ATO or no ATO

[Sinful Aquatics]

How many have an ATO unit and how many doesn't. Give the benefits why you should or shouldn't have one.

Thanks
Peter

[Acan Lord]

I have one. I have the battery powered air pump one and every since i have had it all my corals look better becuase my salt is always perfect. I only have to fill up the bottle once a day (mid summer) and there are no air bubbles in my tank!

[REEFROOKEE]

i dont have one (but would like one) my sump ant canopy is Farley tight so im only topping up ever 2 or 3 days any way.

[Agu]

I don't have any ATOs. Mainly because I have four nanos and if I have to set up one kalk drip it's not much more work to set up all four at the same time.

[fatrip]

Many people don't have one but I would recommend on depending on what kind of person you are. I have one because i am very forgetful and often go on trip for 2-3 days in which time my tank would loose enough water to raise the salinity enough that it would hurt things in the tank. so if your like me i would run one if and if you are a precise person that is on top of things and you'll top off the tank daily then you won't need one.

[nvdiz]

i got an ATO, and it really helps keeping water levels stable along w/ salinity. really glad i got it.

[Acan Lord]

O for mine i would like to add im open top so i have very fast evap

[iamwrasseman]

i would like to do so but have heard to many horror stories of them getting stuck on and killing everything in their tanks and also flooding the house . i have 5 tanks hooked to a common sump in the basement and it theoretically would be easy but i would need a 100% fail safe unit . to this day i haven't seen any and also have seen a few failures as i have 20k in livestock it would be devastating if i was to lose everything so i am the" auto top off ".

[Nano sapiens]

Yes, I have ATOs on my 12g for the last 1-1/2 years and they have been great for keeping salinity levels constant and for adding Kalkwasser. I use a pair of 'hamster bottles', so no chance of stuck valves, float switches, etc.

[iamwrasseman]

are there any that are really foolproof ? i mean like redundant sensors etc . i really would like to ponder the idea but have always been so skeptical . i have seen units that are made specifically for this but have also heard of the failures that scare me so .

[JarekS]

A big yes for ato. In my tank if water gets too low pomps start suking in air and pomp ton of bubbles. Not too mantion I work long hours and font always have time to top off water daily. Two gallon tub isn't gonna do that much damage and it lasts 5 days for me.

[nvdiz]

since we're in the nano reefs section, i doubt an ATO can cause too much damage if it would at all. I'm running 250w on my nano w/ a fan blowing at it (open top) and a 3 gallon resevoir would last me 7-9 days.

The ATO i have on mine does have a secondary sensor, should the first one fail.

[a-T-m]

You have the tunze osmolator?

I don't have an ATO on my solana yet....But i have one on my 50g, and it makes everything so much easier.

[crewchef]

I decided to kill two birds with one stone on my BC14. I set up two BRS dosing pumps. One is calcium only and the other is top off water and Alkalinity. My top off is fairly consistent so after just a little minor tweaking had it dialed in. I'll have to adjust when season changes and we start running heater instead of A/C but besides that pretty much dead on now and no worries about failed float switches. Pump for top off and alkalinity spreads it over 11-hours too so more consistent levels than when I was manaully dosing and adding top off.

[Sinful Aquatics]

Wow! A lot of responses, thanks fellow reefers! I wouldn't mind getting one but I might just do a DIY ATO....

[Jadams]

ATO = :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[boodlefish]

just get one already!

[Agu]

just get one already!


I would need four ATOs and reservoirs. I can make a Kalk dripper for 25 cents, fill them in about 3 minutes at night and start all four drips in under a minute in the morning. (I've timed it) . An ATO ( actually multiple ATOs) is not cost effective in my situation.

[fatrip]

DIY's are really easy esp if your electrically inclined. If you need any help LMK, it'll cost total around $20 give or take taxes for the materials.

As Agu I admire your dedication to your tanks, I wish I could remember to start a drip in the am...lol...

Edit: After reading that second part just now i can see if one would take that as derogatory and disrespectful, I just want you to know Agu that it isn't meant that way.

[Agu]

No Problem :)

I microwave a mug of water in the morning for one minute to pre warm the commute travel mug of coffee. Before the beeper goes off all four drips are started. What am I going to do, stare at the microwave for a minute ?

I just do this automatically even if I'm off from work on any given day. It's just part of my routine .....

[InLimbo87]

I use a JBJ ATO with a Tom's Aqualifter pump. I couldn't imagine life without one :)

The only issue I ever have is that when the water gets low in the reservoir, the slow Aqualifter pump sometimes can not drip enough water before the ATO shuts off (safety feature). This issue only exists when I don't pay attention to the reservoir water level.

[sbaddley]

I don't have an ATO for 28g. I lose maybe 1/2 cup of H2O a day--throwing in 2 cups of water in between my weekly water change is no hardship.

[NaClCrocodile]

I bought an Elos ATO from a reefer on here about a week ago and now I'm in the workings for a Tunze lol. That should do me for a little while I think. I can't wait, I think I'll put the Tunze on my 33G and the Elos on my 10G :D.

[Sinful Aquatics]

just get one already!

Quit following me hahaha I am!

[cody6766]

I have one from autotopoff.com and it's been workign great for 2 years. I have the double float, in-sump model. It really helps with the rectal-cranial inversion syndrome I tend to suffer from. I forget to top off

[talon4x4]

The problem I've had with my ATO isn't the shut off getting stuck but my skimmer. For some reason the skimmer went a little crazy the other day and started overflowing into my my 5gal bucket (collection cup has drain over to 5gal bucket). So as the skimmer sucked water out and the ATO kept putting more in. I have to find some way to prevent this. My ATO is hooked to my ACJr. so I'm sure I could program a fail-safe into it, just have to figure out how.

So that's one thing to be careful of.

[Jopalmighty]

I've got one and I couldnt be happier with it, Running Avast marine ATO. It makes my daily tank routines much simpler, rather than manually topping off ro water.

[Tinpanva]

I have the tunze osmolater, other than the skimmer, i cant think of a more important piece of equipment.

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[sponger0]

There is no reason not to have one if you can fit one in a tank.