Need help choosing equipment

vai6921

Member
Hi,

I'm taking my 90 reef apart tomorrow due to new hardwood floors being installed.

I made my own sump which has the heaters, return pump (eheim compact 3000) and skimmer (SRO 2000-Int).

Now the problem starts here. I want to get a good ATO and want to change the eheim return as i want to hard plumb the tank this time around.

I would prefer to hard plumb the return so i can have a split for the BRS Dual reactor and algae scrubber.

The skimmer is my real issue. It's too darn big and would prefer something with a smaller footprint.

Any suggestions for Pump, ATO, and Skimmer would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Vai
 
ATO- tunze osmolator. A little more expensive but the best.

For the skimmer, what size foot print are you wanting. There are quite a few out there that have the pump built in, like skimz or aquamaxx.
 
Skimmer choice also could be bubble magus, maybe a curve 7 or NAC-6, they're dead silent.

I agree with the tunze ATO

And why would you want to dump the Ehiem pump for the return, those pumps are the **** I run a 1262 on my tank and it's amazing
 
I know the pump is super quiet but i really wanted to hard plumb the tank =/

The skimmer has to be smaller in length and width. I want something that is significantly smaller only because it causes issues when i have to clean the darn thing.
 
Start at the opposite end of the room, hard wood AROUND the tank. Buy an extra box of wood and if you ever take up the tank, just redo that section and finish it off then. Ha ha ha.
 
So i've been looking at ATOs and saw a few of them that are similar i guess.

ATO- tunze osmolator vs. Hydor autofill

What do you guys think? Which one would been the better option?
 
The Tunze has a long proven track record and includes a pump. But that hydor looks good as well. I have not seen many reviews on them or read any experiences here.
 
New hardwood floors?? have you thought about industrial casters on your stand? This way when you spill or there is a leak, you can just push the tank away to clean up. A friend in my aquarium society did this years ago on a 90g and it worked great. I did it as well later on a 50g I had mounted in a wall, was easy to roll it back to clean the front glass.

As for ATO, Tunze is great but there is a new one that was showcased at MACNA coming out next month, Auto Aqua Smart ATO, got great reviews. I'm going to spring for one of these when they come out.
 
Just googled that ATO...seems pretty nice and cheaper $149

It's too late for any other types of cups. I ended up with the piano caster cups lined with the furniture movers. It does not move if bumped but can be moved if ever needed.
 
Does that AutoAqua have just one detection method.....is there a backup switch or sensor of some sort?
 
I think the back up is a time limiter that says "if tank not filled times x minutes or gallons the resovoir is empty or the valve is stuck so shut off). One nice thing about the JBJ is that it has the dual float valve system AND a time out saftey.
 
The Tunze has it's optic eye, a float, and a 10 minute time out.

Even with that, I limit my top off reservoir to just under the amount needed to overflow the sump.
 
The Tunze Osmolator can fail. The backup float sticks frequently and if the electric eye gets too many micro-bubbles on it it will think it is out of water and fill. I also fill my ATO reservoir with just enough water to not overflow the sump.
 
Hmm...thank you guys for starting this discussion! I hope others can chime in about ATO preferences. I think maybe the new one will be better? I do not know if it has a second fail-safe sensor/float.
 
[violation]

The AFS is "auto feedback technology". I see no mechanical backup to that single sensor. How does the AFS prevent an overflow should the sensor fail?

BTW, you could easily pinch the outlet tube on the Tunze ATO tubing to reduce its output to where 10 minutes is not a problem.
 
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But with the Tunze, you have the timeout in addition to 2 sensors. I think it is more than flexible, as if you had tiny top off needs, you can reduce the flow of the pump
 
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litermeter 3, if you don't want any chance of accident… mines been going at least 5 years no parts to fail and you can locate your reservoirs anywhere even 2 floors below
 
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