ATO or no ATO

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!
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
i got an ATO, and it really helps keeping water levels stable along w/ salinity. really glad i got it.
 
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 ".
 
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.
 
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 .
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
boodlefish said:
just get one already!
Click to expand...


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.
 
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.
 
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 .....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
Heating units- how often to you clean or replace
Replies
3
Views
131
Paul B
Paul B
A
Plumbing question
Replies
1
Views
1K
kharmaguru
kharmaguru
W
ATO multiple water jugs
Replies
4
Views
626
WMCWINGS186
W
E
Red Sea weir overflow
Replies
9
Views
322
griss
griss
Kremis
Red sea reefer 425xl G1 for sale
Replies
0
Views
689
Kremis
Kremis
Back
Top