Which ATO should I get.

eslatts11

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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.
The Tunze 3155 is the best, not the pump that comes with it though. I find that using a peristaltic/dosing pump with it works great. Nice thing about the unit us you can plug n play any 12v DC pump.
 
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xnaz

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The Tunze 3155 is the best, not the pump that comes with it though. I find that using a peristaltic/dosing pump with it works great. Nice thing about the unit us you can plug n play any 12v DC pump.
Oh really that’s interesting. Two questions. Why do you not like the pump it comes with? And which dosing pump do you use?
 

DarkReefer

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I have a Kamoer I think it's called.
Was fairly cheap compared to other ATO's, seems to do the job so far, has alarms when you are running low/high in the chamber and has a breather valve so that it doesn't cause a siphon.
Also has a 3rd sensor option (Which is free to obtain here in Aus at least) which you can use as another alarm for the RO chamber itself. Has already saved mine from sucking air.
 

eslatts11

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Oh really that’s interesting. Two questions. Why do you not like the pump it comes with? And which dosing pump do you use?
Had a few fail, and they are quite noisy too.

I use an old spectrapure litermeter pump that originally had a 3.5mm jack on the end of it that would have connected to the main litermeter system. Just cut off the 3.5mm jack and connected the positive and negative wires to the clips on the Tunze 12v DC wire where their pump would connect, works great. I even used small speaker wire to extend the line an extra 20 feet or so.
 

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Greetings,
Is your tank an AIO? I use the XP Aqua for sumpless tanks, works good. Also have the regular XP Aqua, like it as well. The Tunze 3155 is awesome as well!!! It has a float switch and a sensor so it doesn’t over flow, I’ve add it for 5 years and no issues at all!!! On the controller you can change the power of the pump. You can switch it to nano mode and it’ll be perfect for the 20 cube. Just the magnet thing that holds them are pretty bulky, will probably take up a big chunk of your return pump chamber. But I use those two brands and love them. For ATO container, I got a 2gallon tank with lid for $10, works perfectly. Good luck!!! be safe.
 
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xnaz

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I have a Kamoer I think it's called.
Was fairly cheap compared to other ATO's, seems to do the job so far, has alarms when you are running low/high in the chamber and has a breather valve so that it doesn't cause a siphon.
Also has a 3rd sensor option (Which is free to obtain here in Aus at least) which you can use as another alarm for the RO chamber itself. Has already saved mine from sucking air.
Oh wow just searched it up. Looks good. I’ll check it out thanks.
 
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xnaz

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Had a few fail, and they are quite noisy too.

I use an old spectrapure litermeter pump that originally had a 3.5mm jack on the end of it that would have connected to the main litermeter system. Just cut off the 3.5mm jack and connected the positive and negative wires to the clips on the Tunze 12v DC wire where their pump would connect, works great. I even used small speaker wire to extend the line an extra 20 feet or so.
Oh really I didn’t know they weren’t that reliable on that part. Thanks for the info.
 
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xnaz

xnaz

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Greetings,
Is your tank an AIO? I use the XP Aqua for sumpless tanks, works good. Also have the regular XP Aqua, like it as well. The Tunze 3155 is awesome as well!!! It has a float switch and a sensor so it doesn’t over flow, I’ve add it for 5 years and no issues at all!!! On the controller you can change the power of the pump. You can switch it to nano mode and it’ll be perfect for the 20 cube. Just the magnet thing that holds them are pretty bulky, will probably take up a big chunk of your return pump chamber. But I use those two brands and love them. For ATO container, I got a 2gallon tank with lid for $10, works perfectly. Good luck!!! be safe.
Ok awesome to hear thanks for the info. I did hear about how you can switch it to Nano mode. Do you know how long it goes on for just in case the switch fails on nano mode?

Edit: yes it is an aio.
 
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TRAPO

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Ok awesome to hear thanks for the info. I did hear about how you can switch it to Nano mode. Do you know how long it goes on for just in case the switch fails on nano mode?

Edit: yes it is an aio.
Honestly, I can’t say, I’ve never had an issue with it. Plus I only keep my ATO filled to a minimum. Not all the way. It’s in a 7.5 gallon reservoir and I fill it halfway only. the sump will hold the water if it does over fill. Did it that way in case it does, but thank Jah, it’s never happened. The only thing I ran into was getting the pump to work this last time. I’ve had it for 5 years and I switched it to another tank, the pump was not cooperating lol. I was about to buy a new pump!!! But it started working the next day and has been doing a great job ever since. The XP Aqua would be good for your tank IMO due to the sensor being small and won’t take up too much space. This is only my own opinion from experience. I bought a $40 one on eBay from some dude that makes them like the DIY king dude, only had float switch and I had to buy the pump separate.... NEVER AGAIN!!! That one over flowed my tank twice!!! I got 15 tanks so that one yeah No sump!!! Lol didn’t over flow much, bout half a gallon but any bit is a lot lol... So I’ll stick to the XP or the Tunze 3155.
 
