AutoAqua Smart ATO Micro

[Tuan’s Reef]

On 4/16/2018 at 11:46 AM, Nocturnal said:

I've had this ATO going or a while now and I'm very happy with it. I like how it doesn't just keep running until the switch is triggered, but will request flow, pause, then request flow again as needed.

I’m search of one that isn’t expensive and reliable. This may be it.  

 

How is long have you had yours?

[xthunt]

51 minutes ago, Tuan’s Reef said:

I’m search of one that isn’t expensive and reliable. This may be it.  

 

How is long have you had yours?

I’m not him, but I had mine since March 2017. Been working perfect the whole time. 

[spectra]

I had 2 or 3 of these over the last few years on tanks and loved them. Then one decided to stay on for some reason and not sure why......sensor was clean no light over it and still would just keep going till the overflow limit hit then blink red......so now I just use the Tunze nano as its cheaper and has been going strong with no issues whatsoever.

[mileshug]

I know this thread is very old, but felt the need to post for the benefit of others researching this product.  This thing has caused nothing but hassle for me over several months.  It failed 3 times this week alone and overfilled my 22g (devastating to my salinity in a tiny tank, especially this frequently).  It either overfills, thinks the ATO freshwater is low, or thinks there is an issue with water turbulence near the sensor.  I've replaced parts, moved the sensor, etc and nothing seems to fix it.  I've read about this product and spoken to BRS.  Seems like 1/3 of the consumers have this problem.  My best conclusion is the sensor has issues reading it's own LED light in my smaller tank, which is stupid given that it is meant for small tanks.  I run 2 AI Prime HDs (the tank is 3ft long) and my lights seem to be too bright for the ATO to detect its own LED and fails to kick off.  My only other guess is perhaps one of the 2 Mexican turbo snails decides to eat slime off the sensor and squat on the thing without moving.  But I have 0 Nitrates.  BRS claimed the sensor seems to work best when it has a small amount of algae built up on it.  I think this is to get the refections of the LED light to register and not get flooded by your display lights.

 

Either way, I would not recommend this product.  I don't really see anything better on the market though.  I think it might work better if you had a Nuvo or sump where the sensor is placed away from all light, movement, and critters in your tank.

 

Hope this helps and happy reefing!

[TheRealMatrix]

One of the better investments I’ve made in my tank.

[xthunt]

On 12/21/2018 at 2:02 PM, xthunt said:

I’m not him, but I had mine since March 2017. Been working perfect the whole time. 

Still going no issues...

[mileshug]

I should update.  I haven't had the problem in my previous post for several months now (fingers crossed).  I removed a giant Mexican turbo snail, adjusted the nearby power heads, backed off on my lights (which I needed to do).  Not sure which change positively impacted the problem, but seems good to go for the most part.  Still would work better on a tank with a sump or somewhere to keep the sensor out of the way.  But best solution available none the less.

[Mazzy21]

I just bought the "lite" version. $70 inclusing your pump I felt I couldn't beat that. It worked perfectly right out of the box. I don't really know the difference between the "Lite" and teh "Micro" but I'm thinking maybe for the higher end one there is also a sensor that goes in your top off tank?? I put mine in a 5 gallon bucket on the floor and that tiny little pump shot the water right up the 5 feet to my tank no problem. Very impressed with this little thing.

[Firefish15]

I bought one of these when I had an employee discount at my LFS. Still sitting in the box, waiting for when I upgrade to an IM 25g lagoon. Glad to hear all the positive reviews!