texanreefer Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 So I recently received my Smart ATO Micro from Marine Depot and so far I absolutely love it. I have a Fluval Spec V tank and no other ATO on the market really appealed to me as they were all too big for my liking. I was extremely excited when I heard AutoAqua was making a micro version of the Smart ATO for smaller sized aquariums, so I pre-ordered mine as soon as possible. Marine Deport is currently offering them at an introductory price of $99, which I thought was extremely reasonable. However I have heard they will be going up to $129. After receiving my package I opened it up and found it was really easy to setup. It did come with some instructions but they aren't really needed. I placed the sensor in my pump chamber of the spec V and the outlet tubing in my media chamber. It works great and I can hear it turn on several times throughout the day topping up in really small amounts. This keeps my salinity at a steady 1.025 at all times. The only small gripe I currently have about the system is that the main control box emits an extremely high pitch sound at all times. I can only hear it when I am close to my tank either looking at it or cleaning it. I'm not sure why the sound is coming out of it but it is quite annoying if your close to it for more than a few minutes. I have a few photos I will upload at a later time. Currently Photobucket is not allowing me to upload photos for some reason. 4 Quote Link to comment
gulfofmexico Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Thinking of getting one of these for my Evo V. Can you hear the noise if you are close to your tank? I keep mine on a stand about 2 feet away from my bed. Quote Link to comment
peco2004 Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Works great for my 10gallon innovative marine tank. I have the tank at my office by my desk and I find it to be very quiet. 1 Quote Link to comment
rsucre Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 I would like it for my innovative marine 10 gallon tank because of the sensor size, but the way I have my RO reservoir, I need an aqua lifter pump. I understand that this ATO comes with its own submersible pump. Do you think there is a way to get it work with another pump like the aqua lifter? This is because my water is in a container in another room. I currently use a Hydor smart level, which allows me to use any pump (has an AC plug). Quote Link to comment
texanreefer Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Thinking of getting one of these for my Evo V. Can you hear the noise if you are close to your tank? I keep mine on a stand about 2 feet away from my bed. Yes I can hear mine from 2 feet away. However i'm not sure if all of them do this or just mine. Another thing to think about is different people can hear different things. I consider myself to have pretty sharp hearing so others might not be able to even notice it as I do. Works great for my 10gallon innovative marine tank. I have the tank at my office by my desk and I find it to be very quiet. The overall function of mine is very quiet as well. Its just for the super high frequency dog whistle sound the control box makes. Maybe you got lucky and yours doesn't do it. Quote Link to comment
Sunstar Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 If it makes a high pitched sound, I may give it a miss. I can hear a dog whistle being blown. We have one on the crashing tank at work. I fixed it up yesterday when I found it disconnected and laying around Quote Link to comment
texanreefer Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 I would like it for my innovative marine 10 gallon tank because of the sensor size, but the way I have my RO reservoir, I need an aqua lifter pump. I understand that this ATO comes with its own submersible pump. Do you think there is a way to get it work with another pump like the aqua lifter? This is because my water is in a container in another room. I currently use a Hydor smart level, which allows me to use any pump (has an AC plug). I don't believe you could use any other pump with this ATO system due to its pump having a specific type of plug that goes into the control box. I'm not sure of the name of the plug type but it is not one that can be plugged into the wall. Quote Link to comment
rsucre Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I don't believe you could use any other pump with this ATO system due to its pump having a specific type of plug that goes into the control box. I'm not sure of the name of the plug type but it is not one that can be plugged into the wall. Are you sure it is a propietary plug? It looks to me like a standard DC plug. Is it this one? http://www.coralvue.com/smart-ato-dc-refill-pump Quote Link to comment
peco2004 Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Yes I can hear mine from 2 feet away. However i'm not sure if all of them do this or just mine. Another thing to think about is different people can hear different things. I consider myself to have pretty sharp hearing so others might not be able to even notice it as I do. The overall function of mine is very quiet as well. Its just for the super high frequency dog whistle sound the control box makes. Maybe you got lucky and yours doesn't do it. Maybe I just don't notice it. I am there 5 days a week, but don't hear the pump function that often. I do know that I did not use the syphon plug that was included. Quote Link to comment
REEFerMAdNESS88 Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 wish they had this out about 3 months ago. I like my tunze nano but the sensor is still about the size of a half dollar. A little big for a 4g cube in my opinion. I will defiantly look into purchasing and mybe use the tunze for a ;larger setup 1 Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Yes I can hear mine from 2 feet away. However i'm not sure if all of them do this or just mine. Another thing to think about is different people can hear different things. I consider myself to have pretty sharp hearing so others might not be able to even notice it as I do. The overall function of mine is very quiet as well. Its just for the super high frequency dog whistle sound the control box makes. Maybe you got lucky and yours doesn't do it. I was told the control box is silent. Your unit may be defective? I would contact the manufacture or the website you got it from. 4 Quote Link to comment
