What connectors would I need? Is it really as simple as splicing the connectors in, putting one sensor in the sense port and the one for pump in a drive port?
The Hydros ATO output type will work with any Hydros compatible water level sensor and pump. They do offer a kit with a pump and sensor and some tubing and anti syphon device. You can also get everything in the kit individually. I use a Hydros simple dosing pump for my ATO pump and a optical sensor. My DI reservoir is in my garage 35ft from the tank. I ran the tubing up through the attic so the Hydros ATO pump would not work for that but the dosing pump works like a champ.
I don't have experience actually doing this, but there are guides on the hydros forums I am pretty sure.
It will depend on the pump. If it is a 12v pump and you want to use a drive port it will have to be less than the maximum current rating on the particular drive port you want to use. The ones on the X2 and X4 will not provide as much current as the ones on the XD, X10 and Kraken. The X2 and X4 maximum from a single port is 1 am or 12 watts if the other port is not in use. Both ports running together cannot exceed 1.5 amps. I do not like using the max on any output. I try and keep it at or under 75% of maximum rating. The X10 and XD can handle 1.5 amps each or a total of 3 amps. The Kraken can handle 2.5 amps each or total of 4 amps. The Kraken has 4 drive ports. The X2, X4 and X10 have 2 drive ports. The XD has 3 drive ports. Here is a link to the drive port connector https://www.coralvue.com/2-pin-metal-female-gx12-connector-for-hydros-drive-port .
Thank you for this information, I appreciate it a lot. I have another question about the optical sensor, how would it know which sensor is the high vs the low sensor? Is it something physical/mechanical? Is it a voltage thing?
The ATO only uses one optical sensor. When it goes dry it refills till it is wet again or the maximum on time has been exceeded and run past max on time is off. I would suggest using these as it will limit the amount of top off that can be added at a single top off. This will prevent the pump from running indefinitely if there is an issue with the sensor. You can also set it to send an alert if the maximum on time is reached. The output will stay off until the sensor goes wet or you intervene and override the output to on or off and then back to auto.
With a nano tank you might want to use the Hydros simple doser instead. I use it on my 42 gallon tank and I have since Hydros release them about 2 years ago. It is in my garage with my DI reservoir. To control the ATO pump I use a water level sensor. To keep it from overfilling I have a maximum on time setup. If it runs that long it will stop and send an alert. It will not start again until I intervene or the level sensor goes to wet condition. You can also use the minimum off time to limit the amount of top off water that can bee added in a given time frame. You can add other sensors if you use the generic output type instead of the ATO output type. I use the generic output type on mine, Here is a couple of screenshots of the settings. The reason I said the dosing pump might be a better fit is it has a lot lower flow rate. It is around 43ml a minute so most of you time settings can be set in minutes instead of seconds. As you can see I have two leak detectors and the low level sensor in my DI reservoir as inputs along with the water level sensor in the sump. All inputs have to be in the active state for the input to come on.
How? It does not allow me to add an INPUT under the "Depends On" section?You can add a redundant sensor and leak sensor if you want to the Hydros ATO. They also make a triple-level sensor with the 3 sensors bundled into 1. In the ATO configuration, you would use the dependency function to add your second sensor. I also have added a sensor to my ATO container to alert me when it is running low and needs to be filled. The triple-level sensor is linked below.
CoralVue Hydros Triple Optical Water Level Sensor (HDRS-LS3)
The CoralVue Hydros Triple Optical Water Level Sensor (HDRS-LS3) can be used for a variety of aquarium applications, such as sensing when your tank needs to be topped off or detecting when a dosing container needs a refill.www.marineandreef.com
How would you recommend I setup the ATO with 2 sensors? I just want to use the one optical sensor to control the ATO but have a secondary sensor higher up incase the pump gets stuck on or something that will shut it off when reached?With a nano tank you might want to use the Hydros simple doser instead. I use it on my 42 gallon tank and I have since Hydros release them about 2 years ago. It is in my garage with my DI reservoir. To control the ATO pump I use a water level sensor. To keep it from overfilling I have a maximum on time setup. If it runs that long it will stop and send an alert. It will not start again until I intervene or the level sensor goes to wet condition. You can also use the minimum off time to limit the amount of top off water that can bee added in a given time frame. You can add other sensors if you use the generic output type instead of the ATO output type. I use the generic output type on mine, Here is a couple of screenshots of the settings. The reason I said the dosing pump might be a better fit is it has a lot lower flow rate. It is around 43ml a minute so most of you time settings can be set in minutes instead of seconds. As you can see I have two leak detectors and the low level sensor in my DI reservoir as inputs along with the water level sensor in the sump. All inputs have to be in the active state for the input to come on.
A depends on has to be an output but you can use a generic output with a single input to accomplish this.
That's what I was thinking but if I guess my thinking was since the combiner is AND wouldn't it want to see both inputs as WET before it shuts off the pump? So if input1 and input2 is active when dry wouldn't it just keep filling until input1 AND input2 is wet? Or am I understanding this wrong?
On a AND statement both inputs have to be in active mode for the output to come on. So as soon as one of the inputs goes wet it will turn off. The OR statement would be if either input is in the active state the output would be on.
Yes, since both have to be dry for the output to turn on. The combiner mode applies to the active state. So it takes input 1 and input 2 to be active for the output to be on. If either are inactive the output is off. I have 5 inputs on it. One is the ATO sensor, then to leak detectors, then a low level sensor in the DI reservoir and then a sump overfull sensor. So yours will not have the leak detectors or the low level sensor.
