Best bang for Ur buck ATO

[jason604]

Hey guys I'm getting tired of pouring a bucket of RO water into my sump each day. What's the best bang for your buck ATO method? I store RO water into my 5g water dispensing drinking bottle. Aqua lifter and something? I dunno what u guys do that is fail proof =)

[freeze]

If you want fail proof, tunze. Its about $200 bucks, and has all the bells so you don't flood your house. If it runs longer then 5 minutes it shuts off. Uses an optical sensor and then has a fload sensor backup so that if the water reaches the upper float in your sump, or tank, it shuts off. Best bang for your buck in my world as its 200 up front, but you shouldn't flood the place.

[spit.fire]

IMO jbj is the best, I've seen a lot of the tunze atos stop working

[Spyd]

I would say Elos or Tunze. I have had my Elos for 2 years now and it works flawlessly. Either one will run you about $200 but they keep your water level darn near perfect which also optimizes your skimmer production.

[wickedfrags]

auto shut of valve/solenoid and a float valve from Kent worked well for me for over 10 years

[FishyFishy!]

IMO jbj is the best, I've seen a lot of the tunze atos stop working

Agreed - Bang for your buck (cheaper) the JBJ ATO is a good deal. I've had two tunze's fail on me. 2 of their pumps stopped working, and also one controller and they wouldn't warranty it.

JBJ has yet to fail on me, and you get to hook up whatever pump you want to it. Don't have to be stuck with the crappy and loud tunze pumps.

Only drawback to the JBJ is the mechanical float valves. They can get stuck if they are clogged with something, so regular maintenance is a must. I surrounded mine with a peice of pvc to add some extra safety (snails and such that might crawl on it).

[Reef Pilot]

auto shut of valve/solenoid and a float valve from Kent worked well for me for over 10 years
+1. Best bang for the buck, for sure. I have a rodi line plumbed directly to my tank using this. Completely fail safe and trouble free.

[cav~firez22]

+1. Best bang for the buck, for sure. I have a rodi line plumbed directly to my tank using this. Completely fail safe and trouble free.

same here. Ro line plumbed direct to sump, on a float switch. never had a failure yet.

[paddyob]

IMO jbj is the best, I've seen a lot of the tunze atos stop working

Jbj. $100 shipped from bulk reef. I love mine. Works flawlessly.

[corpusse]

The new Hydro one seems pretty good so far and is cheaper then most other options mentioned but you have to supply the pump but likely have a maxijet or similar lying around.

I like that the controller is water proof or at least water resistant. I spilled water on my tunze controller once years ago and that was it. It is probably still the best in that you take a few ml out and it comes on. The hydro one there needs to be a very slight drop in water level but more significant. Not enough to effect salinity but I don't think its coming on anywhere near as much as a tunze or jbj.

The JBJ seems pretty good too, I also use one of these on my pico. I recently had a sensor die for no apparent reason but it was going for several years and since I only use one I simply swapped it for the other one and its back to working great.

Really any option is better then manual.

[Baldy]

ive been using a pair of float valves from autotopoff.com and an aqualifter for 3 years now. it has worked very well, just make sure to put a siphon break in the line if the top of the waater level in the ato tank is ever higher than the water level in your sump.

[jordsyke]

has anyone tried this one yet???


http://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-store/Smart-ATO-Automatic-Top-Off-System.html

[wickedfrags]

Well - not completely fail safe. Get a small snail trapped under your float valve and it can stop your RO unit from turning off. Risk of that is low however.

+1. Best bang for the buck, for sure. I have a rodi line plumbed directly to my tank using this. Completely fail safe and trouble free.

[mike31154]

I use an air pump on a timer to pressurize a 7 gallon glass wine carboy. This pushes water through a mechanical float valve to keep my display topped up for about a week. I like simple with a minimum of electrics if at all possible. Fewer failure points. If I had a sump, I'd elevate the top off container & use gravity (eliminating the air pump) to trickle water through the float valve. I've used this set up for a good 5 years now with no issues. Periodically dose alk, calcium, mag through the top off & never had the mechanical valve clog. Just need to ensure you mix whatever you're dosing real well & not overdo it. No a big deal to check the opening during a water change to ensure it's clear. I've shortened the valve by cutting off two of the float chambers to reduce the footprint in the display & it still works great.

Great bang for buck since I had most of the components kicking around the house already.

