Would an auto top off be worth it?

[CB06]

It is getting warmer here in Australia and I have had to remove my glass lids and put a fan next to the tank. The tank is now evaporating around 500ml a day. I go away a bit and sometimes will not have anyone there to top the tank off for me and don’t want to rely on anyone. My other option would be to put glass lids back on when I go away and leave my aircon on.

 

[Floyd-]

I wouldnt have a tank without ATO. I fill my reservoir once a week and the ATO just tops off for me.

 

[Dreminon]

I had never had one on all my fresh water tanks through the years. Got one when I started my Saltwater tank. after a month of having it on my Saltwater tank I went out and bought one for all my other tanks. Will never be without one now.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Same here, wouldn’t do without one, after years of struggling with how much water had evaporated. Keep it simple though. I use the Prism ATO. It’s in a jug that’s sized a little larger than what I would want for a Salinity change. Once a month I take a Soft Tooth brush and clean the optical sensor, that’s in my Sump.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I do love the ATO. If you have room, you can do a simple gravity one with float valves. I do this on my large 210g and smaller 60g system. Easiest and cheapest! Been doing it over 19 years no issues. Well, except when I turn it off and forget to turn it back on.
I also have a small cheap one for my 10g tank and so far so good. It is an electric one, but was really cheap through amazon. Not sure you would have the same over there.

 

[fr3n0z]

Man, i did one for 15€ with double security and all, very basic, but basic means less thing that could go wrong. Is been a pleasure to not have to top off the tank. Been back from a 4 days getaway and level never moved. and i just have a small 15g aio. I am making straight away one for the freshwater too. And if you plug it in a smart plug, you can control it from remote. I've just put it on a shcedule, turn on 4 times a day for 2 minute each time so if both switch get stuck it will not keep sending water in.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Oh, my top off containers are refilled by my RO/DI unit that is turned on each night for 4 hours through a basic garden timer. Again, nice, cheap, works and I do not have to worry about them getting filled.

 

[CB06]

okay I’m convinced I have a small 2ft tank without a sump so room in the tank is limited I’m thinking of this one. Does it look any good?

 

[death-by-reef]

thats the one i would suggest

 

[Peace River]

Although I haven’t used that specific model, I have had good experiences with that brand.

 

[PatW]

An auto top off system is really convenient and it helps to make the tank more stable. And stability is really important in marine systems. You will want an RODI reservoir but you can use an inexpensive glass tank for one (as I do) or really any food safe container (in the USA, Lowes sells 5 gallon food safe buckets and people use those). I use a cheap ATO, it is just a float valve. I have another float valve that will shut off the ATO if the primary valve gets stuck on the on position. There are more sophisticated systems that have electronic sensors with failsafes.

 

[CB06]

How high can these pumps pump the water as I don’t have a sump and the ato resivor will be sitting on the ground so I think it will be about a meter and a half up to the top of the tank.

 

[benmed]

Tunze 3150 osmolator. Great. You will never look back. It should get you 1.5 meters. Never again will you have a tank without an ATO. I hooked mine up to a RO/di and that is so amazing.

 

[CB06]

Do you guys buy ro water or make it yourself. I use nsw so don’t use ro for anything other then top off and wondering it would be worth me getting a ro system to. I only will use a liter or 2 a day in summer.