• Welcome back Guest!

    MARSH is a private reefing group. Comments and suggestions are encouraged, but please keep them positive and constructive. Negative threads, posts, or attacks will be removed from view and reviewed by the staff. Continually disruptive, argumentative, or flagrant rule breakers may be suspended or banned.

What’s your current ATO and what will you buy next? (1 Viewer)

Users who are viewing this thread

Tstew32

Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2017
Messages
690
Reaction score
588
Location
Spring
Gravity fed!!! My Tunze always got serpents and other small critters in the float valve and always had issues. Best $15 I’ve ever spent on my tank


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

RickD

Guest
Joined
Dec 26, 2004
Messages
314
Reaction score
38
Location
Friendswood
Recently bought a Tunze Osmolator. I had a float valve. I love the Tunze and support is great. I have both models (3152 and 3155). I prefer the 3155. The 3152 in my QT and both 3155's in my other tanks. I had a sensor go out and and needed the firmware reprogrammed and Roger @ Tunze repaired them for free, but I did have to buy the sensor. They are pricey, but well worth it.
 

mitchell77546

Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2020
Messages
398
Reaction score
252
Location
webster
Amazon FZ it works like a champ and it’s cheap. Been going since I started back in the hobby. If I got 4 more months out of it I figure I got my money’s worth


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
OP
OP
Reefahholic
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Messages
10,899
Reaction score
2,066
Location
League City
Recently bought a Tunze Osmolator. I had a float valve. I love the Tunze and support is great. I have both models (3152 and 3155). I prefer the 3155. The 3152 in my QT and both 3155's in my other tanks. I had a sensor go out and and needed the firmware reprogrammed and Roger @ Tunze repaired them for free, but I did have to buy the sensor. They are pricey, but well worth it.

How long did it take for the sensor to go out?
 

RickD

Guest
Joined
Dec 26, 2004
Messages
314
Reaction score
38
Location
Friendswood
How long did it take for the sensor to go out?
I had purchased a used unit, but i think they had it for five years and took the tank down for a 1/2 year before i purchased it Sensor was most likely a pulled cable, they are sealed with epoxy so you can’t resolder the wire.
 
OP
OP
Reefahholic
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Messages
10,899
Reaction score
2,066
Location
League City
I had purchased a used unit, but i think they had it for five years and took the tank down for a 1/2 year before i purchased it Sensor was most likely a pulled cable, they are sealed with epoxy so you can’t resolder the wire.
Wow, so they must be solid. Tunze no doubt makes some pretty good products.
 

TX_Punisher

Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
669
Reaction score
514
Location
South Houston
Had the tunze for three years. After talking to roger initially we found a few install issues and got them corrected. Then the pump would run but not pump water. Again, roger set me up with a new pump stating they had some faulty pumps go out. Since the replacement 2.5 years ago it’s been solid.
 
OP
OP
Reefahholic
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Messages
10,899
Reaction score
2,066
Location
League City
Had the tunze for three years. After talking to roger initially we found a few install issues and got them corrected. Then the pump would run but not pump water. Again, roger set me up with a new pump stating they had some faulty pumps go out. Since the replacement 2.5 years ago it’s been solid.

Good Customer Service makes all the difference for me.

I liked the XP Aqua Ultimate ATO, but the build quality was a little cheap. The ATO itself worked good (with a lot of failsafes which I liked) until I let the magnets slam together which cracked the housing on one of the optical eye sensors. It quit filling one day and I pulled the little pump apart (thought that was the problem) but it worked good. Then I started to troubleshoot the other wires and stuff. I noticed the bottom optical eye had a tiny bit of water in it which caused the failure. Called Marine Depot and they told me to send it in to Xp Aqua and the customer service was lacking. They acted like the product was so good that this should’ve never happen. I had to pay return shipping if I remember correctly, but they replaced it for free. IMO, if you can’t make the housing strong enough to prevent cracking, then you need to step up your build quality, but of course people want to make a cheap product to save money. Honestly, the cost wasn’t cheap. The product felt cheap though.

