Auto top off?

[EricHop]

What do you think is the best auto top off in the reef hobby? I am in the market for one and looking at customers reviews there are so many mixed opinions. I was thinking between the tunze osmolator or the xp aqua duetto, but even the reviews on those make me nervous. Are they all just a hit or miss on working great or completely flooding your living room? Thanks for the help!

 

[Jon Fishman]

How you set them up will determine if flooding your living-room is even possible

 

[theMeat]

Have used hydor smart level for years. Would recommend

 

[EricHop]

I guess this is true. I only have a 5 gallon reservoir I really dont think it would over flow my sump. It would still pump 5 gallons of ro/di water into my tank if it happened to get stuck on.

 

[Butuz]

To avoid any potential issues with top off systems getting stuck “on”, is to mount a mechanical float valve and connect ATO line to that. Make sure it is above the water level, since you dont want the float to block the flow while ATO is trying to pump. You will sleep better knowing that you have nearly fully proof method to stop any excess top off. Finally, it also helps avoid any siphoning issues in case if your ATO water line is higher than sump. My build theread has pics of this setup, very basic float valve from amazon for $10.

 

[EricHop]

Dang man, thats a great and simple idea. Why didnt I think of that lol! Thanks!

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

I’m running a tunze and couldn’t be happier on my reef. My qt has an Xp aqua and I have to clean it or it fails.

 

[S.Pepper]

The Tunze 3155 is pretty the standard in the industry. I have one and I luv it. It really doesn't get better. GL

 

[Scrubber_steve]

What do you think is the best auto top off in the reef hobby? I am in the market for one and looking at customers reviews there are so many mixed opinions. I was thinking between the tunze osmolator or the xp aqua duetto, but even the reviews on those make me nervous. Are they all just a hit or miss on working great or completely flooding your living room? Thanks for the help!

Do you have room on top of your sump for a top off reservoir?
Simple , easy, reliable & safest method. Gravity fed, direct injection.

 

[HuneyBear]

Tunze 3155. It has electric and manual float. And will only run for so long before timing out.

 

[Shaun_in_Cali]

I'm running with the Duetto ATO and have been impressed so far.

 

[EricHop]

Well guys I ended up going with the tunze 3155!

 

[Ross Petersen]

I'm running with the Duetto ATO and have been impressed so far.

Mine XP Duetto keeps overfilling my QT tank (to the backup optical sensor) despite regular cleaning and placement in a low flow regions. Super complexed by this.

 

[Sabina]

What do you think is the best auto top off in the reef hobby? I am in the market for one and looking at customers reviews there are so many mixed opinions. I was thinking between the tunze osmolator or the xp aqua duetto, but even the reviews on those make me nervous. Are they all just a hit or miss on working great or completely flooding your living room? Thanks for the help!

By far tunze 3155 AND Neptune ATK. But if installing the RODI system I’d choose ATK W/ and apex.

here is why

 

[DSEKULA]

Tunze on my 255g, $15 gravity fill from Amazon on my 2g. Happy with both for the specific needs. Tunze has been 2yrs no issues yet

 

[RobB'z Reef]

What do you think is the best auto top off in the reef hobby? I am in the market for one and looking at customers reviews there are so many mixed opinions. I was thinking between the tunze osmolator or the xp aqua duetto, but even the reviews on those make me nervous. Are they all just a hit or miss on working great or completely flooding your living room? Thanks for the help!

That's a really tough question to answer without you stating what your specific top of goals are. There are so many variables in contention depending on what you are trying to solve. Do you require full automation, are you dosing kalk, are you filling up an ato manually or do you want to plumb from your rodi? The list goes on. There isn't a bullet proof standard solution for any of it and it's about risk mitigation vs your wallet.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

To avoid any potential issues with top off systems getting stuck “on”, is to mount a mechanical float valve and connect ATO line to that. Make sure it is above the water level, since you dont want the float to block the flow while ATO is trying to pump. You will sleep better knowing that you have nearly fully proof method to stop any excess top off. Finally, it also helps avoid any siphoning issues in case if your ATO water line is higher than sump. My build theread has pics of this setup, very basic float valve from amazon for $10.

That is a great approach and I'm doing the same but don't ever be content feeling that a float valve won't fail you at some point. That's dangerous. There should be at least two or three levels of redundancy. Statistically over time you'll be thankful for it. Just my experience.

 

[Marvollo]

Jbj for me, using float valves and snail guards. I inspect weekly. I have an xp aqua on my nano with an alarm when there is an issue. Pretty good after 6m so far.