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AutoAqua Smart ATO Micro


texanreefer

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As stated that price was introductory. The $129 price is what it needs to be to support the market.

I do not think the Smart ATO is discontinued, just backordered. This is a tough time of the year, a lot of vendors run out by March because of the busy season. So April tends to be a resupply month.

We still have one of the larger units with our resupply on backorder. Just had the micro unit show up this week.

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Is it possible to use this as an optical shutoff for the return pump? ie a flood prevention sensor?

I could see it being possible. You would have to cut the pump off and wire it to a relay that would control the return pump.

 

I recently got one of these from salty supply(I may have actually been the one that bought the last one) and cut the water pump off and wired it to a perstaltic pump so that I could use my slim line ato container and not worry about running the water pump dry if I forget to refill.

 

Im going to be posting a diy/review article on the Marine Depot blog soon that shows how to do it if anyone is interested.

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I could see it being possible. You would have to cut the pump off and wire it to a relay that would control the return pump.

 

I recently got one of these from salty supply(I may have actually been the one that bought the last one) and cut the water pump off and wired it to a perstaltic pump so that I could use my slim line ato container and not worry about running the water pump dry if I forget to refill.

 

Im going to be posting a diy/review article on the Marine Depot blog soon that shows how to do it if anyone is interested.

Interesting, thanks! I was thinking it could be a nice discrete safety shutoff to go with my MAME overflow if the return pump chamber is large enough to flood the display in a drain blockage scenario.

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As stated that price was introductory. The $129 price is what it needs to be to support the market.

I do not think the Smart ATO is discontinued, just backordered. This is a tough time of the year, a lot of vendors run out by March because of the busy season. So April tends to be a resupply month.

We still have one of the larger units with our resupply on backorder. Just had the micro unit show up this week.

 

I know a place that has 230 in stock

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Does anyone know of a way to slow the flow on the pump on this unit? I'm wanting to use it on a fluval spec v and it will be filling into the pump chamber which is quite small and won't need very much water to top off.

 

Thanks!!

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Does anyone know of a way to slow the flow on the pump on this unit? I'm wanting to use it on a fluval spec v and it will be filling into the pump chamber which is quite small and won't need very much water to top off.

 

Thanks!!

I used it on my spec V as-is without issue, it turned off promptly.

 

As far as reducing the flow, you could cut and T off the ATO line so part of the water drains back into the ATO chamber. Just use a smaller sized line or you can even get tiny flow control valves. I believe the idea of running a line back to the ATO chamber is so you don't wear out the pump by just cutting back the flow, so this way the pump isn't being restricted, but part of the water is being diverted back.

 

Hope that makes sense.

 

Something like this:

 

9.jpg

 

20-pcs-4mm-Aquarium-Fish-Tank-Adjust-Air

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I used it on my spec V as-is without issue, it turned off promptly.

 

As far as reducing the flow, you could cut and T off the ATO line so part of the water drains back into the ATO chamber. Just use a smaller sized line or you can even get tiny flow control valves. I believe the idea of running a line back to the ATO chamber is so you don't wear out the pump by just cutting back the flow, so this way the pump isn't being restricted, but part of the water is being diverted back.

 

Hope that makes sense.

 

 

That'd probably work pretty swell.

 

The videos I watched made it look like that thing had some pretty serious flow to it and filling into such a small chamber the pump would really only run for one second and probably fill an inch of water.

 

Did your spec water level only fill to the rear chambers or was your water level the same for all 3 chambers?

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Marc.The.Shark

That'd probably work pretty swell.

 

The videos I watched made it look like that thing had some pretty serious flow to it and filling into such a small chamber the pump would really only run for one second and probably fill an inch of water.

 

Did your spec water level only fill to the rear chambers or was your water level the same for all 3 chambers?

I have a very small returm chamber & the pump only runs for a second or two & promptly shuts off without overfilling. I think you'll be okay. I'd try it first, before making any modifications, bet It'll work fine.

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Does anyone know of a way to slow the flow on the pump on this unit? I'm wanting to use it on a fluval spec v and it will be filling into the pump chamber which is quite small and won't need very much water to top off.

 

Thanks!!

It may be a bit more work, but this is another reason why I swapped out the included pump for a peristaltic pump. Didnt cost me much...only $10. Now I have a much slower and more precise flow and dont have to worry about damaging the pump if I forget to refill and run the pump dry.
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I have a very small returm chamber & the pump only runs for a second or two & promptly shuts off without overfilling. I think you'll be okay. I'd try it first, before making any modifications, bet It'll work fine.

 

 

It may be a bit more work, but this is another reason why I swapped out the included pump for a peristaltic pump. Didnt cost me much...only $10. Now I have a much slower and more precise flow and dont have to worry about damaging the pump if I forget to refill and run the pump dry.

 

Thanks folks!! I really appreciate it!! I might look into that pump option, I like the idea of a nice slow flow.

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That'd probably work pretty swell.

 

The videos I watched made it look like that thing had some pretty serious flow to it and filling into such a small chamber the pump would really only run for one second and probably fill an inch of water.

 

Did your spec water level only fill to the rear chambers or was your water level the same for all 3 chambers?

 

It def has some serious flow, that was my concern as well. It seemed to work, I have it in the return pump chamber, I don't get much evap though since I have an acrylic top.

 

I have it at the top so the water level for my 3 chambers is about the same.

This is the pump I used. Its a 1 to 1 swap, just cut off the included pump and solder in the new one.https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00F9MXFFQ/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Thanks for sharing, if the pump ever breaks, this would be a nice cheap solution.

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So how the heck do you install that sucker?? Do you have to cut a hole into your reservoir?? And if so would you do that at the top and run little hoses to the bottom or cut a hole near the bottom?

The pump I linked to is basically the same as a dosing pump head. It is not submersible. I had a project box that housed the drivers for my led light so I just cut a hole in that and installed the pump. You connect air line tubing fro mthe pump to you top off container. Then run a second line from the pump to your tank/sump.

 

I have an DIY article written up for the Marine Depot blog, but we just havnt posted it yet. I will add a link here whenever it gets posted.

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DZ, what would you say the benefit is to using this setup over an Aqualifter, if any?

The aqualifter is meant to be plugged into a standard 120v outlet so it wouldn't work out of the box. To work in the manner that I detailed, you would need a 12vdc pump. The pump head used in the aqualifter may work if you wanted to canibalize one that you already own, but I honestly have no idea what its electrical specs would be to know if it fits in the parameters of what is recommended for the Smart Ato.

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Marc.The.Shark

The aqualifter is meant to be plugged into a standard 120v outlet so it wouldn't work out of the box. To work in the manner that I detailed, you would need a 12vdc pump. The pump head used in the aqualifter may work if you wanted to canibalize one that you already own, but I honestly have no idea what its electrical specs would be to know if it fits in the parameters of what is recommended for the Smart Ato.

Ahh, gotcha, didn't realize the pump that came with the unit was DC, I just dropped it in the container & didn't really look at it as I have a couple pumps similar that are AC.

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  • 2 weeks later...
SteadyAim.

Been looking into this ATO as well. Only concern is that my RO reservoir is about 5ft. away from the display tank. Has quite a ways to pump. Think I'll have any issues getting the water up the tubing?

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