Are any ATOs really safe?

[Syntax1235]

I use an Avast ATO that utilizes a pressure tube along with a float valve back up. I added a neptune optical sensor as an additional backup.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Im surprised to see not many people adding a float valve at the end of the tubing run. Float switches and optical switches have higher failure rate than quality float valve. Add that as extra layer, especially if you have a sump.

 

[David_CO]

I have to clean the optical eye on my Tunze 3155 atleast once a week due to heavy Kalk dosing. I noticed the eye is getting a bit scratched up from all the cleaning which I’m sure isn’t great. I wish I had a better place to put my Kalk stirrer but I really don’t. Considering just putting a continuous duty peristaltic pump as Ato and monitoring overfill with a float switch and optical eye for redundancy. I have a really good camera setup on this tank so would be easy enough to tweak remotely.

the new Red Sea ATO is interesting too since it uses titanium sensors. They have been super reliable on my roller mat which gets triggered a ton of times a day.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I just received a rebuild kit a couple of weeks ago. It did take a couple of months because they were waiting on part. The price was outrageous. Almost $50 with shipping for some tubing, three rollers, and a couple of fittings.

Waiting on parts is one thing but everything removed under litermeter section from their site is another. The worst thing is nobody is saying anything so one cannot plan too much ahead.

Again, great product but SpectraPure should provide an update even if it means waiting few more months for parts and/or replacement pumps.

 

[blaxsun]

My Neptune ATK system has been flawless.

 

[maroun.c]

any float valve, float switch can go wrong with Calcium buildup, snails getting stuck....
I add a float switch and also a timer on my apex so my ATO can only be active for around 45 seconds every 6 hours. Typically my ATO needs around 1-2 min (based on seasons) per day to refill evaporated water, so if it is to get stuck on itll take weeks till it floods the sumps due to the time limit.
O makesure to have a look at water level everyday when I'm in fishroom and have a camera to check water level when I'm away. ideally I should add an addtional low adn high water level alarm to make it more secure.

 

[hoffmeyerz]

My Neptune ATK system has been flawless.

I have Neptune's ATK system also. It's fed from my own system to fill the rodi reservoir which is controlled by additional optical sensors, solenoid valve, and float valve. Between the optical sensors and float valve in the ATK and ones I added in the reservoir there are multiple layers of redundancy. Couple that with coding options in Apex and I feel pretty safe.
I definitely agree with those that mentioned a float valve on the end of the line, that's a good last line of defense!

 

[Crustaceon]

Just never have enough water between what's in your sump and in your ATO container to overflow the tank at any given time.

 

[reef_1]

Are there any redundancies or failsafes you can implement to reduce or eliminate the risk entirely?

Yes, its called lid.

 

[BZOFIQ]

any float valve, float switch can go wrong with Calcium buildup, snails getting stuck....
I add a float switch and also a timer on my apex so my ATO can only be active for around 45 seconds every 6 hours. Typically my ATO needs around 1-2 min (based on seasons) per day to refill evaporated water, so if it is to get stuck on itll take weeks till it floods the sumps due to the time limit.
O makesure to have a look at water level everyday when I'm in fishroom and have a camera to check water level when I'm away. ideally I should add an addtional low adn high water level alarm to make it more secure.

Multi Layered approach is best indeed.

I instituted low-high-overflow float switches, OSC command like you did with motorized ball valve (one can use solenoid) and a float valve. If ALL of it fails, there is only about 6 gallons of water available per day for the purpose of ATO so I'm not worried.

 

[Big E]

This doesn't have to be expensive or hard with the advancement of smart plugs and apps on your phone to time top offs based on evaporation. Any cheap pump is fine.

Topping off 4-6 times over 24 hours is plenty to keep things stable.

I did this for a decade with a Litermeter and would only have to change the setting twice a year for the season change.

 

[TheSheff]

I think ATOs are a pretty interesting topic, mainly because of the potential risk of flooding your floors from a faulty ATO overfilling your tank.

