Is an ATO 100% necessary?

[vlangel]

I have a 75g tank with glass tops and no ATO. This is the most successful tank I have had with growing coral. As an aquarium tech I have seen ATOs malfunction with catastrophic results so they are not for me.

 

[exnisstech]

OK now I might have a change of tune. What is the risk of this? could it possibly overflow your tank for $40 even my hardheadedness is listening.. Nissan guy, you had ANY issues with it, is it on your biota tang tank?

It does not have a high level sensor so a flood is possible. I've had no problems in over a year but that could end tomorrow. My biota tangs are in my 330g the cheap ATO is on my 40g breeder that is my observation tank I keep running. Its a rimmed tank with no sump but the optical sensor works well even with the surface agitation.
I've used cheapo units, kamoer, tunze and old JBJ units and they all worked fine. My favorites are the old JBJ units that run float switches instead of optical sensors but they no longer make them.

 

[larrysaltisfun]

330 is my dream tank. I got a 210 moving up from a 120. I wish I had gone bigger lol

 

[exnisstech]

330 is my dream tank. I got a 210 moving up from a 120. I wish I had gone bigger lol

I moved up from a 180 and my tangs are loving it. Going from 24" to 30" front to back depth was a huge difference. I wanted to go with an 8ft tank but 7ft is all I have room for.

 

[larrysaltisfun]

330 is my dream tank. I got a 210 moving up from a 120. I wish I had gone bigger lol

I moved up from a 180 and my tangs are loving it. Going from 24" to 30" front to back depth was a huge difference. I wanted to go with an 8ft tank but 7ft is all I have room for.

I’d have to move a Pool Table out of the room. I really thought 210 was huge everyone else see it thinks it’s huge but you read about these monster tanks on R2R and then you want your own ocean

I would imagine 330 opens up for a lot bigger fish then the zebrosoma acanthurus and paracanthurus/ fox face species my 10 fish seem happy but bigger fish would be cramped

 

[Royal Grandma]

I've been running a few small tanks of various sizes without any manual or auto top up for years. They have lids and weekly 20% water changes and I just balance the salinity each week. It doesn't swing enough to worry about. I like to keep things as simple as possible. Everything and everyone is happy and healthy, but in fairness everything I have is relatively easy and cheap.

 

[CrewePD210]

Mine was a life changer. I would be dumping water into the sump about 3x a week. My ATO spits a few ounces about once a minute, and I just have to fill up the reservoir or about once a week. It really saves time and worry, and the tank seems to be much more stable than just randomly dumping in a couple of gallons whenever the sump gets loud.

 

[Dom]

Do you really absolutely have to have one? Or can you get by with topping off a few times a week?

I’m new to reefing and just set up my two mini tanks. The biggest one is 6 gallons and has a lid that covers about 80% or so of the surface so I obviously am going to get some evaporation. But I’m wondering how much of a “must have” an ATO is? I never used one in the olden days (I’m back after 15+ years away from saltwater, never had corals though).

The tank won’t have any priceless corals but I still want to do what’s best for whatever ends up going in there (still cycling).

Anyway what do you think? Can you get by without one just doing top offs, say, 1-2 times a week? What if an ATO malfunctions (I’m actually scared of that happening)? Can you get away with something like this or does it need to be top of the line?

https://a.co/d/04dGjoB2
Thank you in advance

For the sake of stable salinity, yes, it is.

 

[Johnd651]

Ill be the one to tell you that I had an electronic ATO on my 15g cube malfunction, and it did do some damage, but yes I think they are 100% needed on smaller tanks (electric, gravity, etc) vs 1-2 top offs per week.

Now on a bigger tank, on my 130 gallon, I would say top offs are OK, but would recommend an ATO.

They maintain stability when it comes to the salinity and other components in the water. On the smaller tank when my ATO malfunctioned it took me about 2 days to find it, so similar to your idea of topping off every few days, and I did loose coral due to the salinity swing.

When doing a top off on a low volume tank, the salinity swing is actually more gradual due to evaporation, then the swing when you top it off with 0.5 gallons, for example. Also, you are probably topping off directly into a AIO or HOB filter vs a sump where some mixing can occur.

 

[Johnd651]

OK now I might have a change of tune. What is the risk of this? could it possibly overflow your tank for $40 even my hardheadedness is listening.. Nissan guy, you had ANY issues with it, is it on your biota tang tank?

overflow depends on 2 things...headroom in tank, and RODI ato capacity. Tanks usually arent filled to the top. If you have 0.5 gallons of headspace, a 2 liter bottle should never overflow, but a 1 gallon bottle could.

