Couldn't agree with you more that's the last thing I wanted was another pump. Alot cheaper all it cost was 8 bucks for the 5gallon clear container [emoji16] [emoji16]Good ol gravity fed won't let ya down... :/ ..... if it does... well top off will be the last of your worries...
Good Auto Top Off System?
- Thread starter baseballfanatic2
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Freakyyfort
Active Member
That's why you run a controller and have back up safety floats. I do agree tho. I haven't added one to my 75 yet. I don't wanna come home to flooded basement..
jsker
Reefing is all about the adventure
I have the Autoaqua smart ATO, it has work out well. I like this one for the reason there is not power cord in the water.
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reeferfoxx
5000 Club Member
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Can't wait for the old timers to get with the smart revolution. Up with senors down with float valves. Don't get too tangled up in the wiring. 
I'm starting to think that the only good ATO system is a redundant one. I think just about any low water level sensor will eventually fail, either through the device itself failing in some way, or a failure due to a maintenance failure issue caused by the hobbyist. The redundancy could be accomplished with two different low water level detection devices and two different return pumps. Anyone have any experience doing this, or have any other form of redundancy for their ATO?
I use a float valve, quarter inch airline, a 8dollar container, no problems yet everything's gravity fed and in all honesty I trust gravity better than pumps, there's so much that can go wrong when adding more plugs. One less doesn't really help, but it's one less powered thing to mess up if it happens. I happen to use the eshopps float valve because it came with my eshopps sump. But as far as the float valve it's been great so far
Lowstorm
Well-Known Member
I too have a Hydor. I love it. Way better than the floats I used before. The alarm DOES get annoying, but you learn to turn it off, or just flip it on/off real quick to restart the sensor.
Reefcowboy
Well-Known Member
Yes, the top off consists of the pump and the optical sensor piece, which will directly connect to the 1Link ports. Not much has come up as far as info about it, but if you watch BRS TV's "52 weeks of reefing" and on the latest Apex episode the show the pump and sensor(which is BAD butt).@Reefcowboy , seriously? I had no idea, I'm just waiting for the return pump to come out, hopefully it's as good as they say it will be, but didn't know Apex was releasing an ATO... Controllable? What features would exist, or how would I program an ATO from Apex? I would love to get one just to play around with it. Maybe have two on the main system as a backup.
The pump can push water up to 9' high(im sure it will have enough pressure power to get RO water way far from the tank) and the float sensor has two optical sensors and a third float as safety. If you own an apex, its a no brainer since there will be less wires, no need to connect to an outlet and i expect precise controll through the apex. To finish, Neptune has some sick quality, so im expecting a solid product.
Heres the video link, go to 22'35" they unveil the sensor;
nervousmonkey
LPS Lover, SPS Enabler
Wow ReefCowboy!! That is pretty cool actually, I am not a person that usually gets excited by new products but I like that ATO a lot. I like how the two optical sensors are only a few centimeters apart vertically so the pump will run more frequently with much smaller doses, that's the ideal setup for kalk in the RO water for the ATO......
Spectrapure has used a digital sensor that is user adjustable between 1/10" and 4" for a decade or more. The fill speed is also adjustable in 10% steps so it can be set to where it would be impossible to overflow even if it failed. It also uses a 3 roller peristaltic pump, same as in the LiterMeter. I like decades or experience and good reviews myself. Read the owners manual and set up instructions on their website, it is one heck of a reliable system with many many levels of safety and adjustability that has been proven for years.
monkiboy
Valuable Member
have had the tunze and jbj fail on me a few times over the years but once with avast on more than ten set ups and not a single issue. they keep getting better with their mods to their pumps and magnets and assembly. a great option.
OP
OP
baseballfanatic2
Well-Known Member
Is this used using gravity? ANY videos that you followed?$10 auto top off...
Small pump, a tee and a mini floating valve.
It's been working since 3 years without any issue
jcdeng
Valuable Member
Please go with Tunze, they sometimes go on sale @BRS. Its such an important equipment for the tank I wouldn't cheap out on it. Think of it this way, are your fishes and corals worth more than 200? if they are then how would you feel if a 50 dollar equipment kill off your 500 dollar livestock.