Solid rubber stopper drilled with two holes to accommodate rigid air tubes. Short one for air in, long one to the bottom to transport water to float valve.
https://tsl4pa.blu.livefilestore.com/y2pvx5m8fdyL2-YCJkw-TCSFkXXKIPnPbewgGJ6p9wIU5TyLf2CbXGLGVm2oiNG6UcC2XG KjSagVEu5FYSsp8PbosRC9MPYD-_uioIFafv8COQ/Carboy.JPG?psid=1

Photo of the valve when it was still full length. I've shortened it by cutting off two sections at the end.
https://tsl4pa.blu.livefilestore.com/y2pyICdsSeL4Ij0okdGAy1eYm3hfVotOhsx-i5pJrmMAGYssJFAy8ua7XveMXPzRSa3__3wY_Ws2TZArUY251i OChXqyIrCb_6s-W47p2d0nko/FloatValve.JPG?psid=1

[Simons]

only had my salty for about 6 months but got the Tunze OTA. Been rock solid so far and I like the optical switch style better than a float. Just my preference.

I have not had any issue with my Tunze but it is a bit on the pricey side.

[mike31154]

+1. Best bang for the buck, for sure. I have a rodi line plumbed directly to my tank using this. Completely fail safe and trouble free.

So your RODI runs for short bursts to top off your system? Usually not a good idea due to TDS creep. RO systems work most efficiently when used in longer runs, not short 5 minute bursts. I know you guys on the coast have pretty low source TDS, so might not be an issue. I would never do that here with a source TDS in the range of 180. It takes a good 3 to 5 minutes to get the the RO output TDS down to 1 from 20 or more on initial start up. And if I ran that 20 TDS on start up through my DI stage with multiple short on/off cycles on a continuing basis, it wouldn't take long to exhaust the media. Without the DI stage I'd be adding unwanted TDS to my tank in pretty short order.

[Reef Pilot]

Well - not completely fail safe. Get a small snail trapped under your float valve and it can stop your RO unit from turning off. Risk of that is low however.
Got that covered, too. I have secondary floats situated just above the water line that will shut off power to my solenoid (which only comes on 5 min every 6 hours) if the primary one fails for any reason.

[Reef Pilot]

So your RODI runs for short bursts to top off your system? Usually not a good idea due to TDS creep. RO systems work most efficiently when used in longer runs, not short 5 minute bursts. I know you guys on the coast have pretty low source TDS, so might not be an issue. I would never do that here with a source TDS in the range of 180. It takes a good 3 to 5 minutes to get the the RO output TDS down to 1 from 20 or more on initial start up. And if I ran that 20 TDS on start up through my DI stage with multiple short on/off cycles on a continuing basis, it wouldn't take long to exhaust the media. Without the DI stage I'd be adding unwanted TDS to my tank in pretty short order.

I have a DI stage (which is what goes down to my sump), and my final output is always 0 or 1 TDS (have an inline dual TDS gauge showing after RO and after DI final water). Also my RODI has an ASOV, to reduce wastage, and pressure storage tanks for the RO water, so I always have a ready supply. We have a kitchen RO faucet too, which is used all the time. Have not had to change my membrane for 5+ years, and DI is 2+ years, and still good.

[jason604]

Oooo I will try this method since I already have air pump n mech float laying around. I'm not really afraid of overflowing since my sump can easily handle max 5 gal of water from my water jug anyways

I use an air pump on a timer to pressurize a 7 gallon glass wine carboy. This pushes water through a mechanical float valve to keep my display topped up for about a week. I like simple with a minimum of electrics if at all possible. Fewer failure points. If I had a sump, I'd elevate the top off container & use gravity (eliminating the air pump) to trickle water through the float valve. I've used this set up for a good 5 years now with no issues. Periodically dose alk, calcium, mag through the top off & never had the mechanical valve clog. Just need to ensure you mix whatever you're dosing real well & not overdo it. No a big deal to check the opening during a water change to ensure it's clear. I've shortened the valve by cutting off two of the float chambers to reduce the footprint in the display & it still works great.

Great bang for buck since I had most of the components kicking around the house already.

Solid rubber stopper drilled with two holes to accommodate rigid air tubes. Short one for air in, long one to the bottom to transport water to float valve.
https://tsl4pa.blu.livefilestore.com/y2pvx5m8fdyL2-YCJkw-TCSFkXXKIPnPbewgGJ6p9wIU5TyLf2CbXGLGVm2oiNG6UcC2XG KjSagVEu5FYSsp8PbosRC9MPYD-_uioIFafv8COQ/Carboy.JPG?psid=1

Photo of the valve when it was still full length. I've shortened it by cutting off two sections at the end.
https://tsl4pa.blu.livefilestore.com/y2pyICdsSeL4Ij0okdGAy1eYm3hfVotOhsx-i5pJrmMAGYssJFAy8ua7XveMXPzRSa3__3wY_Ws2TZArUY251i OChXqyIrCb_6s-W47p2d0nko/FloatValve.JPG?psid=1

[Ryanerickson]

If I tried putting that 5 gallon ghetto ato in my living room pretty sure the girlfriend would ask me to pack up the tank. I have a 2 gallon tank on a mechanical float cost about $30 to buy float and plexi glass. build small holding tank and place it higher then float it works off gravity.i know the float can fail but 2 gallons in over 250 will not do much.be carefull Jason 5 gallons may not flood your house but pretty sure it would kill your tank.

