Ato

[Pappy]

I have a friend that wants to trade me a 5 gallon acrylic tank perfect for ato on my 75. I can't do a gravity feed and was leaning to a jbj ato controller with float switches but this reefer informed me that they use a lift pump on timer. Has anyone else done this and any suggestions would be appreciated. I will have tank Sunday and will post pics. I am topping off manually about 1-2 gallons a day.

 

[Jake1]

It would be hard to do the timer. You will still have to manually add water each day or at less every other day. I would go with a ato or keep manually adding water.

 

[ReeferBee]

I use an aqua lifter pump hooked up to a timer for the ATO on my 90g. It works well for me, and 5 gallons last me about a week. I just got an apex though, so I'm going to get some float switches and leak detectors at some point.

 

[Steelerfan747]

I would go with a Tunze osmolator. It is small, accurate, needs no timers and cannot fail as the pump is preset to run a max of 10 secs should the optical eye fail. Best purchase I ever made and my favorite piece of equipment

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Paul C.]

Im also running hte Tunze.. I have a 6 gallon acrylic cube i fill manually with RO in one of those foot stool ottamans next to tank. Lines are hidden, great lil investment.. Prob one of the best i've amde so far.

 

[LeoLionFish]

Has anyone seen the ATO cubes that Atomic Reef has?? Pretty cool concept for ATO boxes that are not hidden next to their tank.

 

[WillKatt]

I have an elos osmocontroller on my 28 and love it. Its a bit pricier than others out there but its micro processor controlled and has no moving parts or optics. It simply has a sensor that knows when water is touching in and when its getting low. It warns when water is low and it getting close to top off or if there is some sort of fault that needs to be addressed. I also run kalk through mine and no clogging issues after a year but I do take it out an clean it about every 6 months. I have heard very good things about the Tunze as well.


Elos Osmocontroller Digital Water Level Controller

 

[WillKatt]

One other thing I forgot to mention about the elos that I really like. Unlike many ATOs that use a float switches the elos warns before it begins pumping water so if your doing a water change and forget to turn off the ATO it dosnt matter so much because you have time and a warning before its start pumping ro/di into the tank.

Several times with my old ATO I would forget to shut it off and start draining the water and my ATO would kick on and I would have to frantically try to stop it then have to deal with readjusting my salinity. Maybe not as big a deal on a larger tank but on a small one its nice to not worry about that anymore. Just my 2 cents for whatever its worth.

 

[ritter6788]

I use the JBJ with an Aqualifter pump. The JBJ includes safety shut off features to prevent overdosing your tank.

 

[Paul C.]

I got my acrylic box with hinged top from www.pleximart.com. Got a 12" square for like 90 bux shipped... Working great for me.

 

[Tabasco1]

I have a jbj ato and it works so so. I wouldn't bet my life on it. It will work great for 5 days or a week and then I will look at it and the lights are on that the resevoir has run dry, but there will be plenty of water in there. All I have to do is manually top off my sump to turn the ato sensor off and then it cycle again for a couple days again. It's better than manual for sure, but not something I would trust entirely if I need to go on vaca. Unfortunately I will be looking for a more reliable ato at some point.

FYI-I bought it new and this is how it has worked since it has been set up at the beginning of June so it is not some old unit. Unfortunately I bought it months ago and never had time to set it up otherwise I would have probably sent it back.

 

[Pappy]

Ok so got the 5 gallon ato tank and it fits perfect check it out! Now just have to decide how much to spend on controller. Brs has jbj on sale $80...hard to spend $200 or more on tunze when they're such a good deal I've never skimped on anything for my tank so maybe this will be the first time

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

how much was that tank and let me know what you get. thats the next thing I'm getting tried of manualing pouring 1-2 gallon in a day. and with the new skimmer need perfect height for maxium performance.

 

[Steelerfan747]

I have an elos osmocontroller on my 28 and love it. Its a bit pricier than others out there but its micro processor controlled and has no moving parts or optics. It simply has a sensor that knows when water is touching in and when its getting low. It warns when water is low and it getting close to top off or if there is some sort of fault that needs to be addressed. I also run kalk through mine and no clogging issues after a year but I do take it out an clean it about every 6 months. I have heard very good things about the Tunze as well.


Elos Osmocontroller Digital Water Level Controller

Looks like the elos and tunze may use the same pump

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Giancarlo]

This should not be the thing you skimp on in my opinion. I run a tunze, but the elos looks like it would run just as well/ just as reliable. 100% peace of mind.

 

[Steelerfan747]

Ok so got the 5 gallon ato tank and it fits perfect check it out! Now just have to decide how much to spend on controller. Brs has jbj on sale $80...hard to spend $200 or more on tunze when they're such a good deal I've never skimped on anything for my tank so maybe this will be the first time

I would not skimp on this as it could have serious consequences. Spend the money and never have to look back, or skimp and possibly have to spend twice in best possible scenario

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Steelerfan747]

By the way. Make sure the line is above the ato container our you could cause a siphon

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Pappy]

By the way. Make sure the line is above the ato container our you could cause a siphon

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

Thank u very much because I def would not have thought of that!. Line going into sump? Any pics?

 

[Pappy]

Ok I went with the jbj and all is well. Had a fellow reefer talk me through setting up(I'm as mechanically inclined as a 2 year old most of time. I installed float switches upside down at first and couldn't figure out why sensors were on! Lol. Thx for input and will keep u updated if I have any problems.

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

Where did you put your return line? what pump did you use?