ATO devices just seem to always bear that risk. Firstly, you will have multiple points of failure. I know many praise the Tunze ATOs, but even here you will still hear a few stories of overfilling the tank.
Many ATOs include a chip-based failsafe, where if the device is turns on the pump for more than a given time frame, it will automatically stop the pump. Or, alternatively, it can detect if a sensor seems faulty. But if any of you work in tech, you also know how often chips can fail (especially the cheap ones used for aquarium equipment). So, single point of failure right there.

I do hear of mechanical ATOs, often gravity fed, which does make a lot of sense, but isnt always an option for those with small AIO tanks, where you dont have enough space for a high quality float valve, as they are quite bulky.

So, are ATOs ever REALLY safe, or is it just a major risk we will always have to take as saltwater hobbyists?
Are there any redundancies or failsafes you can implement to reduce or eliminate the risk entirely?

For whatever reason, I always find myself not wanting to spend much money on ATOs, so when I do buy the cheaper ones, I usually try to add a float switch to the pumps wiring so that if that water gets too high the pump just wont turn on anymore.

 

[MichaelReefer]

Tunzee has a Float valve, an eye, and it stops after a given time...? I mean, what are the chances all three go out?

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Tunzee has a Float valve, an eye, and it stops after a given time...? I mean, what are the chances all three go out?

If the control board shorts out from salt creep, it can happen. BTDT.

 

[MichaelReefer]

If the control board shorts out from salt creep, it can happen. BTDT.

Idk man, seems like a very SLIM chance of that happening. Clean and inspect your stuff regularly and I dont see this happening.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Idk man, seems like a very SLIM chance of that happening. Clean and inspect your stuff regularly and I dont see this happening.

Well it happened in my case. You can clean all you want, if your not attentive to salt creep it will happen @ some point.

 

[ErikVR]

I'm using the red sea ato+. Been working great but I've only had it for 2 months. I can't really see it failing because the controller automatically shuts off the pump if it's running too long.

 

[Bpb]

I think ATOs are a pretty interesting topic, mainly because of the potential risk of flooding your floors from a faulty ATO overfilling your tank.

ATO devices just seem to always bear that risk. Firstly, you will have multiple points of failure. I know many praise the Tunze ATOs, but even here you will still hear a few stories of overfilling the tank.
Many ATOs include a chip-based failsafe, where if the device is turns on the pump for more than a given time frame, it will automatically stop the pump. Or, alternatively, it can detect if a sensor seems faulty. But if any of you work in tech, you also know how often chips can fail (especially the cheap ones used for aquarium equipment). So, single point of failure right there.

I do hear of mechanical ATOs, often gravity fed, which does make a lot of sense, but isnt always an option for those with small AIO tanks, where you dont have enough space for a high quality float valve, as they are quite bulky.

So, are ATOs ever REALLY safe, or is it just a major risk we will always have to take as saltwater hobbyists?
Are there any redundancies or failsafes you can implement to reduce or eliminate the risk entirely?

Of course they’re safe if your reservoir is small enough that it cannot cause a flood. If my ATO got stuck and did a full dump it wouldn’t overflow the sump, nor would the volume of added rodi be enough to cause a state of catastrophic hypo-salinity. Run in this manner, it is 100% perfectly safe. In 12 years of ato use I’ve never had one stick in the on position. Only failures I’ve had is when they fail to fill when the level gets low, and I discover it from the return pump pulling air

If you want to be a cowboy and mainline your rodi filter to an ato, that is risky business. I don’t even run my rodi inside the house for risk of flooding.

 

[Crotalus]

The easiest thing to do is limit the size of your reservoir. I have a 39 gallon sump that I run at about 2/3 full. My top off reservoir is 10 gallons. Even if the ATO system totally fails, it can't fill the sump over the top.

 

[Dburr1014]

If the control board shorts out from salt creep, it can happen. BTDT.

Why would it be so close to get salt creep?