Fluffeh Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Hi. This evening, my tunze ATO filled my tank up to the brim. It exhausted all the water in my reservoir, and I don't know what made it finally stop pumping into the tank. This is the SECOND time this has happened to me in the approximately 1 year I have had this ATO. I don't understand what could have caused this, I checked everything and nothing appears to be wrong. I'm just really scared now to leave my tank with the ATO plugged in, knowing that it could do something like that and potentially lead to a disaster in my living room. Link to comment
tetraodon Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Hi. This evening, my tunze ATO filled my tank up to the brim. It exhausted all the water in my reservoir, and I don't know what made it finally stop pumping into the tank. This is the SECOND time this has happened to me in the approximately 1 year I have had this ATO. I don't understand what could have caused this, I checked everything and nothing appears to be wrong. I'm just really scared now to leave my tank with the ATO plugged in, knowing that it could do something like that and potentially lead to a disaster in my living room. electronics fail, best advice i can give is put a float valve on the ATO line as a back up, i use gravity as my top off and havent had an issue. check the sensor, look for salt encrusting, snails, algae or anything that can cause a malfunction in the sensor, i would also get into the habit of cleaning it on a scheduled. another tip, if you have a sump, make sure that the top off reservoir doesnt have enough water to over flow the tank, so if it decides to dump everything, you wont have a spill. Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 mine does this all the time. at least once a month. i just made sure my reservoir is small enough it won't overfill the tank. kinda defeats the point of having an ATO when it's not reliable... Link to comment
Gooburz Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I've seen that issue a lot with the Tunze Nano, however the Tunze 355 (full version you could say) doesn't have that issue because it has that back up float valve with it. It's a bit more pricy but if you are going to go with an ATO might as well spend the money and get one that is reliable. Specturapure also sells a really good one as well but again you pay a bit more for it. Long story short you get what you pay for. Link to comment
NYfishies Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 2 things. It should turn off after a certain amount of time per a setting you adjust when installing it. Check the manual I do not recall what it is called, but it requires you to take apart the controller box. You must change it per your tank volume. If that failed I would contact Roger at Tunze and he will certainly help you out. Other thought (and I bet Roger will bring this up) is the amount of space between the float valve and the magnet on the other side of the glass. You need a good inch in between both. Cardboard will not work. I use pieces of rubber on the dry side. Link to comment
Elizabeth94 Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I've seen that issue a lot with the Tunze Nano, however the Tunze 355 (full version you could say) doesn't have that issue because it has that back up float valve with it. It's a bit more pricy but if you are going to go with an ATO might as well spend the money and get one that is reliable. Specturapure also sells a really good one as well but again you pay a bit more for it. Long story short you get what you pay for. Does the full size fit in the return area of a Nuvo Fusion 10? I was going to go with the nano, but now I am getting nervous.. Link to comment
Arce Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Snails sticking the float on can do this. Happened to me. Had those small colony snails that would sit on the float and push it on. I took a filter sock, cut it and wrapped the whole float and magnet. Never had an issue since. Been using it for 2 years. Asterina stars also caused it to happen to me. Link to comment
braaap Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I've seen that issue a lot with the Tunze Nano, however the Tunze 355 (full version you could say) doesn't have that issue because it has that back up float valve with it. It's a bit more pricy but if you are going to go with an ATO might as well spend the money and get one that is reliable. Specturapure also sells a really good one as well but again you pay a bit more for it. Long story short you get what you pay for. I sold my Tunze 3155 for the Spectrapure ATO. The Spectrapure is superior in every single way except for how the sensor mounts. Who the hell still uses suction cups?! Link to comment
Elizabeth94 Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 ANYONE have the tunze 3155 in a nuvo fusion 10 (not the nano)? or the dimensions of the magnet at least? Seems like it is the same size magnet used on their powerheads, someone said 2.7" diameter on a different forum but I hate basing things off one source. Measured my 3rd chamber, I only have about 4" to work with but I can't see the magnet being any wider than that... This information will help greatly Link to comment
