Do you clean your ATO reservoir?

[afboundguy]

Was curious if anyone cleans their ATO reservoir ever? I've never cleaned one as I've always though since it was RODI it wouldn't really get dirty. My reservoir is completely dark and an aqueon 5.5 tank so I'm sure the darkness helps keep it clean.

If you do clean it what's your process?

 

[jamesdong009]

Never have, but I'll just trust my rodi water is clean. I mostly run kalkwasser, so the top off container is rarely empty.

 

[gobyvin]

Gee, I thought you were supposed to toss the precipitated Kalk in between doses. Am I making my life more difficult? Oh man!

 

[MrX]

I haven't yet this time around.

I have three "reservoirs"... the 55G drums in the basement (for RODI and mixing) and the 5G Home Depot bucket next to the tank.

With my last setup I had to clean out the 55G mix drum a couple times; the non-organics (clay or whatever) in the RS salt really bothered me, so I cleaned it.

I'll probably let all the 55Gs drain down at some point (next spring/summer) and give them a vinegar rinse. The 5G Home Depot bucket I'll do soon just so I can rinse off the Tunze pump and make sure there's no buildup of anything.

 

[srit1]

Gee, I thought you were supposed to toss the precipitated Kalk in between doses. Am I making my life more difficult? Oh man!

found a thread on r2r where Randy Holmes-Farley mentions he does not clean out the residual solids. I had read that a few years ago when I started my kalk system and I have only cleaned out the solids once or twice a year. I do make sure to only pull water from 3"-4" inches off the bottom though (in a ~35 gallon container)

 

[jamesdong009]

Gee, I thought you were supposed to toss the precipitated Kalk in between doses. Am I making my life more difficult? Oh man!

I have three barrels; one is SW, one is RODI water, and the other is saturated kalkwasser. I just keep dumping kalkwasser in the last barrel when it's gets low and mix it once.

 

[absolutecarrot]

I have never cleaned mine, I use Kalkwasser and try to keep it full most of the time. So I have never had the chance to clean it.

 

[this is me]

If you can keep things from falling into it, 0TDS would be hard for anything to grow.
It also depends on the opacity of your ATO container. I had mine made from Black acrylic all around except a small clear window to check the water level.

 

[afboundguy]

If you can keep things from falling into it, 0TDS would be hard for anything to grow.
It also depends on the opacity of your ATO container. I had mine made from Black acrylic all around except a small clear window to check the water level.

I have an acrylic lid on top of the 5.5 gallon tank to keep things out. It's not totally sealed up but I also don't have anything in the stand besides that really...

 

[ChrisNH]

mine is a 10g brute that only sees RODI, I have no expectation of having to clean it. Maybe when i replace the pump.

 

[Andy V]

I clean mine once a year. At about month 11, it starts building up some type of white-ish slime. I just have a glass tank next to my sump.

 

[afboundguy]

I clean mine once a year. At about month 11, it starts building up some type of white-ish slime. I just have a glass tank next to my sump.

What do you clean it with?

 

[Andy V]

What do you clean it with?

It just rubs off with a towel.