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AutoAqua Smart ATO Lite Users? -- UPDATE: Will be returning!


Superdave

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Follow up based on my experience..  

 

I got a good deal on eBay ($67 shipped to me) and decided it was worth a shot.  

 

So far, I have not had a good experience.  It overfills my tank on a regular basis and is unreliable so I will be returning it.  I have given it nearly a month of use and had hoped to make it work.  I am not sure if my setup is the issues, but my previous, super old-school float switch that I bought well over 15 years ago worth 10x better than this one.  Perhaps it is micro bubbles or too much surface agitation, but I do not have super unusual setup.  It is a 9.6 gallon tank with an AC70 hang on filter.  I created my own, custom surface skimmer intake pipe that feeds into the filter.  I don't really have micro bubbles that I can see, but at times I do get the blinking red light, which on this auto-top off is an indicator of micro bubbles.  It does not always give me this error message, but whenever it does "top-off" it goes well about the "second" sensor.  

 

I cannot afford to have a tank overflow and or create a fire hazard so I am working with the ebay seller to return it and get my money back.  Perhaps it would work better in a sump or other tank, but I know it will not work for mine.  I don't want to suggest the product is defective or faulty, but all I can say is that it does not work for me.  I used an empty 5 gallon to "test" the product when I first received it and it worked perfectly.  The water would only "fill" until the level reached right between the two triangles of the optical sensor.  I realize real-world, actual tanks behave differently than an empty one (film, tiny bits of algae, etc.) but the point of an auto-top off is to create a greater degree of automation, not more maintenance on my end.  

 

I want an auto-top off as it really did make my life easier and I could tell the difference it makes with my corals, in that the salinity parameter was kept constant.  I will probably go with the XP Aqua Duetto as it is more expensive and seems to be more widely used.  I know there was a gamble going with a lower price (relatively speaking) product, but I do like to try such things from time to time as sometimes the difference is not that much.  In this case, for me, though it was.  

 

Anyone using this ATO?  

 

Did a search and did not find one, but thought I would post anyways.  Below is a link to Amazon; less expensive / shipped straight from China options exist of eBay as well.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/AutoAQUA-SATO-260P-Automatic-Refiller-Controller/dp/B07X2HHX1G/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Aquarium+Micro+Automatic+Top+Off+System&qid=1602858306&sr=8-2

 

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The Rainy Day Aquarium

I really like these ATOs. I use these on all my reef tanks and have had no problems with them. They are super small and even work well on my pico reefs. I've ordered them from amazon and from ebay and both made it in a reasonable amount of time 👍

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