I made diy ATO with a milk jug and a needle valve. It drips constantly with a siphon created using the needle valve to get the flow down to a drip every three secs or so and it works perfectly my evap rate is only about a gallon a day so this setup works great still gotta refill milk jug daily but not that big a deal. I wish I had a larger container I could utilize
You could just get a cheap 10 gallon brute trash can with a lid. Once every 10 days instead of everyday. I use brute cans all the time they are super water tight. HomeDepot ships them to your home.
The fear of the tiny pump or the sensor failing was too much 😅 so I use a water bottle gravity ATO on my nano and the standard gravity ATO on a red sea Reefer, super simple but work great! 👌
ive been rocking the same cheapo optical from amazon for like 2 years now and ive only cleaned it twice with no issues (yet). im eventually switching to the tunze. i only keep a 5 gallon reservoir with a 5 gallon container next to it when im home so even if it pumped the whole bucket and my power went out it still wont overflow my sump. when i go out of town for work or training or vacations i do a deep cleaning on everything and set up my little brute trashcan.
I've had several osmolator pumps fail.. my kamoer ato had been running strong sometimes pumping kalk slurry, for quite a while. Not to mention tunze is a loud pump and the float is super sensitive.
I just use those float valves in my sumps connected to my ro/di reservoir for making saltwater. Drop in a 250gph pump for head pressure and connect to 1/4 inch tubing and run it to tanks. I drilled a 3/8 hole in side of sump for valve install. So 20 buck pump plus tubing and valves all under 80 and both my tanks have top off. I run on timer 4 hours at night to give tanks time to drip fill.
Me Mathew, me… lol over 17 years and have never had an ato. I want one really bad but i am of the mindset that i am the one in a millionth chance that it will fail. I have that kind of luck lol
I disagree I think an ATO is absolutely a necessity in the hobby. Keeping the salinty stable is one of the most important aspects of a successful reef. And I think the apex ATO is the best One out there. Better than tunze
Oooooooooor use a hard lid and manually refill every 3-4 weeks. I mean I love ATO's and their convivence but come on if evaporation is really such a problem sometimes the simplest solution like blocking the waters path to leave is the easiest method. I feel like that really should have been suggested for beginners which is what this channel dose rather then a ATO.
Lids have disadvantages too like poor gas exchange and reducing your light fixtures' PAR. Even if you clean the glass every day, you're still going to get condensation build up on the bottom of the glass or acrylic top. But you're right. Having a solid top will absolutely reduce the need to top off so frequently.
@@Sammy31Dee I do. I use acrylic instead of glass but I do use a hard lid, also use hard lids in sumps. Never had issues with light getting through. I really never saw an issue in my saltwater mixed reef tanks or heavy planted freshwater tanks with light getting through. The only time that has every been a serious problem is not from the glass/acrylic but from heavy algae growth on the lid. I guess it could be a problem though if your using a poor quality glass but I've never seen issues with low iron or acrylic, and I would think if your using poor quality glass your using poor quality lighting anyway so coral growth being maxed out was never your goal in that situation anyway. I also think the slight slight dimming in light with an acrylic lid is worth the added protection of stopping jumpers, and keeping water parameters stable. I value my fish and inverts way more then my plants and coral. To each there own though.
@@BRStv If your providing the proper gas exchange in your sump through a trickle method or a large skimmer and you have at least small slot or two in the lid for gases to pass through with proper surface agitation, is a lid really that detrimental to gas exchange though? I think the positives to live stock safety and water stability outweigh a loss of a bit of par and a bit harder of oxygen exchange capabilities. I also really never saw much problem with lighting with lids even in my crazy heavy planted tanks with floaters which even by saltwater reef levels are hard to light if your going super heavily planted "duckweed is way better at blocking lights then lids trust me lol". Acrylic and low iron glass don't seem to block or reflect much light from personal experience.
@invaderjoshua6280 my tank is a fluval 32.5 and it has a full plastic lid with 2 lights built in. my lid is always cracked open in the back because my powerhead cords need somewhere to exit. So unless you have an AIO with such a tight seal on the lid that no gases can enter the ecosystem then I'd think it's fine.
The challenge with ATO systems and a sump-less tank is keeping the water level above the bottom of the black trim. That said, XP Aqua makes a fantastic sump-less option that doubles as a surface skimmer. www.bulkreefsupply.com/sumpless-ato-auto-top-off-system-xp-aqua.html
2:35 this type of optical sensors can sometimes fail if you happen to trap air bubbles in between the sensor and the glass
I made diy ATO with a milk jug and a needle valve. It drips constantly with a siphon created using the needle valve to get the flow down to a drip every three secs or so and it works perfectly my evap rate is only about a gallon a day so this setup works great still gotta refill milk jug daily but not that big a deal. I wish I had a larger container I could utilize
You could just get a cheap 10 gallon brute trash can with a lid. Once every 10 days instead of everyday. I use brute cans all the time they are super water tight. HomeDepot ships them to your home.
Good to see you back
I've been using the Tunze 5017 for about 7 years... ROCK solid!
All we need is someone to design an ATO that has built in redundancies, a quiet pump and an affordable price! I know the Tunze gets close!
The Avast pressure sensors are the most reliable ATO sensors in my experience, but never seem to get discussed.