kimberbee Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I was told the control box is silent. Your unit may be defective? I would contact the manufacture or the website you got it from. Yep. Mine is silent. Maybe you have super human hearing, or maybe your unit is defective. Is there someone you live with or a neighbor you can have come listen to your unit? 2 Quote Link to comment
Mariaface Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 There are some high frequencies that you can't hear anymore past a certain age. ..Like the obnoxious high-pitched noise a wall-USB charger will make after the thing is 90% charged or so. Grr. 1 Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 There are some high frequencies that you can't hear anymore past a certain age. ..Like the obnoxious high-pitched noise a wall-USB charger will make after the thing is 90% charged or so. Grr. Are you calling us old? lol Quote Link to comment
Mariaface Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Are you calling us old? lol Shhhhhhhh.. I still remember my digital electronics teacher in HS that used a sine wave to annoy the hell out of the whole class while standing there going 'And I can't hear a thing!'.. Good times, good times. 2 Quote Link to comment
gulfofmexico Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Well, I'm going to order it and hope it doesn't make the noise. That would not be good. http://imgur.com/mg79J8w.jpg 1 Quote Link to comment
texanreefer Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Are you sure it is a propietary plug? It looks to me like a standard DC plug. Is it this one? http://www.coralvue.com/smart-ato-dc-refill-pump I never said it was a proprietary plug, but yes it is the one in the link you posted. Maybe I just don't notice it. I am there 5 days a week, but don't hear the pump function that often. I do know that I did not use the syphon plug that was included. What made you decide to not use the siphon plug that was included with it??? Yep. Mine is silent. Maybe you have super human hearing, or maybe your unit is defective. Is there someone you live with or a neighbor you can have come listen to your unit? I have my cousin who lives with me but he is damn near deaf lol so he probably won't notice it. I'll have my girlfriend take a listen when she's back in town to see if she can tell. There are some high frequencies that you can't hear anymore past a certain age. ..Like the obnoxious high-pitched noise a wall-USB charger will make after the thing is 90% charged or so. Grr. I was going to put what you said about the age thing earlier in the post but feared I would offend some lol Quote Link to comment
DaveFason Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Here is my review that was put on ReefBuilders. If you have a high pitch noise send it back. I deal with electronics everyday and hear the same. Mine does not have this at all. https://reefbuilders.com/2016/01/25/smart-ato-micro-review/ -Dave 3 Quote Link to comment
Ivery Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Love mine and hate Tunze Nano. Quote Link to comment
aviator300 Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 There are some high frequencies that you can't hear anymore past a certain age. ..Like the obnoxious high-pitched noise a wall-USB charger will make after the thing is 90% charged or so. Grr. Hell, at my age, I don't hear much of anything Hahah so I think i'll order one. Quote Link to comment
D Z Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Im planning to pick one of these up in the next month or so, once I finish taking down my 34 and sell the avast ato unit. Im not planning on using the included pump. What I plan to do is use a cheap diaphragm pump module that you can buy off of amazon for roughly $10 to $12. You can just cut the included cable and wire in any pump you like as long as it is capable of working off of 12 volts and uses less than 10 watts, per coralvue's website. Whenever I get around to doing this I will probably put together a DIY article if anyone is interested. Here is a link to the pump I plan to use...you would need to house it inside a case of some sort. I plan to utilize my driver box for my nanobox retro as I have extra room in there already. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F9MXFFQ/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_Fjk2wbK0H6WKC Quote Link to comment
scottmckinney67 Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 Just installed mine a few days ago. I don't hear any high pitched noise and the pump's relative quiet. So far I'm very impressed with it. The magnet for the discharge hose is a little weak in my opinion. Once you get it in place, it seems fine though. 1 Quote Link to comment
rolyat113 Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 I'll put my two cents in as well. I've had this ATO installed for a few days and so far really like it. No high pitch sound here, and the same issue with the magnets. The anti-siphon thing does leak, but I put it in line inside the RODI container, so no big issue. I may eventually remove it, but that would require changing out the tubing. It's such a handy tool especially here in Colorado where there is no humidity and top offs were required twice a day. If I were back in Missouri I'd do manual top offs like I did in my old tank. Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 Okay so I got one of these and I installed it right before I left on vacation because I am reckless! All went well though, no failures. The ATO works well on my Spec V. My only complaint is that it is extremely bright blue for having it in the bedroom and is distracting at night. I will probably black out the AIO part of the Spec to fix this issue. It would be much too bright at night if it was in the display part of a pico and probably keep some corals open. Quote Link to comment
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