ATO or Protein Skimmer

[aabjones888]

I vote Ato for sure, I ran smaller tanks without skimmers with no problems for years while doing water changes weekly or biweekly. Well The only problem was having to top the water off. And don’t add your additives to your ato. But You can add Kalk to your ato water to maintain your levels.

 

[cpschult]

So Far (and if I counted right) the poll is 9 ATO vs 7 Skimmer. It's pretty close, I'm just curious if I can put all my additives (Ca, Mg, etc) in the ATO reservoir so as to not have to do that manually or is that not advisable? That could very well be a deciding factor.

Thanks everyone for sharing your knowledge and make this process a little easier. Theres too much information out there and it can be overwhelming!

Yes and no. I highly recommend looking at randy farley's kalkwasser post. Liveaquaria.com has a good write up too; https://www.liveaquaria.com/article/97/?aid=97

I use kalkwasser in my ATO to add CA and Alk.

However, you don't need to dose unless your corals are using up Ca and Alk. Water changes should be enough to keep your levels steady for a decent amount of time. Then as demand grows you can add kalkwasser to your ATO. When that demand isn't enough you can decide between 2-part and a calcium reactor. That will probably be a long time down the road

 

[Forsaken77]

I thought allowing air to be drawn into the return pump wasn’t a good thing? I’m pretty sure you may have return pump issues in the future.

On the topic at hand, 100% ATO. As long as you have good gas exchange and monitoring NO3 and PO4 you should be okay. Also makes being away from home for longer periods of time much easier on yourself.

I've had the pump running for 3+ years this way on a 93 cube. I don't let it run dry, and it has run-dry protection which has never kicked in, It's when I see a few air bubbles coming out of the return jets, usually because of tubulence at a low water level by the return pump, then I refill it.

On a large tank it can be a pain. On a small tank it's 30 seconds every few days.

My .02¢

 

[BmackCW]

Consider a used skimmer from eBay? I wouldn’t spend a lot. If you stay on the hobby for more than a year you WILL want a tank with sump.

 

[larrysy]

Its not an "either or" decision. It's which one first. If you get an ATO first, you can wait for a good priced used skimmer.

If you don't get an ATO, you have to top up your water everyday.

If you don't get a skimmer, you don't have to do anything else except for water changes, which you are going to do anyway.

I don't suggest kalkwasser in ATO. I did that before and it clogged up my ATO pump.

 

[Maobea]

Consider a used skimmer from eBay? I wouldn’t spend a lot. If you stay on the hobby for more than a year you WILL want a tank with sump.

I thought about a sump, but i just don’t have enough space under my stand. What size sump would you recommend on a 70 Gal tank?

Its not an "either or" decision. It's which one first. If you get an ATO first, you can wait for a good priced used skimmer.

If you don't get an ATO, you have to top up your water everyday.

If you don't get a skimmer, you don't have to do anything else except for water changes, which you are going to do anyway.

I don't suggest kalkwasser in ATO. I did that before and it clogged up my ATO pump.

Yes, is definitely is a “which first” question. I will be getting both in time, but now I have a concern about having a sump so I don’t know if it’ll be a good idea to buy an HOB skimmer if I decide to do a sump later down the road and have to buy another skimmer.
I need to figure out what to do for the sump, though as I don’t think I have enough space under the stand.

 

[PhreeByrd]

ATO is just a convenience, although I agree it can be a big help in maintaining constant salinity. But I have to ask if the tank will be covered, in which case evaporation can really be a non-issue, and an ATO won't do much, if anything.

A skimmer, IMO, is a necessity for long-term success. All one needs to do is look at the skimmer's product to see what it's doing for the water quality. If you add a sump at some point in the future, you don't necessarily need to change the skimmer. You could, however, move it to the sump so you don't have to see it on the display. Further, if a sump is added in the future, you can do a very cheap ATO system at the sump since it doesn't have to look good.

Skimmer, no question for me...

 

[Maobea]

ATO is just a convenience, although I agree it can be a big help in maintaining constant salinity. But I have to ask if the tank will be covered, in which case evaporation can really be a non-issue, and an ATO won't do much, if anything.