This time around I’m gonna try Tunze or maybe another brand.
 

reefanatik

Guest
Joined
Aug 18, 2009
Messages
186
Reaction score
1
Location
Freeport, Tx
I use float switches connected to my Apex BOB and they control a Versa peristaltic pump which pumps water from my garage to my attic through the wall and down to my tank. I love not having to fill an ATO container every couple of days
 
OP
OP
Reefahholic
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Messages
10,899
Reaction score
2,066
Location
League City
Spectrapure UPLC.... works great!
That is a very interesting little pump. I think I might be sold here on this one.


SpectraPure Auto Top-Off System - UPLC-II


OVERVIEW:
UPLC-II Ultra-Precise Liquid Level Controller II / Programmable Auto Top-Off System - 115VAC
w/ precision Gen6 peristaltic pump, level sensor tube w/ solid state sensor & control, high-limit float switch for fail-safe operation. Programmable for fully automatic operation.

FEATURES:
SpectraPure® UPLC-II ATO runs on a ten-second cycle. The pump can be on for any number of seconds each cycle, including zero (always off) and ten (always on). Once the UPLC-II is powered up, programming is accomplished using UP and DOWN buttons to adjust the ON-time. This value is saved even after a loss of power.

- Fully automatic operation - Can be programmed for 'fill mode' or 'drain mode'
- Hi-limit float switch for fail-safe operation
- Safe 12VDC Operation
- New and improved high reliability aluminum-body LiterMeter III peristaltic pump
- Highest quality and accuracy
- Draws up from 25ft, Pumps up to 60ft!
- Self-priming and anti-siphoning
- Virtually maintenance free with no check valves to clog or seals to leak
- High delivery pressure - over 40 psi
- Compact size and cool operation
- Kalkwasser and Chemical safe
- No damage to the pump if run dry
- Quiet operation and low power consumption
- Complete system consumes less than 4 Watts when pump is running
- Pump flow rate: Adjustable in 10% steps ... up to 200 mL/min
- Extended 5-year Warranty
 

RickD

Guest
Joined
Dec 26, 2004
Messages
314
Reaction score
38
Location
Friendswood
I use float switches connected to my Apex BOB and they control a Versa peristaltic pump which pumps water from my garage to my attic through the wall and down to my tank. I love not having to fill an ATO container every couple of days
At my previous house I did this, but didn't have a backup system in place and got my ceiling wet a few times. (tank was on the 2nd floor). In my new home, I was going to add the Tunze water valve (link) to this, but with two tanks I opted to use a reservoir. I do prefer the direct method to RODI method.
 
OP
OP
Reefahholic
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Messages
10,899
Reaction score
2,066
Location
League City
At my previous house I did this, but didn't have a backup system in place and got my ceiling wet a few times. (tank was on the 2nd floor). In my new home, I was going to add the Tunze water valve (link) to this, but with two tanks I opted to use a reservoir. I do prefer the direct method to RODI method.

Direct method to RODI meaning??


That's a good question I've been wanting to ask people. Who has their RODI hooked up to a float valve in the sump and leaves the RODI on 24/7.

I used to run my 1/4" tubing to a reservoir and cut the RODI on/off to only fill the reservoir (with float switch) and always keep it off otherwise. I wanna say some or most have a built-in auto shut off, but I just can't remember and haven't had time to look it up lately. I run a BRS unit because it works, the filters are always available, and I can count on Ryan for good customer service.

I feed my mixing brute reservoir the same way with a float switch. I do sometimes forget I turned it on, but never have a flood. I will usually turn it off as soon as the brute is full. It makes me wonder if they are safe to leave on 24/7? Do they have an auto shut-off that senses the back pressure of the float switch and how does that work if they do?
 

RickD

Guest
Joined
Dec 26, 2004
Messages
314
Reaction score
38
Location
Friendswood
In my old setup the direct method was leaving RO unit in a timer and it was directly connected to an ATO which was my top off. The doser was also tied into the timer so I would dose kalk into the reservoir. It went this method because I didn’t want my ATO, that was dosed with kalk, to be creeping back into my DI. So it’s not directly connected, so there is an air gap. That’s my version.

The system I have now serves both drinking water and reef. Its pressure activated so the boost pump runs when needed. it’s plumbed so the DI is separate from drinking supply. If I had larger tanks, like i did before, then I would plumb differently.
 
Top