATO bin.

Ok. Ill make up some salt water at 1.026 and add it to my tank. Thanks for your imput!

 

[crustytheclown]

I would top off to your normal levels with some salt at around 1.026. That should average you out a little higher then then 1.024 you are currently at, see where you end up. Then just toss in extra salt water above your ATO line every day till you creep that level back to the 1.026 you want through evaporation.

As for the ATO water I'd just put fresh RO and manually work on getting your levels right per above.

It shouldn't take you but a day or 2 to get it back to normal levels with evaporation.

Awesome. sounds like the best way is to make up some salt water to 1.026 and add it to tank to fill sump. Than just add that water to the tank to top off till i reach my target!.
thanks guys

 

[jahmic]

No problem

Edited my post as well...completely missed the fact that you had already listed your current and target levels.

Refilling with 1.026 water now wouldn't raise your tank much at all...you might hit 1.025 depending on the volume of your tank and how much water you need to add...but that's doubtful. You are still within a normal range, so I would just let it slowly creep back up.

As Jeremiah pointed out, you could also overfill with 1.026 and let it evaporate...by the time your ATO starts kicking you will likely be at 1.026 again. That being said, unless you've done it before and know how much you need to overfill, it's a bit of a guessing game. Topping off with SW via the ATO to raise your level is a nice slow process...could take a few days or even a week depending on several factors including your tank volume and evaporation rate.

 

[crustytheclown]

also i am currently dosing with BRS Dosing pumps one for ALk and one for Cal. the alk doses for a couple minutes each hour while my lights are off, should i turn those off for now? since they are dosing into my sump?

 

[Jeremiah]

Ya, it really comes down to how well you know your tank.

Overfilling lets say 1 cup extra on a large tank is nothing, but overfilling 1 cup on my 16 gallon is a ton...you just have to know your tank. I am a bit scared of just setting the ATO with salt water and letting it go with that method. (but that is just me, I'd rather have control over it)

Since you are in the normal range the first day you could test...get your #...add a cup...1 day later test...now you know what 1 cup raises your setups salinity (assuming you evaporate atleast 1 cup a day).

Then just do the math and add that many more cups of saltwater at the 1.026 target and you are set.

 

[Jeremiah]

I would say if you put your tank back to normal water levels with the 1.026 and put RO/DI back in your ATO that you should be able to leave your other dosing alone.

Just do like i said above with adding a little 1.026 water over your normal level every date till it evaporates you to your target.

also i am currently dosing with BRS Dosing pumps one for ALk and one for Cal. the alk doses for a couple minutes each hour while my lights are off, should i turn those off for now? since they are dosing into my sump?

 

[jahmic]

Also...might want to go ahead and prevent this from happening in the future by creating a siphon break in your ATO. What are you using for your ATO pump?

Raise the line up to a high point that sits above your sump and the reservoir. If you are using something like an aqualifter, cut the line and install a T splitter in the line. Add an extra length of tubing on the high side of the "T", and cap it with an airstone to keep crap from getting in there. If the end of your ATO line ends up under the water, it won't siphon back into the bin.

If you are using a larger pump like a maxijet with vinyl tubing, you can do the same by piercing the line and tapping it at a high point.

 

[crustytheclown]

im using a maxi jet 1200 and some vinyl tubing. how do i pierce the line? you mean just put a hole in it and insert some air line tubing and than an airstone?

 

[jahmic]

In short, yes.

You would have to make sure that wherever you pierce the tubing is at a high point that's sitting well above the reservoir and the sump. My only concern is whether an MJ1200 might create enough pressure to cause that to fail; I was going to say use one of those plastic connectors to plug the hole where you pierce the line (the ones you use to connect 2 lengths of air tubing), seal with silicone, then run the airline tubing with the stone up from there...but there might be enough pressure to cause water to spray out.

How large is your tank? If you can get away with using an aqualifter for an ATO pump it may be a better option. I run one on my tank (~100gal total) and it runs intermittently throughout the day for 5-10 minutes at a time.

Another option would be to suspend the flexible vinyl tubing you have on your maxijet well above your sump. Instead of having the water just splash into the sump, use an L shaped piece of PVC long enough to reach up to where the tubing is and just have the end of the tube sit inside the open end of the PVC. Have that PVC run down to the sump with the elbow right at the water level...the water will run down the PVC and out the open end into the tank. No noise, no splashing, no siphon.