Problems with my Smart ATO Micro

[CinnamonTorch]

Hello all, I'm having issues with my SMART ato micro. Not so smart. The other day, it filled up my nuvo 10 all the way to the rim, and my salinity dropped to 1.021 from 1.026, luckily I was home, checked my water, and did a water change right away. The sensor seems to work fine, it pumps water until it reaches the level, however all of a sudden, the water level decrease in my return chamber and then the smart ato micro fills it up again, and the same thing over and over.. it basically pumps water like 5-7 times in a matter of 1 minute.. its not even normal.. im thinking that its a bad idea to have the ato sensor in my return chamber since water is always changing...

 

Anyways, I'm really at a loss for words.. if anyone has any insight, please chime in.

 

Instagram: CinnamonTorch_Crunch

[Indiana Reefin]

Sounds like you are the one marking the errors not the sensor. It sounds like your sensor is doing exactly as it should. 

 

You would be better off putting in a more stable chamber or in the display.

The pump section is usually the best location for an ATO 

To me it sounds like your return pump is pumping water faster than the overflow can handle. You will more than likely need to dial down your return pump to match your flow rate of your overflow. Or you have something blocking your overflow limiting flow. 

[CinnamonTorch]

1 hour ago, Indiana Reefin said:

Sounds like you are the one marking the errors not the sensor. It sounds like your sensor is doing exactly as it should. 

 

You would be better off putting in a more stable chamber or in the display.

The pump section is usually the best location for an ATO 

To me it sounds like your return pump is pumping water faster than the overflow can handle. You will more than likely need to dial down your return pump to match your flow rate of your overflow. Or you have something blocking your overflow limiting flow. 

 

Thanks, but I dont want to dial down my flow because its the only source of flow I have in my nuvo 10.. I've added a spin stream which also helps to reduce the flow and so far everything is loving the random flow.. so should I maybe switch my sensor to the middle chamber where the water level is more stable?? also quick question, what is ur water level like in ur return chamber? is it lower than the baffle or is it higher than the baffle? thanks again

[Nomoreammo]

How high is your water in the return chamber? Keep it as high as you can while keeping it under the baffle.

 

I have my ATO in the middle return chamber where the return pump is. I also have a 20g so I have dual overflows instead of the single on the Nuvo 10g but that should be irrelevant.

 

The ATO should respond quick enough and you should not be losing water level so quickly that your ATO activates again.

[CinnamonTorch]

1 hour ago, Nomoreammo said:

How high is your water in the return chamber? Keep it as high as you can while keeping it under the baffle.

 

I have my ATO in the middle return chamber where the return pump is. I also have a 20g so I have dual overflows instead of the single on the Nuvo 10g but that should be irrelevant.

 

The ATO should respond quick enough and you should not be losing water level so quickly that your ATO activates again.

 

I appreciate the help! Everybody seems to be telling me that I need to keep my water level in the return chamber under the baffle.. i’ve been doing the exact opposite lol.. my water level in return chamber is as high as the return tubing meet the adaptor for the outflow.. I thought I needed to keep it that high... guess i’ve been doing it wrong... now I understand why keeping the water level at the right level is so important, because the return pump can play with the water levels if too high.

 

thanks, i’ll try keeping my water level just under the baffle

[kimberbee]

The water level should be kept about an inch below the baffle. The return pump chamber is the ONLY chamber you can put the sensor in for it to work properly for this tank. 

[CinnamonTorch]

2 hours ago, kimberbee said:

The water level should be kept about an inch below the baffle. The return pump chamber is the ONLY chamber you can put the sensor in for it to work properly for this tank. 

 

Thank you for the advice. Everybody has been telling me to keep the water level low in the return chamber. Can you please tell me why? I know that it will help, i just need to understand the reasoning behind it... i currently have my water level in my return chamber really high (almost near the return outlet high...)

 

thanks again, and yes i know that the return chamber is the best place to install the ato, just need to fix my water level and have it just under the baffle

[xthunt]

I kept mine at that level (IM 20 & 25) because that’s how it was designed and what IM states in the manual for the tank. No reason to keep it higher. 

[StevieT]

You can adjust the water level up or down by adding or subtracting while the filtration pump is ON. Most set it depending on the equipment they may be running. There is no fault at running it high. 

 

Make sure to set it at a level you like then set up the ATO in a non intake chamber.