 

[areefer01]

Do you really absolutely have to have one? Or can you get by with topping off a few times a week?

No, it is not. Having said that you need to ask yourself a couple of questions:

how do you plan to manage evaporation
how will you top off if away for work, emergency, vacation, rl (real life)

One piece of advise regardless of what path you choose, get to know the evaporation rates. Summer and winter as they are different.

Good luck.

 

[HELLCO]

I recommend it on any size take, but especially smaller tanks where a small drop in water level can have a bigger effect on salinity. A 200 gallon system will not have a huge swing at a 1/4 inch drop in the sump, a 1/4 inch drop in a 6 gallon tank will. And if you do manual, you'll need to do it daily, not weekly.

 

[BryanM]

Do you really absolutely have to have one? Or can you get by with topping off a few times a week?

I’m new to reefing and just set up my two mini tanks. The biggest one is 6 gallons and has a lid that covers about 80% or so of the surface so I obviously am going to get some evaporation. But I’m wondering how much of a “must have” an ATO is? I never used one in the olden days (I’m back after 15+ years away from saltwater, never had corals though).

The tank won’t have any priceless corals but I still want to do what’s best for whatever ends up going in there (still cycling).

Anyway what do you think? Can you get by without one just doing top offs, say, 1-2 times a week? What if an ATO malfunctions (I’m actually scared of that happening)? Can you get away with something like this or does it need to be top of the line?

https://a.co/d/04dGjoB2
Thank you in advance

IMO it clearly is not required.

But it is a quality of life enhancement, and its a big one.

 

[Shawty-Lo]

No, an ATO is not 100% necessary , but it is close to essential for maintaining stable salinity.

 

[JLP82]

I purchased one due to the fact that I work a two week rotation away from home. It definitely helped reducing the load on my wife having to always check every day. I also added a level sensor in the ATO chamber so that I can monitor what’s used and when the chamber needs to be refilled.

 

[ShakeyGizzard]

Don't break the bank on a 6 gal. I used one of these on a 10 gallon for years. Its posible to find a bigger jug for it but it must be stiff so it does not cave in. They are cheap on amazon and will spread your manual top offs to every 4 to 5 or more days

 

[Matthew K]

Do you really absolutely have to have one? Or can you get by with topping off a few times a week?

I’m new to reefing and just set up my two mini tanks. The biggest one is 6 gallons and has a lid that covers about 80% or so of the surface so I obviously am going to get some evaporation. But I’m wondering how much of a “must have” an ATO is? I never used one in the olden days (I’m back after 15+ years away from saltwater, never had corals though).

The tank won’t have any priceless corals but I still want to do what’s best for whatever ends up going in there (still cycling).

Anyway what do you think? Can you get by without one just doing top offs, say, 1-2 times a week? What if an ATO malfunctions (I’m actually scared of that happening)? Can you get away with something like this or does it need to be top of the line?

https://a.co/d/04dGjoB2
Thank you in advance

Depends on your evaporation rate, there is no way I would operate without one, but I live in a dry climate. I also am one who needs to automate things as much as possible because routine is not my strong suit. Maybe a dosing pump to keep things at a baseline evaporation rate with a manual top off a couple times a week.

 

[Double monti 61]

I use distilled water in a one gallon jug with a 1/4 inch air tube and a 1/4 inch plastic valve the bottom of the jug is above the top of the tank and I adjust the flow rate when needed it is not that reliable but it works fine sometimes you just have to adjust the flow rate to add more if you see the level of the water in your system is lower then it should be,the tube should reach the bottom of the jug and if it is set up correctly most times it will empty the jug. I find it works better than adding a large amount of makeup water to the system at one time my tank is only a 15 gallon so it is a little easier for me than a automated system and I have never had any issues using distilled water from the grocery stores and even different brands.

 

[Spartyon]

I have a 13.5gal tank and I lived without an ATO for about 2 weeks. Even with a small tank the water level fluctuated way too much. I got a Tunze Osmolator 3 for both my 13,5gal and even smaller 10gal holding tank. Pretty darn expensive. There are lots of options. 100% worth it

 

[quaz]

You guys are awesome, thank you for the feedback. Seems like it might be a good idea for peace of mind even if it’s not 100% required. Most of you seem to agree that you’re glad you have one.

I think I will try the one I linked, unless anyone has any other suggestions.

Thanks again!

I run a RO line into my sump with a float switch works very well most of the time however sometimes if the float switch does not cut off the supply will over fill the sump. In 4 years only overflowed once but may overfill as mentioned. I wonder if my float switch is defective. I have a 340 gallon system with show tank 280 on first floor and sump in the basement