It is time (ATO)
- Thread starter NoWaiAma
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I have had one up for 4 months. Does what it is supposed to.
Remember to turn it off when you do tank maintenance that changes the water level.
D0nt place the water output tube under water or it can back siphon.
Remember to clean the sensor once in a while.
Put the sensor somewhere you can see it. When you do water changes you have to add water back to the level of the sensor.
Remember to turn it off when you do tank maintenance that changes the water level.
D0nt place the water output tube under water or it can back siphon.
Remember to clean the sensor once in a while.
Put the sensor somewhere you can see it. When you do water changes you have to add water back to the level of the sensor.
I have had 2 and they work great. See above post for good advice. I have my "too high" sensor at the top of my sump. I dont need to know that my main pump is off and Im doing a water change and the sump is over full. You can even change the alarm (turn off the beep beep) and adjust pump output settings. Pump output can be good because everyone's tank size is not the same. My ATO output is taped to one of my sump intake pipes above the water line.
I hear good things about them.
Like your choice of knife!
Like your choice of knife!
Frogg
Active Member
I use the smart aqua brand Auto water change and auto top off. and so far so good. i was loosing about a gallon every other day, so it was increasingly frustrating keeping up because my levels gradually dipped enough to shoot microbubbles in my tank (AIO). So someone sold me on the ATO idea and it is awesome. and when i saw the AWC option it was like a thing I remember why I left aquariums in the first place. So after a very steep learning curve, still learning actually, I have it set to do about a gallon water change every week.
mcarroll
10K Club member
I was also quite paranoid, and I don't feel bad about it now after the fact.
I didn't even have an ATO for a year or two.
After I set one up (a single-sensor reed-float type....very simple, brainless) I ran it connected to a large floor lamp that would cue me to top off the tank for a while.
After it seemed reliable, I kept the lamp, but added a reservoir and a pump. I could see every time it ran and for how long.
I ran it this way for 2-3 years before I was comfortable enough to take the floor lamp down.
My conclusion is that reed switches are VERY reliable.
Yours should be even more-so as your primary sensor is solid-state, you have a backup reed sensor AND it has a brain which contains some fail-safes.
That said, the ultimate fail-safe is to have a reservoir of the correct size. It should be small enough that if it totally empties into your system it won'y matter one bit. This is true of most "average" size reservoirs, but it does depend on available sump space as well as overall system size.
My system has been running for 10+ years (the "+" was from the prior owner....no idea how old it was) and has "dumped the bucket" a few times. That's in 10 years, with zero maintenance or cleaning, even after having a major precipitation event in the tank. If I'd have cleaned it somewhere along the way I'm sure it'd be zero failures rather than a statistical zero, but I'm still very happy with my system.
How's that for a vote of confidence plus a few ideas?
I didn't even have an ATO for a year or two.
After I set one up (a single-sensor reed-float type....very simple, brainless) I ran it connected to a large floor lamp that would cue me to top off the tank for a while.
After it seemed reliable, I kept the lamp, but added a reservoir and a pump. I could see every time it ran and for how long.
I ran it this way for 2-3 years before I was comfortable enough to take the floor lamp down.
My conclusion is that reed switches are VERY reliable.
Yours should be even more-so as your primary sensor is solid-state, you have a backup reed sensor AND it has a brain which contains some fail-safes.
That said, the ultimate fail-safe is to have a reservoir of the correct size. It should be small enough that if it totally empties into your system it won'y matter one bit. This is true of most "average" size reservoirs, but it does depend on available sump space as well as overall system size.
My system has been running for 10+ years (the "+" was from the prior owner....no idea how old it was) and has "dumped the bucket" a few times. That's in 10 years, with zero maintenance or cleaning, even after having a major precipitation event in the tank. If I'd have cleaned it somewhere along the way I'm sure it'd be zero failures rather than a statistical zero, but I'm still very happy with my system.
How's that for a vote of confidence plus a few ideas?
Jeff Sawyer
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Been running the same system for over a year. Zero problems.
Shaddow_wolf169
Valuable Member
Made my own for 8 bucks my buddy uses that one with an aqua lifter works okay.
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