Ted
Living one day at a time
I am looking into getting a ato...was wondering what everyone is using...suggestions and why you picked what you went with...Thanks.
Ato
- Thread starter Ted
- Start date
Bluesaltwater87
Aquarium System Design
I have the ATO I got from foster and smith. I have a few friends that got the same thing and they said it was reliable and worked really well. With my system I lose about 4 gallons a week and I have a 50 gallon trash can with mixed rodi water with a heater and circulation pump in the bottom with the ATO pump. I have had it for about a year and it has been working like a champ.
Ted
Living one day at a time
which brand?
BL1
.............
I used the JBJ ATO for a while, I liked it while it worked but after about 6-8 months it seemed like the sensors were almost constantly getting stuck. Which would lead to it dumping my whole reservoir into the tank. I haven't heard of anyone else having these issues I had though.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
I've use the following, each worked just fine.
1) dual ato from AutoTopoff.com
Had a 15g container that sat at the same level as my sump, right next to my tank.
2) gravity and a standard float valve in the sump.
Had a 60g container that was raised a little higher than the sump
3) Profilux Doser and Level Sensor
This is my current ATO setup. The doser pulls the water from a 45g ATO container when the level sensor in the sump tells it to.
1) dual ato from AutoTopoff.com
Had a 15g container that sat at the same level as my sump, right next to my tank.
2) gravity and a standard float valve in the sump.
Had a 60g container that was raised a little higher than the sump
3) Profilux Doser and Level Sensor
This is my current ATO setup. The doser pulls the water from a 45g ATO container when the level sensor in the sump tells it to.
Amba
Ol' Salty
If you have the cash buy the Lite Meter III
I use the JBJ. I too have had the sump sensor stick in the closed position. (Telling the pump NOT to run.) I clean it every few weeks just to make sure that doesn't happen. I run mine off of a Maxi jet 606. I transfer RODI over to a 5 gallon jug once a week. The pump and a level sensor are inside the jug. It pumps into my sump. My reservoir is not temp controlled. It never pumps in so much at one time that the DT temp is affected.
My reason for using the JBJ? Cost and ease of setup. I did have to buy the Maxijet but it was a good buy. (I understand that the Maxijet 404 and 606 have been discontinued.)
My reason for using the JBJ? Cost and ease of setup. I did have to buy the Maxijet but it was a good buy. (I understand that the Maxijet 404 and 606 have been discontinued.)
Last edited:
Amba
Ol' Salty
I should also mention that I own a JBJ and it works great, lite meter is still the best, it's just expensive.
Bluesaltwater87
Aquarium System Design
jbj:d
Bifferwine
I am a girl
The only ATO I ever used was a gravity one, that I made myself using a plastic toilet float. It was super high tech. ;)
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
On my 20G long in the basement, I rest a 1G jug of distilled water on the glass top with a tiny pin hole on the bottom and another pin hole on the top. The water pours into the tank very slowly. This works just fine and the tank only need water once or twice a week because the basement is cool even in summer.
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
I went to a talk recently on reef chemistry and preventing disasters and the speaker suggested getting one that uses a parastaltic pump instead of a float switch, as float switches can so easily fail as they get covered with vermitid snails, sponges, or if a snail parks itself on the switch and weights it down or prevents it from turning on (depending on how you have it set up). I personally don't use one so I have no recommendations on brands, etc. - but the message I got at the talk was don't use one that relies on a float switch!
Amba
Ol' Salty
The JBJ ATO comes with two float switches. By mounting one correctly, and mounting the other, "upside down", and using mode A, you can create an easy failsafe, if water rises too high, the upside down switch will trigger, turning off your pump. It's always good practice to have a sump large enough to only have it filled 3/4 of the way; I did calculations on mine, and even if somehow my overflow clogged, my power went out, and somehow my ATO container all went into the sump, it would still not overflow.
Zissou
What about my dynamite?
Tunze Osmolator. It uses an optical eye so it can't get stuck, and in case it fails it also has a traditional float switch as backup. The mounts are magnetic which is really convenient.
wontonflip
I failed Kobayashi Maru
We diy'd one....ordered a few float switches from China (cost all of $7 w/ shipping or something). Used an old extension cord, spliced it into the float switch. While one switch failed once after a year, we're on switch #2 for a couple of years now, and it's working fine. But I'm sure the other one failed because we were having power fluctuations often back then.....like a lot of them. Guess the switch got burned out.
With anything automated, there's always room for failure. We caught ours because I peeked in on the sump once a day. But since it was hooked up to a dosing pump, it wasn't a total loss. Salinity went down from 1.025 to 1.019.
With anything automated, there's always room for failure. We caught ours because I peeked in on the sump once a day. But since it was hooked up to a dosing pump, it wasn't a total loss. Salinity went down from 1.025 to 1.019.
daugherty
part time reefer
i used a float valve and a water line that runs from my rodi
