Which ATO

Waffen06

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I need a new ato set up. Currently running an optical sensor setup that came free with a used tank I bought. Dont believe it's even sold anymore, it works alright but twice this week it hasn't shut off till it timed out which luckily isnt long enough to do anything. I've cleaned the sensor to no help. So my 3 choices are:
Reef Breeders prism (small, compact, simple) $54
Tunze 3155 (very popular and 3 redundancy sensors) $160
Apex ATK (can be used with my new Apex) $180
Obvious there is a big price difference, is it worth it? Which kit is best? Going on a reefer 250
 

Waboss

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I've used a few in the past (Apex optical, Tunze, etc.) And im most happy with the ATO from Avast Marine. I don't really have to worry about failures unless i did something wrong.
 

Flippers4pups

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I've used a Autotoff.com double for over five years now without any issues.
 

vetteguy53081

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Tunze
 

Tastee

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I use an Apex ATK in my Reefer 250 to fill the stock gravity fed ATO once a day from my RODI supply. The FMM used by the ATK has two spare ports so I run a low level and high level sump sensor to alert me to any issues there. The low level sensor is good to alert if the gravity fed ATO gums up and needs cleaning - I find it only needs that every few months or more. I like the 24x7 operation of the gravity fed ATO.
 

Turkey head

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I haven’t had mine for long but I’m using the Tunze 3155 and it seems nice. When I first used it I had air in the pump and it wasn’t working right. After I turned it upside down and shook the bubbles out it’s been working great. (Reading the troubleshooting section in the manual easily solved my problem )
 

Rhoads238

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I used a tunze 3155 for 5 years and I never had an issue with it. I would definitely recommend it. I'm not saying its ok but my reservoir ran dry many many times. The pump always worked. I am setting up a new tank and will be using one again for my ato. This time instead of the pump that comes with it, I'm using a Kamoer dosing pump which will be activated by running the existing tunze pump power line into an IOT relay. When the relay detects a signal from tunze the outlet with the Kamoer plugged in will turn on. I think its going to be a great solution for my ato. My reservoir is far from my tank and also could cause a syphon. Doing it this way should solve both the head pressure and syphoning issue.
 

Philly Reefer

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Since you have an Apex, I recommend the ATK then. Much more visibility/programming to meet your need.

If you don't have apex then no question its the Tunze 3155
 

iamacat

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I used a tunze unit for 8 years and went through 3 units. I recently switched to the Innovative marine hydrofill ATO with their sensors. I think it’s the best one out there.

 

rlman41299

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I would vote for apex ATK if you have apex already but I think they can work as a stand alone. I have both atk and tunze on 3 of my tanks and the tunze has overflowed on me twice already. A small snail got stuck in between the float switch and the plastic guard preventing it from being activated and dumped 3-4 gallons of ro/di in my tank causing it to overflow.
I like the atk since is uses an optical sensor with a float valve as a backup just in case. These are based on my experience
 

Water Dog

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I used a tunze 3155 for 5 years and I never had an issue with it. I would definitely recommend it. I'm not saying its ok but my reservoir ran dry many many times. The pump always worked. I am setting up a new tank and will be using one again for my ato. This time instead of the pump that comes with it, I'm using a Kamoer dosing pump which will be activated by running the existing tunze pump power line into an IOT relay. When the relay detects a signal from tunze the outlet with the Kamoer plugged in will turn on. I think its going to be a great solution for my ato. My reservoir is far from my tank and also could cause a syphon. Doing it this way should solve both the head pressure and syphoning issue.

If you do set it up this way, make sure that you run your Kamoer at full speed. Depending on the size of your sump‘s return chamber, you need to make sure that the pump is set fast enough to fill the evaporation in the chamber before the 3155‘s 10 minute shut off safety feature kicks in.

I would vote for apex ATK if you have apex already but I think they can work as a stand alone. I have both atk and tunze on 3 of my tanks and the tunze has overflowed on me twice already. A small snail got stuck in between the float switch and the plastic guard preventing it from being activated and dumped 3-4 gallons of ro/di in my tank causing it to overflow.
I like the atk since is uses an optical sensor with a float valve as a backup just in case. These are based on my experience
Sounds like you had the Tunze Nano 3152 which only has a float switch. The full size Tunze 3155 which most are recommending uses an optical sensor as the primary with a float switch back up.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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