Which ATO should I get.

[xnaz]

I need to know which is the best and most reliable ATO because I am picking one up tomorrow. Any suggestions would be awesome. Thanks.

I have a waterbox 20 cube.

 

[DinoMagnet]

Tunze 3155

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

The Tunze nano worked well for me going on 5 years now.

 

[tricky_tran]

if you can find one, Spectrapure ultra-precise auto top off (you get what you pay for). If that is out of your budget, then the Avast Marine ATO.

 

[JosephM]

I use the jbj ato and I’ve never had any issues

 

[nick_md]

I have been using the XP Aqua Duetto Dual-Sensor ATO for about 6 months now and I've been happy with its performance and simplicity. I have the pump in a 5 gallon plastic jug and the sensor and water dispenser attached to my 20 gallon peninsula.

 

[xnaz]

Tunze 3155

That’s the one I hear everyone get and they say it’s reliable. Definitely first choice just checking other people’s suggestions and experience.

 

[xnaz]

The Tunze nano worked well for me going on 5 years now.

I heard people say they have a problem with that one. I don’t know the exact reason so I’ll search it up. Thanks.

 

[xnaz]

if you can find one, Spectrapure ultra-precise auto top off (you get what you pay for). If that is out of your budget, then the Avast Marine ATO.

I’ve never seen the Spectrapure but I’ll do some research on it thanks.

 

[xnaz]

I use the jbj ato and I’ve never had any issues

Can this one fail on the on position cause that’s what I’m looking to avoid.

 

[xnaz]

I have been using the XP Aqua Duetto Dual-Sensor ATO for about 6 months now and I've been happy with its performance and simplicity. I have the pump in a 5 gallon plastic jug and the sensor and water dispenser attached to my 20 gallon peninsula.

Can it fail on the on position or no?

 

[nick_md]

Can it fail on the on position or no?

I don't think so. It has a simple program to cut off the pump if it is feeding for more longer than your first top off after powering on the system. So, if the first top off is only 5 seconds, any time the pump turns on for more than 5 seconds it triggers an alarm and pauses. I've found that useful for things like snails that can mess with the sensor and trigger it to turn on...

 

[xnaz]

I don't think so. It has a simple program to cut off the pump if it is feeding for more longer than your first top off after powering on the system. So, if the first top off is only 5 seconds, any time the pump turns on for more than 5 seconds it triggers an alarm and pauses. I've found that useful for things like snails that can mess with the sensor and trigger it to turn on...

Oh ok that sounds cool. Thanks.

 

[JosephM]

Can this one fail on the on position cause that’s what I’m looking to avoid.

Technically yes because it’s a float valve but it also has an auto switch off after a certain amount of time. I’ve had some chaeto go ramped and get all caught up in the float valves and they still worked properly

 

[xnaz]

Technically yes because it’s a float valve but it also has an auto switch off after a certain amount of time. I’ve had some chaeto go ramped and get all caught up in the float valves and they still worked properly

Oh wow that’s good to hear thanks.

 

[azazello]

Tunze. Very reliable

 

[Reef.]

The Tunze Nano is not perfect, I have it and looking to move away from it, the pump is far too noisy, the overfill cut out is 1.40 mins, meaning if the float switch gets stuck in the on position the pump will pump for 1.40mintes, which for a nano is ridiculous for a nano ato, it also has a habit of overfilling every now and again so the float switch is totally under water, apparently this is a design choice, not sure what that achieves, annoying when it happens, it also has the opposite habit of stopping topping up, again just every now and then, but enough that it’s irritating, I have a feeling it’s something to do with the magnet, anything with a magnetic field Such as heaters, returns pumps if near by can cause these issues.

I feel for a top brand as Tunze it should be a lot better, if you are deciding between two, I would probably go for the other option, I believe Smart micro ato is a good ato, I’m either going to try that or something else.

 

[xnaz]

The Tunze Nano is not perfect, I have it and looking to move away from it, the pump is far too noisy, the overfill cut out is 1.40 mins, meaning if the float switch gets stuck in the on position the pump will pump for 1.40mintes, which for a nano is ridiculous for a nano ato, it also has a habit of overfilling every now and again so the float switch is totally under water, apparently this is a design choice, not sure what that achieves, annoying when it happens, it also has the opposite habit of stopping topping up, again just every now and then, but enough that it’s irritating, I have a feeling it’s something to do with the magnet, anything with a magnetic field Such as heaters, returns pumps if near by can cause these issues.

I feel for a top brand as Tunze it should be a lot better, if you are deciding between two, I would probably go for the other option, I believe Smart micro ato is a good ato, I’m either going to try that or something else.

Sorry to hear that. Thanks for the info. I did not know about the 1.40 minute thing. Do you know if the bigger one is like that.

 

[Reef.]

Sorry to hear that. Thanks for the info. I did not know about the 1.40 minute thing. Do you know if the bigger one is like that.

The full size one is over 2mins.

Chances are it will never trigger, just can’t understand why they set the cutoff for that length of time, makes no sense as the average top up would only be for 4-5 seconds at most.

 

[xnaz]

The full size one is over 2mins.

Chances are it will never trigger, just can’t understand why they set the cutoff for that length of time, makes no sense as the average top up would only be for 4-5 seconds at most.

Yeah that doesn’t make a lot of sense for nanos. Thanks for the info.