Smart ato

CoralPharmD

CoralPharmD

Member
Before the crash wiped out a bunch of data someone had posted about the smart ato. I went ahead and bought one for my new 60 gallon cube build. This thing is awesome. It is a bit pricey as far as atos go but it seems to be the safest one out there. Today I was doing some maintenance on my tank and heard the pump kick on. It only ran about 2 seconds before it turned off so it also seems to be pretty sensitive. The pump is really small, probably measures 1 inch by 1 inch, maybe a touch more. Needless to say, if you are in the market for an ato I highly recommend the smart ato!

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk
 
R

rmeugene

Premium member
I am about to embark on an upgrade to a 60 cube and have been investigating ATO's so I also would be interested.
 
K

kdog23

Member
Yeah---I think I am going to pick up this same one. How far can the reservoir be from the tank ? I was planning on building a nice looking cabinet and have an easy fill reservoir built in, then shelves above.
 
Bommie

Bommie

Active member
I got mine last week, by far the best ato I've had. Includes everything u will need, and yeah the pump and sensor are very small.:)
 
CoralPharmD

CoralPharmD

Member
The only thing is you gotta make sure that the reservoir is lower than the end of the tube that goes into your sump. Otherwise you will siphon out of your reservoir. I think the tube and power cord were about 30 to 36 inches in length. I can take a picture of mine quick.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk
 
CoralPharmD

CoralPharmD

Member




I did not use the recommended water level that's marked on my sump btw.

I plan to run the ato into the cabinet to the right of the 5 gallon bucket whenever I get time to clean that out.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk
 
CoralPharmD

CoralPharmD

Member
Thought i would bump this up again. Still working just fine. Haven't had a single problem with it yet. Did find out that it plays music when you run out of water. Also the pump will stop no matter what after running about 10 seconds and play music indicating there may be a problem.
 
steveo9043

steveo9043

New member
I got one of these for christmas last year and i just now am going to set it up. Couldn't do an ATO container with the way my old stand was setup, I centerted the sump in front of the door. New container is in my new stand and ready to be setup.
 
Sawdonkey

Sawdonkey

Premium member
I've been using this for a while and really like it. It tells you if your ato tank is dry, if the current fill is much longer than the last (aka, you might be leaking water), and if there has been a long time between the pump kicking on (aka, evaporation rate or something else impacting water level in the sump changed). I pump kalk through mine and it not impacted the pump at all.
 
skyon888

skyon888

Member
CoralPharmD said:
The only thing is you gotta make sure that the reservoir is lower than the end of the tube that goes into your sump. Otherwise you will siphon out of your reservoir. I think the tube and power cord were about 30 to 36 inches in length. I can take a picture of mine quick.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Usually the top off water reservoir is higher than the sump though, in fact I rely on this because currently I am using just a float valve and a siphon for ATO. Though I do want to go to the Smart ATO when I get an Apex. Could you not just use a check valve to prevent the siphon?
 
Sawdonkey

Sawdonkey

Premium member
skyon888 said:
Usually the top off water reservoir is higher than the sump though, in fact I rely on this because currently I am using just a float valve and a siphon for ATO. Though I do want to go to the Smart ATO when I get an Apex. Could you not just use a check valve to prevent the siphon?
Click to expand...
There would be no need to run this with an Apex. It does all of the controlling internally.

You could probably use a check valve or you could just run the hose up to one of your overflows. My ato tank sits on the floor next to my sump, so it isn't an issue for me. I just connect the hose as high as possible on the sump.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top