What ato?

Rickybobby · Jan 28, 2021

Hey everyone
My new waterbox 65.4 is up and running and I know topping off will be a chore eventually.
for an all in one of my size. What ato setups do you reccomend? What size reservoirs for this size anything. Thanks

Frogspon · Jan 28, 2021

Just fill up a set of water bottles at the beginning of the week with RO and dump them in once a day when you're feeding the fish it's really not a big deal.

Reef. · Jan 28, 2021

Either of the Tunze will work, the bigger one has two off switches if that is a concern, micro smart ato is also worth considering.

as for the size, depends how often you want to fill it and how much it used a day, I would go for as big as you can hide.

See how much you need to fill in one day and you’ll know what size you want.

Acros · Jan 28, 2021

An ato is a really useful piece of hardware (they are not that expensive in the grand scheme of things). Tunze ato seems to be bench mark. For the reservoir- get the biggest you can. Use a 30g brute trash can, if you can hide it in your setup.

I have an icecap dual optical sensor ato and a 5g reservoir. I got it used and it has not failed in 6 months.

Ajayabb · Jan 28, 2021

I just bought the Marine x 110 and am thinking about buying the Tunze osmolator. The ATO reservoir unfortunately is only about 3 gallons which means filling the reservoir about every other day anyway

Acros · Jan 28, 2021

Evaporation on my 29g with 10g sump is about 5g/week.

DC Reefer · Jan 28, 2021

I have 3 tunze’ s and have been happy with them. replacement pumps are easy to get also. I always keep a spare on hand. I also have a reefbreeders prism ATO on a 10 gallon coral QT. been going a few months and it has woeked flawlessly so far - $60 vs $200 for tunze.

I agree with the other posts about going large for ATO. I use 35 gallon containers for two of my systems and make the RO water directly in them. on my smaller QT tanks I use 5 gallon buckets and can get 3 weeks or so with them.

Brewski262 · Jan 28, 2021

I have a tunze ato and have been using it for thr last 3+ years on two different set ups. No issues. Just make sure you clean your sensors periodically.

My waterbox 10 uses 5g roughly every 3 weeks ish

Devaji · Jan 28, 2021

i know everyone likes the tunze I did not care for it.
I have been using the smart mirco for years no with out any issues.
for the bigger tank I got the avast with a parasitic pump to pull h2o up from the basement.

IMHO an ATO is something I would not reef with out to easy to forget fish can go with out food for a cpl days but if something happen and you cant get home you dont have to worry about evap.

I like petco $1 per gallon tanks for ATO res. anything for 5 -55 depending on your space/evap rate.
I get a glass lid cut for the top and bad there you go + in a pinch you have a hospital tank.
for my fiji cube 18.5 RFA nano i use a 10 gallon tank like above hide behind a chair works great.

Pistondog · Jan 28, 2021

Tunze 3155
And rv water tank, many sizes

Mical · Jan 28, 2021

This little guy is what I'd rec'd. ! currently have ATKs (apex) on both of my tanks and they have their issues (getting better with time) I have this on a 60 gal fish only and a 5 gal res and it's been flawless. And it's inexpensive https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/duetto-dual-sensor-complete-aquarium-ato-system-xp-aqua.html

stanlalee · Jan 28, 2021

Alot of people don't like them because it's not an optical sensor set up but I've used the JBJ for 14 years (not various ones, the same one that's on my tank now I was using in 2007) and it hasn't failed me yet. Have another one on a sumpless biocube. I hear of people overflowing these supposedly superior optical ATOs all the time but my floats have NEVER been stuck or malfunction (clean them once ever 2 years if that)

Brewski262 · Jan 28, 2021

stanlalee said:
Alot of people don't like them because it's not an optical sensor set up but I've used the JBJ for 14 years (not various ones, the same one that's on my tank now I was using in 2007) and it hasn't failed me yet. Have another one on a sumpless biocube. I hear of people overflowing these supposedly superior optical ATOs all the time but my floats have NEVER been stuck or malfunction (clean them once ever 2 years if that)

The larger tunze has a dual sensor which the back up is a float. Fyi

Rickybobby · Jan 28, 2021

Hey thank you everyone I will look into all of it. Because I have an all In one with a 4 foot stand I have a huge area that waterbox has designated for a possible sump. So the size is endless I will look into the tunze and also will see how much water I loose this week Thanks so much