 

Also make sure the ATO tube is well above the water level so you do not create a siphon. If it's fluctuating that much that fast I suspect you created one. 

[xthunt]

Wouldn’t putting the tube further down worsen the siphon if or when it happens, taking more water out? Unless it has something to do with the siphon break they supplied (which I never used). FWIW, I keep my tube out of the water, even with pumps off. An inch or two sticking down out the holder. Good catch, I didn’t even think of it siphoning causing the issue. 

[StevieT]

1 hour ago, xthunt said:

Wouldn’t putting the tube further down worsen the siphon if or when it happens, taking more water out? Unless it has something to do with the siphon break they supplied (which I never used). FWIW, I keep my tube out of the water, even with pumps off. An inch or two sticking down out the holder. Good catch, I didn’t even think of it siphoning causing the issue. 

Whoops. Ment ABOVE.

 

And correct do not trust that cheap piece to do anything but make a sales pitch. Heck they forget to put it in half the time. 

 

I tend to look at tanks backwards and upside down all day my brain doesn't know when it's normal tank typing time.  

[StevieT]

11 hours ago, Kosta Fusion 10 Gallon said:

it basically pumps water like 5-7 times in a matter of 1 minute.. i

Siphon

 

Good for stealing Jet Fuel and doing water changes.

Bad for auto top offs 

[CinnamonTorch]

1 hour ago, StevieT said:

Siphon

 

Good for stealing Jet Fuel and doing water changes.

Bad for auto top offs 

 

Not experiencing a siphon here, know what that it, definetly not the case here.. my water level is too high apparently.. i’ll get it down and see how that helps

[Nomoreammo]

On 2/21/2018 at 4:58 PM, Kosta Fusion 10 Gallon said:

 

Thank you for the advice. Everybody has been telling me to keep the water level low in the return chamber. Can you please tell me why? I know that it will help, i just need to understand the reasoning behind it... i currently have my water level in my return chamber really high (almost near the return outlet high...)

 

thanks again, and yes i know that the return chamber is the best place to install the ato, just need to fix my water level and have it just under the baffle

 

By low, they mean keep it under the baffle. If your water is too low in the return chamber, your pump will also mix in air and dump bubbles into your display so you don't want that.

 

That said, you want to keep the water under the baffle line so that there is full water circulation from the overflow to the return chamber. Water from the display goes down the initial overflow, then comes back up again and then drops down into the return chamber.

 

It's good that you don't have the ATO tube touching the water so you'll never experience a siphon from your ATO reservoir.

[CinnamonTorch]

On 2018-02-24 at 7:51 PM, Nomoreammo said:

 

By low, they mean keep it under the baffle. If your water is too low in the return chamber, your pump will also mix in air and dump bubbles into your display so you don't want that.

 

That said, you want to keep the water under the baffle line so that there is full water circulation from the overflow to the return chamber. Water from the display goes down the initial overflow, then comes back up again and then drops down into the return chamber.

 

It's good that you don't have the ATO tube touching the water so you'll never experience a siphon from your ATO reservoir.

 

Thanks for your reply!

 

I adjusted my water level and things seem to be better. I had another question though.. I had adjusted my water level in my return chamber to be just below 1 inch from the baffle.. everything was fine, but then I woke up the next morning and I realized that the water level in the return chamber had actually increased to be over the baffle!! so then I thought my smart ato micro was the problem.. because the water level was way over the level I had set my sensor... I tested my salinity and it was spot on at 1.026~.... so I really dont know why my water level keeps on doing this... it increases over the sensor's level and then im scared that by the time it comes down to the level I set my ato sensor, the water will be way too salty :/ 

[Nomoreammo]

That's interesting. That tells me that your ATO is continually pumping water into the return chamber. The only thing I can think of is that the return chamber on an IM10 is so small that the ATO fills it up really quickly.

 

You won't notice too much of a salinity change even if you test it because it literally takes like 1-3 cups of freshwater to raise it up to the baffle line from where you have your sensor 1" below. As such, you may want to experiment with the return chamber water level. Just don't let it get too low or it'll start pulling in air as aforementioned.

 

Given the smaller volume of the return chamber, if 1" below the baffle is a little bit too high, maybe lower it a tad more. 

 

You probably already know this but one tip to keep in mind is that the manual suggests setting up the sensor just below water level and then letting evaporation bring it down.