braaap Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 ANYONE have the tunze 3155 in a nuvo fusion 10 (not the nano)? or the dimensions of the magnet at least? Seems like it is the same size magnet used on their powerheads, someone said 2.7" diameter on a different forum but I hate basing things off one source. Measured my 3rd chamber, I only have about 4" to work with but I can't see the magnet being any wider than that... This information will help greatly Less than 3 inches for sure. My area I initially used it in was just over 3 and it fit fine. Link to comment
Elizabeth94 Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Less than 3 inches for sure. My area I initially used it in was just over 3 and it fit fine. Thank you so much for responding, I was going to make my decision of which one to purchase tonight. I didn't want to spend over $200 on a whim. So, I guess Ill be saving extra money for the 3155. I feel safe knowing there is a failsafe built in. Link to comment
jabeuy Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Overfilling happened to me as well when I had the osmolator nano. Luckily I caught it just before it went past the tank brim. Culprit was a snail. I saw it lol. Got a hold of the float switch and pulled it down... Link to comment
PDR Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 I've had the nano and 3155 and didn't like either one. I ended up returning them both. But to be fair I'm not really a fan of ato's. Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Love my 3155. Only thing is that if you unplug it, it automatically dumps some water in. Not a lot, but it bothers me. The failsafe is awesome though, works perfectly. Link to comment
CrazyEyes Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 My 3155 would run for 10-15 seconds after being powered back up, which quite annoying. I've thought about the spectrapure but as braaap said, the auction cups are really a dump idea. Link to comment
PDR Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 If I ever get another one it will be the puratek. Link to comment
braaap Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Love my 3155. Only thing is that if you unplug it, it automatically dumps some water in. Not a lot, but it bothers me. The failsafe is awesome though, works perfectly. My 3155 would run for 10-15 seconds after being powered back up, which quite annoying. I've thought about the spectrapure but as braaap said, the auction cups are really a dump idea. I HATED that about my 3155. The suction cups work if you use a small blob of silicone on the inside of them. My spectrapure is spot on. My 3155 would cause fluctuations by dumping water in on power up. Link to comment
CrazyEyes Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 I like that the spectrapure comes with a peristaltic pump. Could probably build a cheap acrylic holder with magnets, the suction cups really would drive me crazy. Link to comment
PDR Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 The funny thing with ato's is that they are supposed to help keep things stable, and while a lot of them do work, I have read countless threads on tank disasters and/or flooding caused by them. All I know is I've never read about that happening with manual top offs. Link to comment
CrazyEyes Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 My favorite ato to date is a $35 eshopps gravity fed one. Never failed once. Link to comment
basser1 Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Your stories are the reason I wnt with the Avast ATO. It uses pressure sensitive switch located in the relay box so a strong magnetic field won't affect it. And the sensor tube won't get clogged with snails or calcium deposits since there are no moving parts. I've had mine for over 2 years and it has been flawless. Plus I can go on vacation without any worries of something going wrong and flooding everything! Do yourselves a favor and get one, less than $90 bucks for peace of mind. http://www.avastmarine.com/products/ato-kit Link to comment
GTi Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 ANYONE have the tunze 3155 in a nuvo fusion 10 (not the nano)? or the dimensions of the magnet at least? Seems like it is the same size magnet used on their powerheads, someone said 2.7" diameter on a different forum but I hate basing things off one source. Measured my 3rd chamber, I only have about 4" to work with but I can't see the magnet being any wider than that... This information will help greatly I'm using the 3155 in the Nuvo and it fits fine. Not had any issues at all. Link to comment
jabeuy Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 For those that don't like the spectrapure suction cups, avast marine also has a pressure based sensor that uses magnets. Link to comment
Elizabeth94 Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Well good news, Here is how simple it is to avoid the filling of the tank after a power loss or shut down for the 3155.. Its so simple http://reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?threads/tunze-3155-pumping-water-on-power-on.83990/ Link to comment
Hig789 Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 There is a setting inside the little black box where you set it to a tank smaller or larger than a certain size, 55g I I think. It controls how long the pump runs before it kicks out. I think it's just a little cover you move to one side or the other to complete a circuit. Link to comment
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