The fear of the tiny pump or the sensor failing was too much 😅 so I use a water bottle gravity ATO on my nano and the standard gravity ATO on a red sea Reefer, super simple but work great! 👌
Sameeeee
ive been rocking the same cheapo optical from amazon for like 2 years now and ive only cleaned it twice with no issues (yet). im eventually switching to the tunze. i only keep a 5 gallon reservoir with a 5 gallon container next to it when im home so even if it pumped the whole bucket and my power went out it still wont overflow my sump. when i go out of town for work or training or vacations i do a deep cleaning on everything and set up my little brute trashcan.
Which ato?
I've had several osmolator pumps fail.. my kamoer ato had been running strong sometimes pumping kalk slurry, for quite a while. Not to mention tunze is a loud pump and the float is super sensitive.
Bummer to hear about the issues, but glad you've found an ATO solution that works for your setup!
I just use those float valves in my sumps connected to my ro/di reservoir for making saltwater. Drop in a 250gph pump for head pressure and connect to 1/4 inch tubing and run it to tanks. I drilled a 3/8 hole in side of sump for valve install. So 20 buck pump plus tubing and valves all under 80 and both my tanks have top off. I run on timer 4 hours at night to give tanks time to drip fill.
I fill my tank every few hours with my dosing pump, once a week I check if the level is right
Me Mathew, me… lol over 17 years and have never had an ato. I want one really bad but i am of the mindset that i am the one in a millionth chance that it will fail. I have that kind of luck lol
Do I need a pump to keep my ro water moving? I noticed that my tds changed from 0 to 1 or 2
What does it mean when your ato light ring keep spinning even if the sensor is in the water or out the water. Do I need a new pump
Had to go out of town for a few months after moving to a city where I didn’t know anyone. The fish were still alive but 1/3 of the water was gone
i want to know if anyone knows the best nano ato unit… i am a freshwater person but i love automation
i dont have one and i like doing daily maintenance
I disagree I think an ATO is absolutely a necessity in the hobby. Keeping the salinty stable is one of the most important aspects of a successful reef. And I think the apex ATO is the best One out there. Better than tunze
Way too complicated solution for a simple problem. I use a gravity fed system with a float.
That's a great option when you can use it. I have 0 space for a gravity fed ato
Did you make this video for me?
yo my zipper keeps getting caught on my windbreaker.
Gravity feed is the only way to go
Unless you don't have room for that
And I’ve never had an optical sensor fail.
What would be best for sumpless tank?
Debatable for sure, but IM makes some great AIO options.
Oooooooooor use a hard lid and manually refill every 3-4 weeks. I mean I love ATO's and their convivence but come on if evaporation is really such a problem sometimes the simplest solution like blocking the waters path to leave is the easiest method. I feel like that really should have been suggested for beginners which is what this channel dose rather then a ATO.
Bc lids destroy your par levels....no one uses glass lids on reef tanks anymore....NO ONE
Lids have disadvantages too like poor gas exchange and reducing your light fixtures' PAR. Even if you clean the glass every day, you're still going to get condensation build up on the bottom of the glass or acrylic top.
But you're right. Having a solid top will absolutely reduce the need to top off so frequently.
@@Sammy31Dee I do. I use acrylic instead of glass but I do use a hard lid, also use hard lids in sumps. Never had issues with light getting through. I really never saw an issue in my saltwater mixed reef tanks or heavy planted freshwater tanks with light getting through. The only time that has every been a serious problem is not from the glass/acrylic but from heavy algae growth on the lid. I guess it could be a problem though if your using a poor quality glass but I've never seen issues with low iron or acrylic, and I would think if your using poor quality glass your using poor quality lighting anyway so coral growth being maxed out was never your goal in that situation anyway. I also think the slight slight dimming in light with an acrylic lid is worth the added protection of stopping jumpers, and keeping water parameters stable. I value my fish and inverts way more then my plants and coral. To each there own though.
@@BRStv If your providing the proper gas exchange in your sump through a trickle method or a large skimmer and you have at least small slot or two in the lid for gases to pass through with proper surface agitation, is a lid really that detrimental to gas exchange though? I think the positives to live stock safety and water stability outweigh a loss of a bit of par and a bit harder of oxygen exchange capabilities. I also really never saw much problem with lighting with lids even in my crazy heavy planted tanks with floaters which even by saltwater reef levels are hard to light if your going super heavily planted "duckweed is way better at blocking lights then lids trust me lol". Acrylic and low iron glass don't seem to block or reflect much light from personal experience.
@invaderjoshua6280 my tank is a fluval 32.5 and it has a full plastic lid with 2 lights built in. my lid is always cracked open in the back because my powerhead cords need somewhere to exit. So unless you have an AIO with such a tight seal on the lid that no gases can enter the ecosystem then I'd think it's fine.
Salt water is so complicated and so expensive compared to fresh water
damn no sumpless mentioned at all
The challenge with ATO systems and a sump-less tank is keeping the water level above the bottom of the black trim. That said, XP Aqua makes a fantastic sump-less option that doubles as a surface skimmer.
www.bulkreefsupply.com/sumpless-ato-auto-top-off-system-xp-aqua.html
Everyday? No way I fill it every week