Hey everyone, im currently in a weird moment in my life as I find myself graduating from my bachelor’s degree by the end of the year and thus moving away from my island of Puerto Rico and to the states when this happens to continue my studies in grad school. Im currently running a nano reef in a standard 20g long with a few corals that id rather not sell when I have to move away mostly LPS. The system is rather simple with just a Bubble Magnus QQ1, a hydor koralia 565, an AC-70 for running purigen and chemipure and one of those aquaknight Hipargero fixtures for lighting. As im home quite alot I usually just top off myself. I originally planned on selling all the livestock at the end of the year but seeing how attached I am to my current livestock my long time girlfriend offered to care for the aquarium until I am settled and I am able to ship the corals to myself or take them through TSA on a visit. As she doesnt really have much experience with any aquariums im looking for a reliable ato so that she only has to do water changes every other week and occasionally feed in the few months she will care for the tank. Ive seen a few options such as the smart micro ato, the tunze nano, the XP aqua duetto, the AVAST ato. Im asking which of all do you guys think is dependable enough to just set it and forget it without worry. A bonus would be for the ato to work on a bigger more permanent tank as I plan on reusing some equipment when I set up a system when I move. Thanks in advance for any recommendations!
Set it and leave it nano ATO
- Thread starter reefydude360
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danieyella
unfriendly local swamp witch
I run the aqua duetto on my tank and really love the simplicity of it. I moved it from a 20g to my 90g with no problems (just upgraded the RODI reservoir to match the larger tank)
NC122606
Active Member
I would go for the Tunze. You could easily get a 5 gallon bucket and hook it up to that, or hook it up to an RO/DI. I would just run it on a small amount of water since evaporation is probably not that bad. Not saying that other ATOs can’t do the same thing but I just trust the tunze ATO a bit more.
I personally have been running the smart micro ato on my IM Fusion 10 for nearly 2 years now and have not had a single issue. I also like that it will set off an audible beep when it runs out of water. The beeping will not stop until someone fills up the container. It has also been extremely reliable. My vote is for the smart micro ato.
Edit: I do want to add that you have to place the sensor in an area that does not get direct light from tank. Some light is fine, but a bright light can cause issues with the sensor. In my situation the sensor sits behind the inside wall of the AIO tank. You might have issues with that in a standard 20g tank.
Edit: I do want to add that you have to place the sensor in an area that does not get direct light from tank. Some light is fine, but a bright light can cause issues with the sensor. In my situation the sensor sits behind the inside wall of the AIO tank. You might have issues with that in a standard 20g tank.
AdamNC
Lawnmower Blenny says nom nom
I myself have a standard 10 gallon nano. I tried the Tunze 3152 Nano and snails would stop the float from going up or down at times almost flooding my tank. I tried the XPAqua Duetto and almost the same thing when a snail crawled over the sensor. The best thing I’ve found was the XPAqua Duetto Sumpless ato. Absolutely no issues other than the internal pump is a bit strong for a 10g so I had to redirect the flow with airline tubing. No issues since doing this. I highly recommend this ato.
www.bulkreefsupply.com
Sumpless Auto Top Off System
Xp Aqua's Sumpless ATO - Complete ATO & Surface Skimmer for Sumpless Aquariums Sumpless ATO is the first and only ATO designed specifically for aquariums without sumps. The combination of the sleek overflow box and the innovative dual-optical sensor ATO will help to keep your aquarium topped...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
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I did a bunch of ATO research about a year ago. The tunze is very popular, but I feel that the float and optical sensors can be error prone over time... especially if there's little or no maintenance (salt creep etc?). I also don't like the idea of another big pump to deal with... less space was better for me.
I eventually landed on the spectrapure ato. It is pretty expensive (jeez... did I really pay that much?) but it has a lot of advantages over traditional ato systems. The pressure based sensor is both very sensitive and has very low failure rates. Salt creep can't trick it like other sensor types. It also uses a peristaltic pump, which means if the ato reservoir runs dry and sits for a few days, the pump won't burn up. It can pull/push water farther, and it doesn't matter the size of the opening on your reservoir.
I've been running it for quite some time, and I find it to be pretty bulletproof. All I do is change the jugs out with new water. Haven't touched it in a year.
I eventually landed on the spectrapure ato. It is pretty expensive (jeez... did I really pay that much?) but it has a lot of advantages over traditional ato systems. The pressure based sensor is both very sensitive and has very low failure rates. Salt creep can't trick it like other sensor types. It also uses a peristaltic pump, which means if the ato reservoir runs dry and sits for a few days, the pump won't burn up. It can pull/push water farther, and it doesn't matter the size of the opening on your reservoir.
I've been running it for quite some time, and I find it to be pretty bulletproof. All I do is change the jugs out with new water. Haven't touched it in a year.
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