A skimmer, IMO, is a necessity for long-term success. All one needs to do is look at the skimmer's product to see what it's doing for the water quality. If you add a sump at some point in the future, you don't necessarily need to change the skimmer. You could, however, move it to the sump so you don't have to see it on the display. Further, if a sump is added in the future, you can do a very cheap ATO system at the sump since it doesn't have to look good.

Skimmer, no question for me...

The tank is not covered, but I do plan on buying a skimmer within the few months as well. The question is whether or not I could fit a sump under my stand. I have a space under my stand that’s 11.5” W x 23” H x 17” D. Im not sure if that’ll be enough to fit a small sump for a 70 gal tank

 

[cpschult]

These are just my opinions for what it’s worth. I disagree with some of the posters but I’m not an expert, only going off my experiences with the 4 tanks I’ve had in the last five years.

Consider a used skimmer from eBay? I wouldn’t spend a lot. If you stay on the hobby for more than a year you WILL want a tank with sump.

Or move to an all in one tank. That’s what I did after downsizing a few times.

Its not an "either or" decision. It's which one first. If you get an ATO first, you can wait for a good priced used skimmer.

If you don't get an ATO, you have to top up your water everyday.

If you don't get a skimmer, you don't have to do anything else except for water changes, which you are going to do anyway.

I don't suggest kalkwasser in ATO. I did that before and it clogged up my ATO pump.

If kalk clogged your ato you were using it wrong. Once you dissolve your kalk in RODI water you can decant/remove the saturated kalkwasser and leave the sediment behind. Another option is to put your ato pump on a lift so it’s not in the sediment. Tunze ato’s have real issues with kalkwasser but I haven’t had problems with the other three brands I’ve used. Currently using a micro smart I think.

ATO is just a convenience, although I agree it can be a big help in maintaining constant salinity. But I have to ask if the tank will be covered, in which case evaporation can really be a non-issue, and an ATO won't do much, if anything.

A skimmer, IMO, is a necessity for long-term success. All one needs to do is look at the skimmer's product to see what it's doing for the water quality. If you add a sump at some point in the future, you don't necessarily need to change the skimmer. You could, however, move it to the sump so you don't have to see it on the display. Further, if a sump is added in the future, you can do a very cheap ATO system at the sump since it doesn't have to look good.

Skimmer, no question for me...

There are breakdowns on the net about what the skimmer is actually pulling out. Here’s a good one ;
https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature
It’s taking out A LOT more than fish waste, which means it’s taking out a lot of good stuff too. Macro algae’s or low bioload with water changes should be enough.

A tank with a sump is great but would 99% require a different skimmer(hang on the back vs in sump skimmer).

There are tons of ways to skin a cat reefing. I can tell you in my experience, keeping it simple is the easiest. You will try one thing and like, will try others and not like them. By the 3rd or 4th tank you’ll know exactly what you want

 

[cpschult]

Also, for what it’s worth it looks like majority of commenters voting ato have been on r2r longer than the ones voting skimmer. If I had to guess there’s a difference in perspective from newer reefers to slightly older. It’s one of the headaches with this hobby. So many options and opinions!

 

[PhreeByrd]

Time on R2R is not a reliable gauge of time or experience in reefing.
But yes, perspectives really do differ greatly. I'm not sure you'll ever see a clear consensus on much of anything.

 

[Maobea]

Well, after much debating and with everyone’s opinion in mind, I’ve decided to go with the ATO. I noticed since I don’t have a cover on my aquarium, the evaporation rate is significant. I will, however, get a skimmer sooner rather than later.

I want to thank everyone that took the time to comment you guys made the decision easier and I learned a few things along the way.

Thank you all so much!

 

[larrysy]

Tunze ato’s have real issues with kalkwasser but I haven’t had problems with the other three brands I’ve used. Currently using a micro smart I think.

Tunze ATO is the one I used which clogged. I'll check out the micro smart.

I will, however, get a skimmer sooner rather than later.

Skimmer depends on what you want to keep - check out this 293 gallon tank by BRS/WWC (jump to 3:23) -