So when I first setup my 28g AIO, I was very undecided on how to top off my fresh water. I read a lot of horror stories about flooded floors, kalk overdoses, snails moving senors, etc. I genuinely scared myself out of buying a sensor based ATO.
Gravity fed with a float valve seems like a great option for those with sumps, but wasn't practical for an AIO.
Instead I grabbed one of these.
I was pleasantly surprised at how effective it was using a 1L water bottle. Salinity was rock solid, chance of failure was low, and the total volume was inconsequential if there was a failure. I experimented with larger 1.5 and 2L bottles, but found they collapsed on themselves and the chance of failure was much higher. I think this could have been solved with a rigid bottle. The downside was I had to refill this 1L bottle morning and night. I like to take weekend backpacking trips and this wasn't going to work in travel situations.
I ended up ordering a Kamoer ATO.
It's working great so far. It has an optical sensor and overflow float sensor. I only have it attached to a 1 gallon reservoir, which is my final level of catastrophic failure protection. This only lasts maybe 3 days, which kinda of defeats the purpose and convenience.
So I guess my question is...
What steps have you taken to ensure your ATO doesn't wipe out your tank or flood your floors? Especially those with larger reservoirs and AIOs. What redundancies have you implemented? Do you rely on brand recognition(ex: tunze)? Tell me your secrets to sleeping at night.
Gravity fed with a float valve seems like a great option for those with sumps, but wasn't practical for an AIO.
Instead I grabbed one of these.
I was pleasantly surprised at how effective it was using a 1L water bottle. Salinity was rock solid, chance of failure was low, and the total volume was inconsequential if there was a failure. I experimented with larger 1.5 and 2L bottles, but found they collapsed on themselves and the chance of failure was much higher. I think this could have been solved with a rigid bottle. The downside was I had to refill this 1L bottle morning and night. I like to take weekend backpacking trips and this wasn't going to work in travel situations.
I ended up ordering a Kamoer ATO.
It's working great so far. It has an optical sensor and overflow float sensor. I only have it attached to a 1 gallon reservoir, which is my final level of catastrophic failure protection. This only lasts maybe 3 days, which kinda of defeats the purpose and convenience.
So I guess my question is...
What steps have you taken to ensure your ATO doesn't wipe out your tank or flood your floors? Especially those with larger reservoirs and AIOs. What redundancies have you implemented? Do you rely on brand recognition(ex: tunze)? Tell me your secrets to sleeping at night.