Considering ATO

[Lance]

Originally Posted by fishytime

two words......Tun Ze.........never plumb a never ending source of fresh water directly to your tank.......dont be lazy and use a reservoir

+1 Love my Tunze!

JBJ
An ATO is perhaps the single best purchase I have made for my tank (it's between that and my RO/DI filter) ...NO WAY would I ever be without one.

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by fishytime

two words......Tun Ze.........never plumb a never ending source of fresh water directly to your tank.......dont be lazy and use a reservoir

+1
Tunze

[spawn]

Was this a real poll? I don't understand the question

I don't understand how someone can be uncertain whether they are using an ATO

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by spawn

Was this a real poll? I don't understand the question

[paddyob]

Thanks. Appreciate the input.

[whatcaneyedo]

I used a simple float valve and bucket for a few years. It worked well except then I wanted to start including kalkwasser in my ATO which would cause the valve to plug up all of the time. I would also manually fill the bucket which meant packing about 15 gal of water across the basement each week. To deal with the kalkwasser issue I bought a used Tunze ATO for $50. It lasted for about 5 years until recently the photo eye started to act up. Sometimes it wouldn't start and sometimes it wouldn't stop. Rather than replace it with a new system I recently just added two float switches and a maxi jet to my Apex and programmed it to do the ATO. So far so good so I'll just leave it alone for now.

To cut back on my weekly bucket brigading and for a few other reasons I've got an RO/DI on a solenoid controlled by the Apex to top off a fresh water can three times a week. I recall reading somewhere that its not good for the membrane to run short bursts of water through it so this allows me to run it non stop for a couple of hours at a time. It also means that if something sticks on I won't flood the aquarium with an excessive amount of freshwater.

[Money pit]

My first was a JBJ, my second is a Tunze. I like the Tunze better, but I would recommend either depending on your budget.

[Aquattro]

I've plumbed my RO through a solenoid and float valve with a pressure shutoff. Works great. No hauling jugs, filling reservoirs, etc. My solenoid also fails in off position. Even if my float valve fails, the timer for the solenoid matches the evaporation rate. Best thing I've ever done in the hobby!