Which ATO gets your vote for Best of 2019?

[randyBRS]

It's time to vote Best of 2019 ATOs and you guys did the voting this time!

Well, sorta... This is one of those instances where popularity wins on many fronts, for some obvious reasons! See what you guys voted!

 

[madweazl]

I'm too simple; our 150g gravity feeds from the freshwater reservoir and our 75g just uses a float sensor and an Aqualifter connected to our controller. Fancy shmancy! LOL.

 

[Water Dog]

Unfortunately, you guys don’t offer it in your lineup. It’s the Spectrapure UPLC-ATO with dual pressure sensors and a variable speed intermittent duty peristaltic pump.

Out of your offerings though, I would go with the venerable Tunze 3155 as the best in your lineup. I ran one for years problem free. You cannot deny to reliability and superb customer support offered by Tunze customer service and theif USA rep, Roger Vitko. I will say that I was shocked about your lack of even mentioning any Tunze power Heads in your “Best of Powerheads” bit. These things last decades and didnt even get a mention.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

The Tunze 3155 gets my vote. I just cleaned my sensor for the first time in 6 years and I've replaced the pump once. It's bulletproof and just works!

 

[Sleepydoc]

I’ve used the Tunze and the Neptune ATK. Tunze wins hands down. The only problem I ever had was from a dirty sensor. I just wish they had a better pump. The pumps that come with them are noisy and hard to prime.

For the same money, the ATK suffers from poor quality sensors that are prone to failure and similar issues with the PMUP pump. I keep using mine simply because it integrates so well with my Apex.

 

[stacksoner]

Unfortunately, you guys don’t offer it in your lineup. It’s the Spectrapure UPLC-ATO with dual pressure sensors and a variable speed intermittent duty peristaltic pump.

Out of your offerings though, I would go with the venerable Tunze 3155 as the best in your lineup. I ran one for years problem free. You cannot deny to reliability and superb customer support offered by Tunze customer service and theif USA rep, Roger Vitko. I will say that I was shocked about your lack of even mentioning any Tunze power Heads in your “Best of Powerheads” bit. These things last decades and didnt even get a mention.

Out of curiousity,how did you end up pulling the trigger on a spectrapure ato?

 

[Water Dog]

Out of curiousity,how did you end up pulling the trigger on a spectrapure ato?

I scored it used on Manhattan Reefs. If you check out my build thread, the majority of the gear used is from the secondary market. I went with replacing my trusty Tunze 3155 for the Spectrapure because of the reliability of pressure switches vs optical sensors. As my tank matures, I plan on switching from 2 part to a CaRx and Kalk reactor. As reliable as the Tunze optical sensor is, it doesn’t play nice with kalk build up. The pressure sensors on the Spectrapure unit are unaffected by kalkwasser build up. I also own a Spectrapure RODI uni5 and a Litermeter for AWC, so I’m very familiar with the quality of their products,

 

[ReefHomieJon]

I have the auto aqua AWC plus ATO on my 185ga. Total water volume system. This thing is great

 

[kkiel02]

Tunze is my #1 vote. Tried the Neptune atk and it’s bulky for my sump. It’s a 30x30 cube so space is very limited. Also had a sensor go out on me already. It’s backup sensor worked great but it was a pain to remove it from my sump to get the sensor out. Hoping the gen 2 sensor works better.

 

[dsh92056]

Tunze

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have the ATK by Neptune and also JBJ unit. JBJ works good but often runs too long when level is reached.
The ATK- great when it feels like working

 

[Bob Escher]

I’ve been using the Neptune ATK since they first came out on my trigger system crystal cube. And although it’s a tight fit I have had no major issues with it. I have a sensor in my trigger system 5 gal fresh water reservoir. But no complaints at all.

 

[jon99]

The $50 Aquahub delux kit: 2 float switches either of which when activated fill the tank, 1 over-fill float switch (set slightly higher) which when activated shuts the other two off... just in case, plus relay switch to reduce voltage spikes on all 3 float switches.

Simple and redundant, not to mention inexpensive. 11 years (over 4000 days) with 2 of these kits on 2 of my tanks and I have had zero problems.

I have heard good things about the Tunze ATO as well, but at less than half the cost and flawless performance I see little reason to switch.

 

[Todd1white]

I was waiting on the new ATK, all I heard was backordered. So I ordered the Tunze instead. No regrets.

 

[tonydig11]

I tried something different in my latest build. The XP Aqua Duetto. I have had nothing but issues with it in the 2 weeks it has been running. It keeps faulting with a code(color code)that the reservoir is empty or there are micro bubbles interfering with the sensor. It will work for a day or 2 and all seems fine then the alarm beeps. I have tried different sensor and fill locations. It is a 65 gallon AIO system with 6 rear chambers. Also the clamp that holds the fill hose in place is a joke and can't be trusted. I tried one last configuration with the sensor. If it beeps again I will be putting my Tunze Nano ATO in the system even tho it will be pushing the size limits of the unit.

 

[Bryknicks]

Tunze for the win. Reliable and has a backup float to prevent issues with the optical sensor. Can't go wrong with that.

 

[nosmok]

Tunze. Bad experience with Auto Aqua products ( faulty sensors not sensing need for ATO or not shutting off and dumping entire ATO into DT)

 

[kireek]

TUNZE sets the bar.

 

[Neil S.]

It's time to vote Best of 2019 ATOs and you guys did the voting this time!

Well, sorta... This is one of those instances where popularity wins on many fronts, for some obvious reasons! See what you guys voted!

I was running a Tunze Nano, until it malfunctioned....and drained several gallons of RODI into my system. I'm now running a Kamoer ATO. This ATO has 3 sensors, an optical for water height ato activation, a float switch that kills the ato pump if the level rises up to far, and a 3rd float sensor for the ato tank to detect low water / no water. If either of the secondary float switches activate then an alarm sounds. The pump is absolutely dead silent, whereas the Tunze always had a hum whenever it was running.

 

[Jwsrock]

The auto aqua ato awc is one of my biggest regret purchases. It is very unreliable