Preemptive ATO Replacement

[esolo16]

Does anyone preemptively replace their ATO and/or ATO feed pumps after a certain time? I replace my heater every year and more and more people seem to be adding backup return pumps to their aquariums for redundancy, but I believe a functioning ATO is just as vital as a return pump or heater. I have a four year old Tunze ATO and replaced the feed pump a year and half ago when my old one started making a little more noise than normal. I am interested to hear what other people think!

 

[Montiman]

I have a tunze as well. I don’t preemptively replace the unit but I do keep an extra pump on hand. I have seen osmolators last over a decade. This is one of the reasons I buy them. The only way I have personally seen an osmolator die is from water damage. I will say preemptive cleaning and maintenance is a must and I have a scheduled sensor cleaning every 6 months. Tunze can also replace sensors for you if you like. I would rather maintain equipment than just replace it.

If my ATO dies I can manually top off my tank for a week while Roger fixes it.

 

[Tastee]

I use a Neptune ATK to top up my gravity fed RSR 250 ATO daily. I only run the PMUP once daily to (hopefully) prolong it’s life. If it fails the ATO itself lasts around 3-4 days from full so I would manually fill until I got a replacement PMUP.

The float valve for the gravity fed ATO works just fine and simply needs to be cleaned every 6 weeks or so. I also run a low level optical sensor in my sump to alert me to the ATO gumming up.

 

[esolo16]

Thanks for the replies! I do clean the sensors once a month and have an extra pump on hand. However, I travel a lot for work so if my ATO failed, I may not be around by the time my return section runs dry. That would be my biggest concern here.

 

[Montiman]

Thanks for the replies! I do clean the sensors once a month and have an extra pump on hand. However, I travel a lot for work so if my ATO failed, I may not be around by the time my return section runs dry. That would be my biggest concern here.

I understand my sump is designed so that I could let water evaporate for 3-4 days and nothing would run dry or burn out. I would personally have a buddy on call and an APEX with a Low Level sensor in your case.

Even when I'm gone for a week and my tank runs on automated equipment only I still have a reefing buddy on call and check the tank webcam at least twice a day to make sure all is good.

 

[Tastee]

Thanks for the replies! I do clean the sensors once a month and have an extra pump on hand. However, I travel a lot for work so if my ATO failed, I may not be around by the time my return section runs dry. That would be my biggest concern here.

I agree that’s a risk and I agree with the other reply - I would have someone on hand who could do what is needed. In my case at worst we would have a house-sitter looking after the dog and I could have them top up the ATO manually every few days as I keep a stock of RODI handy in the house. I would then deal with the issue when I returned. My son also lives locally, has a key and is reasonably reef experienced. Hopefully you can organise something similar to cover you.