Please advise me a safe ATO

[SpyC]

But if the pump shut off it would only be in your sump and not the whole system of the lowering salinity.

Water evaporates from the tank too...

 

[cwerner]

I've been using the Reef Breeders Prism ATO on my IM 50 AIO for 2 years now with no hiccups or issues.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I too had issue s with the hydor and the Neptune
Currently running the Duetto which so far is reliable but on list for the new Red Sea ATO with temp and water level sensor

 

[RichReef]

Over 40 years of having some kind of fish tank I've been through almost every ATO imaginable and now I use gravity.

I would never use anything that has anything to do with electricity for my ATO ever again. Every one failed. 3 resulted in expensive losses.

 

[Tired]

I'm using the Tunze 3155 ATO. It has the optical and float as backup. I have an oversized ATO container 10gallon coupled with magnetic optical sensor for the Apex. Its as good as it gets.

Sorry to interject, but can I ask where you got that container? I'm going to be in the market for something like that.

 

[Dburr1014]

Over 40 years of having some kind of fish tank I've been through almost every ATO imaginable and now I use gravity.

I would never use anything that has anything to do with electricity for my ATO ever again. Every one failed. 3 resulted in expensive losses.

I had the same experience with gravity. The dumb seal leaked and trickled water non stop. That god I caught it in time.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Sorry to interject, but can I ask where you got that container? I'm going to be in the market for something like that.

Tenecor Aquariums

Tenecor® Aquarium Auto Top Off Reservoir 16x10x15 10 Gallon

Tenecor® Aquarium Auto Top Off Reservoirs offer the durability and safety of all acrylic construction. The sleek acrylic design features Tenecor's patent pending single piece uniwrap body with precision CNC pre-cut openings for pumps and tubes. Guaranteed to fit all pumps. Lid included...

www.tenecoraquariums.com

Ask for Jim

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Do you mean adding a sensor to my fresh water reservoir? Why would I do that? My issue with optical sensors it that they start failing to see that the water level has lowered. Resulting in dry running return pumps.

I am sorry, I thought you meant the fresh water pump. Reef octopus makes pumps for your sump that will shut it off if the water level gets too low. I also think a few Jeboa also do that.

 

[I never finish anythi]

I use this. It does fail off somerimes but what i did was mount a $25 web cam that i can see thru my phone. If i see it blinking i can just reset it thru my wifi power strip its plugged into. Problem solved. I go on vacation for a couple weeks and check this camera usually once a day or every 2 days. No worries.

It doesn't fail off . It trips out because it's dumping to much water . It's a fail safe so it didn't dump the whole res in the DT. If I leave mine pump for like 10 second it trips out

 

[Seansea]

Well when i say fails off it means it will not pump any more water because the sensor has tripped for any various reasons. A reset on mine restarts it no sweat. So by seeing with the camera the blinking light i just turn off the plug its plugged into and turn it back on. Refills the shorted water and resets itself.

 

[JaaxReef]

Definitely a vote here for gravity fed ATO with a high quality float valve. The ATOs with pumps and sensors cost a lot more and aren’t as reliable to me.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I use a float valve in the sump.
There is a DRY float switch in the sump. This is a fail-safe

The float valve is fed from a 5g reservoir.

The 5g reservoir has a float valve and (2) float switches.
The two switches are connected to a latching relay circuit, but ANY 2 switch ato will do. This circuit activates the RODI.
The float valve is the fail-safe for the 5g reservoir.

Non of the float switches are in a position or environment to foul.
The float valves are pretty much bullet proof.

The ATO is disabled if the sump switch is tripped. The float valve in the sump has no pressure on it, as the 5g reservoir is just barely higher than the water level of the sump.

If you wanted a futher fail-safe you could add a timer to allow the RODI to only run 1 time a day (or whatever).

 

[TokenReefer]

Isn't the return chamber of the sump the only place the water level drops? Can't you just move the magnet mount up to (control) raise the water level to where it doesn't run dry? What am I missing here?

 

[Seansea]

Isn't the return chamber of the sump the only place the water level drops? Can't you just move the magnet mount up to (control) raise the water level to where it doesn't run dry? What am I missing here?

If your ato fails and wont top off water the water evaporation of the whole tank will cause the sump return chamber(the lowest point of water in the whole system) to drop until water is below intske ofbyour pump causing it to run dry and burning pump up.

 

[TokenReefer]

Currently I'm on to Tunze 5017, with an optical sensor and a second float switch that checks for the ATO being on too long. So it has a double check to prevent overflowing. This would have been great if it also had an extra float switch that checks the other side. Because you guessed it, I've had return pumps running dry.

Other side? I'm just confused as to how it's set up. Sorry

 

[TokenReefer]

If your ato fails and wont top off water the water evaporation of the whole tank will cause the sump return chamber(the lowest point of water in the whole system) to drop until water is below intske ofbyour pump causing it to run dry and burning pump up.

If the ATO fails, yes. Could take a bit of time to run dry... Could check it visually more often...

Ps. This is a real concern for sure. Not trying to down play it. I used a piggyback float switch in my setup for this exact reason. If the return chamber gets too low (because the ATO failed or ran out of water) it drops and kills the pump.

 

[JoJosReef]

Any comment from the people using the newer titanium switch ATO (e.g. Red Sea ATO+ or IM Hydrofill)?

 

[mnl119]

Been using JBJ ATO for years. I've had 3 and never had an issue with any of them.

 

[vtecintegra]

Tunze 3155 on DT and Avast on QT. Both are rock solid. Avast is a little cumbersome because it uses a rigid line, but it works. 15 years ago I had a JBJ that was nothing but a pain with constant failure.

 

[JCM]

Been using JBJ ATO for years. I've had 3 and never had an issue with any of them.

Same. I've had 2 over the last 15+ years, never an issue. My sump is setup to hold the whole top off container in case the pump ever gets stuck on but it's never happened.