Hydor auto top off system opinions?
- Thread starter leveldrummer
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Silly clownfish
New member
Amazon has the the best prices I have seen. Just picked up a second one for my office tank for about $50. Have been running one on my 75g for almost 2 years.
The only glitch I have with it is I think occassionally something gets stuck in the valve of my overflow which slows it down and raises the overflow level enoug to go to the emergency overflow, so the ATO adds a little extra water to make up for that, then when the algae, fish turd, whatever gets dislodged from the primary overflow, the overflow level goes down and the sump level goes up slightly - just enough for the Smart Level to alarm that teh water is too high. Of course this usually only happens when I am on vacation and my tank sitter freaks. The issue is my overflow, not the ATO.
The only glitch I have with it is I think occassionally something gets stuck in the valve of my overflow which slows it down and raises the overflow level enoug to go to the emergency overflow, so the ATO adds a little extra water to make up for that, then when the algae, fish turd, whatever gets dislodged from the primary overflow, the overflow level goes down and the sump level goes up slightly - just enough for the Smart Level to alarm that teh water is too high. Of course this usually only happens when I am on vacation and my tank sitter freaks. The issue is my overflow, not the ATO.
Reef908
New member
I have been using for about 3 years now with an aqualifter and works great for me. The power head option may push to much water too quickly. I found that the aqualifter with some airline tube to be the best. I originally used a small power head but it added to the tank too quick and the alarm would always go off. Just make sure your water line into the sump does no get submerged.
Spectorman
Member
I've had one for 3 years. Works great. Ya gotta keep it clean though.
Potatohead
New member
Have had this system running seven months, zero problems. I think it's awesome. Some guys think since it is based on temperature that if the air temp and water temp are the same, it won't work right, but I had at least six weeks last summer where the tank was slightly higher temp than my heater settings due to ambient air temp being higher and it never malfunctioned once.
I had it with an aqualifter but just switched to an Avast pump because I switched sumps that has a bigger return section and the aqualifter barely beat the ten minute timer, and would take too long if my ATO reservoir was less than 1/2 full.
I had it with an aqualifter but just switched to an Avast pump because I switched sumps that has a bigger return section and the aqualifter barely beat the ten minute timer, and would take too long if my ATO reservoir was less than 1/2 full.
Is that a pain? How often do you do that? Just wipe and go, or is there more to it?
I'm guessing my sump is still on the small side, I'll be using either a 20gal or 30gal with partitions so my area where the ATO sensor will sit will be at most 1/3 of either of those tanks and half full too I suppose....
What size did you move into that warranted replacing the pump?
Potatohead
New member
I original return chamber was about 4" x 10", the new one is more like 8" x 17", which is about 3.5 times the area, so the AL just wasn't fast enough. The Hydor will allow a window of 25 seconds to 10 minutes to fill.
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