Apex WiFi with Tunze or ATK

[Dag95833]

I purchased a apex system today. Originally had planned to get the ATK with it and ended up buying a tunze. LFS said Tunze was much better. I have read a lot of reviews and comparison posts. They all seem to be geared toward the ATK V1. Guess my question is did they fix a lot of issues with the V2 and would you use the Tunze over the ATK?

Plan on slowly adding most components from the Apex line.

 

[TheHarold]

I have two Tunze 3155s and an apex ATK V2. In summary, I would happily trade in the tunze for ATK.

Both have been very reliable for me.

However there are a few issues I encounter with Tunze:

• The Tunze controller will alarm whenever you turn off your return pump for coral or fish feeding, due to lifting the "high level" float. That is TERRIBLY annoying, and then you have to unplug it or turn off power with your controller. edit: Apparently I didn't see that it came with another magnetic mount for that float switch! I am dumb
• To resolve the alarm issue, one powers off the Tunze 3155 via your apex during feed mode. But whenever the Tunze gets power, it adds water. Which also is annoying, especially if you are using Kalk.
• Pump does not prime well after it runs dry. You must shake it quite a bit to get it pumping again.

However there are a few benefits with Tunze:

• Longer 2 year warranty.
• Ultra reliable, proven ATO.
• Industry leading customer support (Roger is great)

There are a few pretty significant benefits of using the ATK V2:

• Text notifications if there is an issue (such as reservoir is empty, water level is high, or any issue related to water level or pump timing out).
• Ability to add more devices with the other two FMM ports, such as leak detectors, flow monitoring, or additional sensors. Inexpensive to add those features given you already have the module!

 

[Albertan22]

I went through the same deliberation 6 months ago and went with the Tunze. If I were to do it over again I would have tried out the ATK. I went with the Tunze for redundancy. If the Apex failed then the ATO would still be operational. Honestly though, if the Apex fails my tank will be in pretty rough shape and I doubt the ATO will be the deciding factor in my tank’s survival at that point. I have found the Tunze pump to be quite noisy, and I can think of all kinds of things I could have done with the extra FMM ports on the ATK...

 

[Dag95833]

Good points. Making me think I should of stuck with my intention and bought the ATK. They both were $199. Think I will decide tonight and if I decide to change see if they will swap them. Going to hold off on opening the box.

 

[Albertan22]

I have two Tunze 3155s and an apex ATK V2. In summary, I would happily trade in the tunze for ATK.

Both have been very reliable.

However there are a few issues I encounter with Tunze:

• The Tunze controller will alarm whenever you turn off your return pump for coral or fish feeding, due to lifting the "high level" float. That is TERRIBLY annoying, and then you have to unplug it or turn off power with your controller.
• To resolve the alarm issue, one powers off the Tunze 3155 via your apex during feed mode. But whenever the Tunze gets power, it adds water. Which also is annoying, especially if you are using Kalk.
• Pump does not prime well after it runs dry. You must shake it quite a bit to get it pumping again.

There are a few benefits of using the ATK V2:

• Text notifications if there is an issue (such as reservoir is empty, water level is high, or any issue related to water level or pump timing out).
• Ability to add more devices with the other two FMM ports, such as leak detectors, flow monitoring, or additional sensors.

To fix your alarm issue just remove the float switch from the magnet mount the optical sensor lives on and put it on the alternate magnet that came with the unit. Position the float just above where your powered down sump level stabilizes.

Oh, and I strongly agree with the pump priming issue! I loved the fact that I could drop the pump into a camping style 5 gallon jug but the pump constantly air locks. I had to change reservoirs to something with a wide top that I could reach in and flip the pump upside down in.

 

[Mjl714]

I have two Tunze 3155s and an apex ATK V2. In summary, I would happily trade in the tunze for ATK.

Both have been very reliable for me.

However there are a few issues I encounter with Tunze:

• The Tunze controller will alarm whenever you turn off your return pump for coral or fish feeding, due to lifting the "high level" float. That is TERRIBLY annoying, and then you have to unplug it or turn off power with your controller.
• To resolve the alarm issue, one powers off the Tunze 3155 via your apex during feed mode. But whenever the Tunze gets power, it adds water. Which also is annoying, especially if you are using Kalk.
• Pump does not prime well after it runs dry. You must shake it quite a bit to get it pumping again.

However there are a few benefits with Tunze:

• Longer 2 year warranty.
• Ultra reliable, proven ATO.
• Industry leading customer support (Roger is great)

There are a few pretty significant benefits of using the ATK V2:

• Text notifications if there is an issue (such as reservoir is empty, water level is high, or any issue related to water level or pump timing out).
• Ability to add more devices with the other two FMM ports, such as leak detectors, flow monitoring, or additional sensors. Inexpensive to add those features given you already have the module!

I have had three, and now two Tunze ATO’s in operation, and would totally agree (plus and minus) with @theharolds comments re: Tunze ATO’s.

 

[TheHarold]

To fix your alarm issue just remove the float switch from the magnet mount the optical sensor lives on and put it on the alternate magnet that came with the unit. Position the float just above where your powered down sump level stabilizes.

Oh, and I strongly agree with the pump priming issue! I loved the fact that I could drop the pump into a camping style 5 gallon jug but the pump constantly air locks. I had to change reservoirs to something with a wide top that I could reach in and flip the pump upside down in.

Did it come with another magnet for the float? I didn’t notice haha.

Yeah the pump priming issue is almost deal breaker for me. It’s super annoying and has lead to my return pump running dry a couple times.

 

[Albertan22]

@TheHarold

 

[Dag95833]

I didn’t feel like spending the money on an ATO container so just order this to use with this 10 dollar tank. It’s only 5.5 gallons but figure at least I won’t flood everything if something happens.

 

[Albertan22]

After my camping jug solution failed me I ended up using a 20 gallon extra high aquarium as it was cheaper than any acrylic purpose built reservoir. My last tank used a recycling bin as the ATO reservoir. Anything not made for reef tanks will be much cheaper!

 

[Albertan22]