lol ok point taken
I’m glad I have one. I’ve done it both ways and having the ATO gives me 1 less thing to worry about or remember. It makes sure I have water when I forget to check.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
yes yes ..i only have a small bttle which requires re fill morning and night but its so much more accurate and you can dose from it if you want small doses and just the sound of a gurgle at 3am when it tops up a tiny bit ..somehow so satisfyingDo 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
Awesome, sounds like it works. I ordered one of those gravity ones too, to start since it’s such a small tank. I can always upgrade later.yes yes ..i only have a small bttle which requires re fill morning and night but its so much more accurate and you can dose from it if you want small doses and just the sound of a gurgle at 3am when it tops up a tiny bit ..somehow so satisfyingDo 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
That’s what scares me!! I decided to try a gravity bottle type, wish me luck
Sounds amazing, awesome that it sends alerts to your phone.If you do decide on an ATO make sure you have a way to turn it off if there is a malfunction. I have several one is there is a maximum on time setup for the output that powers the ATO pump so if it runs that long before turning off it will turn off the pump and send an alert to my phone. I also have an overfull water level sensor in my sump that will also send an alert and turn off the output. I also have a leak detector in the stand with the sump so if it were to overfill which would be unlikely that will also turn off the ATO output but that one would also turn off my skimmer and return pump along with other outputs. That would also send an alert. I also do AWC so the ATO output is also controlled using the AWC logic in my controller, The output also has a maximum off time but that will only send an alert. I have that set to 3 hours so if a top off does not occur for some reason in 3 hours I get an alert for that so I can check into it to see what happened. Below are a couple of screenshots from my output settings. The first one is the control output for my ATO. It uses 4 inputs to determine if it is ok for the ATO to run. When this output is on it is ok for the ATO to run since the two leak detectors would have to be dry along with the over full input would also have to be dry. The other sensor is the low level sensor in my DI reservoir. If it is dry then the ATO will not run. That should only be temporary since the input also starts the RODI unit to refill the DI reservoir and stops it when it is full. My DI reservoir and the pumps are in my garage 35ft from the tank. The combiner mode is set to AND so that all the inputs have to be in their active state for the output to come on. The second screenshot is the ATO output part of my AWC output settings that shows the advanced settings which are the on time and off time settings. The ATO pump is a dosing pump with a flow rate set to 55ml a minute. Also my 2 AWC pumps are also dosing pumps and they are also set to 55ml a minute flow rate. The AWC happens 4 times a day.
It is a 42 gallon hex tank. I have a build thread on R2R for it. If interested click on "My Tank Thread" banner on one of my post. I was using the Digital Aquatics Archon controller but switched to the Hydros system a few years ago. The Hydros info starts on page 6 post 119 when I got my first Hydros controller that went in my garage where my RODI and mixing station is at. Now there are controllers at both the tank and the mixing station.Sounds amazing, awesome that it sends alerts to your phone.
But I’m assuming yours is bigger than 6 gallons
Will check it outIt is a 42 gallon hex tank. I have a build thread on R2R for it. If interested click on "My Tank Thread" banner on one of my post. I was using the Digital Aquatics Archon controller but switched to the Hydros system a few years ago. The Hydros info starts on page 6 post 119 when I got my first Hydros controller that went in my garage where my RODI and mixing station is at. Now there are controllers at both the tank and the mixing station.Sounds amazing, awesome that it sends alerts to your phone.
But I’m assuming yours is bigger than 6 gallons
In my humble opinion only two things maybe three are absolutely mandatory for this hobby: a reef keeping spectrum capable lighting system and no I don't mean it has to be something that will break your bank, quality wave makers and return pumps, and an ink bird or other temperature monitoring and control system. Outside of that once your biome is active fancy equipment in my opinion especially this stuff for automation takes a lot of the fun out of the hobby at least it did for me. I have a single head dosing pump on my system for alkalinity only. I let my corals tell me when things need adjusted and overall my system seems to be thriving.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
Hadn’t heard of inkbird, going to research that. ThanksIn my humble opinion only two things maybe three are absolutely mandatory for this hobby: a reef keeping spectrum capable lighting system and no I don't mean it has to be something that will break your bank, quality wave makers and return pumps, and an ink bird or other temperature monitoring and control system. Outside of that once your biome is active fancy equipment in my opinion especially this stuff for automation takes a lot of the fun out of the hobby at least it did for me. I have a single head dosing pump on my system for alkalinity only. I let my corals tell me when things need adjusted and overall my system seems to be thriving.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