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xnaz

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Honestly, I can’t say, I’ve never had an issue with it. Plus I only keep my ATO filled to a minimum. Not all the way. It’s in a 7.5 gallon reservoir and I fill it halfway only. the sump will hold the water if it does over fill. Did it that way in case it does, but thank Jah, it’s never happened. The only thing I ran into was getting the pump to work this last time. I’ve had it for 5 years and I switched it to another tank, the pump was not cooperating lol. I was about to buy a new pump!!! But it started working the next day and has been doing a great job ever since. The XP Aqua would be good for your tank IMO due to the sensor being small and won’t take up too much space. This is only my own opinion from experience. I bought a $40 one on eBay from some dude that makes them like the DIY king dude, only had float switch and I had to buy the pump separate.... NEVER AGAIN!!! That one over flowed my tank twice!!! I got 15 tanks so that one yeah No sump!!! Lol didn’t over flow much, bout half a gallon but any bit is a lot lol... So I’ll stick to the XP or the Tunze 3155.
Ok that’s smart about filling it to where it can’t over flow. Ok appreciate the info and wow 15 tanks is awesome. Thanks.
 

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Ok that’s smart about filling it to where it can’t over flow. Ok appreciate the info and wow 15 tanks is awesome. Thanks.
Anytime!!! Glad I was informative, I thought I was just rambling lol. And yes 15 tanks, will be 19 by summer. I would tell you what they’re gonna be , but I don’t wanna get banned for talking about Freshwater here!!!! be safe and good luck!!! ✌
 
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xnaz

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Anytime!!! Glad I was informative, I thought I was just rambling lol. And yes 15 tanks, will be 19 by summer. I would tell you what they’re gonna be , but I don’t wanna get banned for talking about Freshwater here!!!! be safe and good luck!!! ✌
LOL freshwater is what got me in the hobby in the first place so I have a small love for them. Hope your tanks thrive. Thanks.
 

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I have the JBJ with a Neptune Pmup on my Nuvo 20. No issues for the past 7 months. I also have the Tunze 3155 on 2 of my other tanks. The Tunze pump will cavitate and not work if if it runs dry and you refill the reservoir without tipping the pump upside down to release the air bubbles. I haven't had this issue with the Pmup.
 
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xnaz

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I have the JBJ with a Neptune Pmup on my Nuvo 20. No issues for the past 7 months. I also have the Tunze 3155 on 2 of my other tanks. The Tunze pump will cavitate and not work if if it runs dry and you refill the reservoir without tipping the pump upside down to release the air bubbles. I haven't had this issue with the Pmup.
When you say run dry do you mean like the container that holds the pump has no more water in it?
 

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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.
This was discussed in another recent thread, I'm not sure if you were part of it (or the one that mentioned it) but someone was having the same problem and rectified it by finding a way to mount the float without using a magnet.

Come to think of it, it may have been one of my threads. I have a few QTs and was hoping not to drop $200 on 3155's for them but got the half price 3152. I'm convinced the 3155 is the way to go. They're worth the extra $100 (each).
The only thing I'm a bit weary about is the noise of the pump. For my DT, the resiviour and pump are in my basement. I can hear it from the first floor of my house, but it's just a high pitched whine that runs for a few seconds once or twice an hour, not a big deal. Not wanting to put a bunch of holes in the floor of my spare bedroom, I don't know if I want to listen to it.
That seems to leave me with two options. Put the pump in the bedroom and listen to it. Put it in the basement, run the lines up 10ish feet through the existing hole where the cable comes up from the basement, run the tube all the way around the room to the QT and swap the pump out for a stronger one that can push the water that far. I think I'll probably just keep refilling them by hand. They're small tanks and one has a glass top so it's not a huge deal.
 

Joe31415

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Nice thing about the unit us you can plug n play any 12v DC pump.
I assume that depends on how many amps the pump pulls. But, in any case, they make an adapter so you can use any 120v (and likely 220-240v for across the pond) pump. It's an outlet that plugs into the wall, the pump of your choosing plugs into the outlet and the 12v feed from the head unit simply switches the outlet on and off.
 

rockdiver

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Well they all can fail imo.
I have the XP Aqua and it works great.
It has a run time to where the first time it fills it sets the time so I had mine fill for 10 seconds thus it sets for 10 seconds anything over it shuts off and beeps and you have to manually press the button to start it again.
I have a 2.5 reserve and now looking to buy the AP Aqua RO unit to fill the reserve automatically. That has 2 low sensors 2 high sensors and a float valve also.
I dont want to fill the sump directly I did that once before filling directly and didn't work out well lol. Room didn't flood but the tank filled with fresh water my sump was able to handle it but it lowered the salinity to much and killed.
So if I fill the 2.5 directly from the rodi then I have the ato from the reserve to the tank its like redundancy over board but thats what I was looking for.
But again you have to watch any ato or really any equipment because anything can fail imo
 

Joe31415

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I can't bring myself to allow my ATO reservoir to refill automatically. I have my RODI system on a timer. Once every day or two, I glance at the reservoir and set the timer for 15 minutes or 30 minutes or an hour or whatever it needs, but after that it's shut off at the source. I do also have a float in it so if I pick a time that's too long, it won't overflow the reservoir.
Between that and the 3155, so far, so good.
 
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