[mike31154]

Oooo I will try this method since I already have air pump n mech float laying around. I'm not really afraid of overflowing since my sump can easily handle max 5 gal of water from my water jug anyways

It does take a little tweaking to get the air pump timing right, so it doesn't run unnecessarily, so good idea to get it dialed in before you take off on vacation for more than a few days. Mine runs a few minutes almost every hour to maintain positive pressure in the carboy. The timer has 20 programs IIRC, so there are a couple hours where it doesn't run. The blank hours are during the night due to lower evaporation rate. Timings are a bit longer during the day due to higher evaporation rate. Since the air pump is fairly low pressure, there's little danger in it overpressurizing anything. Worst case if it runs too long is wasted electricity and wear/tear on the pump. Once you get it dialed in efficiently, there's rarely need to make further adjustments. I had to fabricate the bracket for my float valve out of scrap acrylic & used nylon screws/nuts to fasten things in place. It's a good idea to have an air check valve in the line between the air pump & the top off container. This helps maintain pressure & prevent leakage back through the air pump. These check valves are only a couple of $$ and readily available at most any LFS.

[straightrazorguy]

has anyone tried this one yet???


http://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-store/Smart-ATO-Automatic-Top-Off-System.html

I just bought one a couple of weeks ago. Love it! The optical system seems to work flawlessly, and has an audible alarm. I like the fact that it doesn't have any float switches and wires in the sump. The pump is small and quiet (I can never tell when it's running). In fact the whole thing is very compact.

I guess time will tell if it's trouble-free over the long run. So far it's great!

[Ron99]

I've used JBJ and autotopoff.com and have been happy with both. I have seen Tunze and RO/DI float valve systems fail too often to want to go either of those routes.

[balistidae]

I have been running the Hydor Smart level for about 3 months and have not had any issues whatsoever, and it only cost $80 + pump. Highly recommend this unit.

The Smart ATO with the optical sensors also looks quite promising especially if space is an issue.

[jason604]

I was also thinking about the hydor ato or this laser one on fish street

http://www.fish-street.com/triple_sensor_electrontic_dc_auto_water_filler?cat egory_id=139

What u guys think will be more reliable

[riceboy]

jbj ato for almost 5 years now same ato second pump(my fault on the first pump dosed kalk with the ato and never cleaned the pump for 4 yrs lol) cheap to replace a pump and straight plug and play.

[Aquattro]

+1. Best bang for the buck, for sure. I have a rodi line plumbed directly to my tank using this. Completely fail safe and trouble free.

Can I +2 this? :) Same here, works great.

[jason604]

Can I +2 this? :) Same here, works great.

If I send ro straight to my sump via a float doesn't this mean the rodi will continuously generate waste water?

[Aquattro]

If I send ro straight to my sump via a float doesn't this mean the rodi will continuously generate waste water?

Only when it's actively topping up. No different that manually filling an ATO unit.

[jason604]

a very generous member on here just gave me the jbj for free but its missing float switches. Can i use these from jl on them or can i order a better one somewhere? http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=da-zfsk1

also can i just use a aqualifter with the jbj?

[spit.fire]

a very generous member on here just gave me the jbj for free but its missing float switches. Can i use these from jl on them or can i order a better one somewhere? http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=da-zfsk1

also can i just use a aqualifter with the jbj?

You can use any pump, aqua lifters work well, swing by oceanic corals on Sunday and all bring in a jbj float switch for you (Im pretty sure I have 1 left from mine and I might have the parts to make a second one)

You can run it with just 1

[jason604]

You can use any pump, aqua lifters work well, swing by oceanic corals on Sunday and all bring in a jbj float switch for you (Im pretty sure I have 1 left from mine and I might have the parts to make a second one)

You can run it with just 1

Thanks for Ur kindness man but I don't think I'll b able to make it tmr. Oceanic is over 1hr drive from my house. Do I need 2 switches because one is for high and other is for low water alarm right?

[spit.fire]

Thanks for Ur kindness man but I don't think I'll b able to make it tmr. Oceanic is over 1hr drive from my house. Do I need 2 switches because one is for high and other is for low water alarm right?

Apparently I have to go to ikea next weekend... I can meet you there if you want

If you do the high low setup it will make your water level vary

IMO the best way to set it up is to do the setting with the sensor in your reservoir