ATO really necessary?

Mical · Mar 5, 2020

Topping up tank once a week vs daily

Pau Hana Reefer · Mar 5, 2020

And everyone made a great point about ATO allowing you to go on vacation. How could I forget this point... I’m currently on vacation. lol

esther · Mar 5, 2020

I agree with everyone else.. Definitely not a "must", but I can't imagine not having our Tunze 3155. We have a lot of evaporation with our rimless tank. It makes life a lot simpler, that's for sure.

Hemmdog · Mar 5, 2020

Cell said:
The Tunze 3155 is pretty much the gold standard for ATO's. It might be the most widely used piece of equipment in all of reefing.

+1, get the 3155, you won’t be disappointed.
That model has multiple sensors so it’s pretty much impossible for you to flood your home while using the 3155. Other cheaper ATO’s, yes they can fail and cause big issues.

The Aquatic Arsenal · Mar 5, 2020

I don't use any myself as of yet. I top off at least 2 times daily anywhere from 5 - 10 gallons at a time. All they systems combined are around 850 gallons.

Fish rookie 07 · Mar 5, 2020

Woah not sure if I could reply to all you guys but thanks a lot for the feedback think I’ll get that Tunze after all might take a while as I sold much phone to get a tank due to me only being 14! really appreciate the welcoming happy to help tho don’t think id be too much help yet as I haven’t even got fish yet!

Hemmdog · Mar 5, 2020

Fish rookie 07 said:
Woah not sure if I could reply to all you guys but thanks a lot for the feedback think I’ll get that Tunze after all might take a while as I sold much phone to get a tank due to me only being 14! really appreciate the welcoming happy to help tho don’t think id be too much help yet as I haven’t even got fish yet!

Look at the marketplace (dry goods for sale) on here. I got a used one for my 2nd tank for like $60. Works perfectly.

Fish rookie 07 · Mar 5, 2020

esther said:
I agree with everyone else.. Definitely not a "must", but I can't imagine not having our Tunze 3155. We have a lot of evaporation with our rimless tank. It makes life a lot simpler, that's for sure.

Sounds a bit like a must for me than!

Pickwun · Mar 5, 2020

If you look at it from a cost/benefit perspective then an ATO is definitely a should-have. Plus you can easily spend more on mistakes than the ATO costs.

Kellie in CA · Mar 5, 2020

I topped off 2x a day manually for 12 years. Never again. If I forgot to do it or had to come home late I would stress about it.

Mical · Mar 5, 2020

Fish rookie 07 said:
Woah not sure if I could reply to all you guys but thanks a lot for the feedback think I’ll get that Tunze after all might take a while as I sold much phone to get a tank due to me only being 14! really appreciate the welcoming happy to help tho don’t think id be too much help yet as I haven’t even got fish yet!

Think of it this way, you're young and have more time than money (that's a plus in this hobby) Spend your time researching and planning, save for the things you want then build your dream tank.

Too many folks want "insta-tank" and with open wallets dive into disasters of all kinds. You are restricted by your age and income (which both are a blessing & will go a LONG way in your success) Time is your friend use it to save your $$$

Fish rookie 07 · Mar 5, 2020

Hemmdog said:
Look at the marketplace (dry goods for sale) on here. I got a used one for my 2nd tank for like $60. Works perfectly.

thanks a lot think that’s the way forwarding but I’m a patient person and am happy to wait a while for things to develop (or to be bought in my case!)

BigRed78 · Mar 5, 2020

I put off getting an ato for over a year. Although it wasn't needed it is absolutely worth it. Not even just vacations even just going away for the weekend. I used to put a line on tape on my sump so i knew what level to fill it too. The final straw was when i went away for a weekend the person who I trusted to watch my tank decided to fill up my entire sump instead of filling it to the tape line. Luckily I did not loose anything but I ordered one the day I got back.

Fish rookie 07 · Mar 5, 2020

Mical said:
Think of it this way, you're young and have more time than money (that's a plus in this hobby) Spend your time researching and planning, save for the things you want then build your dream tank.

Too many folks want "insta-tank" and with open wallets dive into disasters of all kinds. You are restricted by your age and income (which both are a blessing & will go a LONG way in your success) Time is your friend use it to save your $$$

“Only bad things happen fast”
I’m not afraid to wait as it took a yr Andy a half for me to get this far so my aim is for somewhat of a cycled tank by summer

ReefGrammie · Mar 5, 2020

Welcome! I topped off manually on my first tank for about 5 years, which was a 46-gallon bowfront. After I invested in a Tunze over 6 years ago on my current tank, I will never go back to manually topping off! I have an extra pump on hand in case of pump failure, which hasn't happened yet. It's definitely one of the things that had made this hobby more enjoyable for me!

Cell · Mar 5, 2020

You are going to have a wicked mature tank by the time you are just 21 years old and make all the old reefers jealous!

Fish rookie 07 · Mar 5, 2020

BigRed78 said:
I put off getting an ato for over a year. Although it wasn't needed it is absolutely worth it. Not even just vacations even just going away for the weekend. I used to put a line on tape on my sump so i knew what level to fill it too. The final straw was when i went away for a weekend the person who I trusted to watch my tank decided to fill up my entire sump instead of filling it to the tape line. Luckily I did not loose anything but I ordered one the day I got back.

Yeah don’t think I could trust any family or friends to be honest either

Fish rookie 07 · Mar 5, 2020

Cell said:
You are going to have a wicked mature tank by the time you are just 21 years old and make all the old reefers jealous!

Can’t wait to see the progression stage would be amazing to see what it would look like in 7 years

rastareefs · Mar 5, 2020

I use a Tunze 3155 on my 65 gallon JBJ tank and have bought another two more to use on my upcoming builds. I love the redundancy with the optical sensor and float switch, you'll be very happy with that piece of hardware.