Interesting week for the Be Eazy Reef. I’ve never left a reef tank alone for a full week before.. let’s talk about it 🤦🏾♂️ Follow me on IG : instagram.com/cjsaquariums?igshid=MW51NW1lOGxoZjUwdw%3D%3D&
I know this video is over two months old, but I thought I would comment anyway as I had a similar experience to this. The one lesson I took away from anytime I travel, which is a lot for work - do not put redundancy or extra configuration changes on your tank a day or two before you leave. It is literally a recipe for disaster, what I do now as I test any redundancy I might think I would want Several weeks before I actually need it and work out the bugs that way. It served me quite well. Also, web-based cameras, and remote lighting. Switches are very very inexpensive now, so I like to have specific web cameras set up that I can access through my phone, which allows me to see things like water level, and other various things inside the sump that are very specificto the owner of the reef tank that are also very useful information to have when you’re not there. I hope this is helpful, really enjoy your videos and I love your tank. Great job and thanks for sharing.
Whew glad the entire 15 gallons didn't get dumped in. If only that Tunze was on an apex outlet. Lesson learned. My takeaway is I'm never leaving the house. 🤣
Lmaooo man I had a WHOLE plan just thought float on the tunze was bullet proof. WRONG. Everything will be on a apex outlet from now on at least I have a chance to killing it with automation 🤞🏾🫡
Smart plug on a motorized ball valve, which is mounted on a gravity fed float. Been running for years and it’s 1000 times better than any bought options
The Tunze ATO has an internal timer where it will shut off if it’s running for a period of time. If memory serves, you can pull the back plate off and adjust the timer. That’s crazy, as for me the Tunze ATO was the most reliable thing on my system. I think it’s the best ATO out.
Yep I already had that adjust to the bare minimum since it was running on my 20g QT system months ago. It’s never had an issue.. like you I trusted it to not even think to add it to the apex. Maybe probe was compromised (dirty) or something glitched. I’m just sharing my experience not saying it’s crap I just got unlucky
Hi CJ, glad you are still reefing! I have been watching you from way back when you set up the jbj 45! I see you have your favorite fish in there the Flame! I just got a coral beauty and my paired clowns almost killed her, she is rehabilitating in my hospital tank before I put her in my new build. I use the duetto dual sensor and really like it, never had an issue, I,ve had it for like 3 years now, I used to have the tunze and was very finicky and always had to clean it if not it would fail and it was very loud, this one is very quiet. Good luck Brother! And beautiful tank!
Literally had the same ato issue Last week. Luckily I was home and heard the pump turning on over and over again. Did the same thing, pulled the plug and large water change w/ slightly higher salinity
I have some of my equipment plugged into Alexa controlled plugs. Ato being one of them. I can always remotely turn on/off from anywhere. That can always help with redundancy. Damn that clip from before you left looked amazing. I know you can get that right back just sucks it happens at the worst possible times
CJ. I believe from looking at the setup you were having the same issue I was and having an Apex would not help. I kept having an issue with the Osmolator would over fill the sump and everything would go nuts. I noticed it would only happen when I filled my ATO reservoir. Come to find out after watching the ato pump would stop but the line was siphoning after the pump stopped. This was because the water level in my ATO reservoir was higher than the water level of my sump when it was filled all the way. It would siphon the water until they were even and then it would run like it should. To stop it from happening I had to not fill my ato past the sump level. I ended up having to find a different container that was shorter and never had the issue again
Mine wasn’t a siphon issue. The tunze kept turning on and off even after high level float was completely submerged. It’s still connected now and there is no siphons occurring. So I’m ruling that out. I’m guessing the sensors are just dirty or something is reading wrong inside it. Ether way… Neptune ato is on the way I like how it has a time sensor based of previous refills and 3 levels of redundancy build in along with redundancy I can program wit my sump water level sensor. 5/6 layers of redundancy can’t beat that!
I also was just gone for a week and I was so scared to come home and see the tank! I don’t have apex so it was all running on hopes and dreams and well everything went smooth thank god!
I use a 5 gallon reservior for top off that just gravity drains into the sump through a float valve, steady salinity with no electronic failure possible.
If I needed to extend the reservoir span you could add the ato to the resvoir, that way you couldn't over flow the tank just the floor if it failed. My tank is 400 gallons and has very litytle evaooration..@@CJSAQUARIUMS
Also I been running the DIY ato method for years Float switchs go bad and are 2 bucks … switch them out once a year and you never have a problem Also put a timer on it so it won’t allow it to run but only 10 min a day or whatever a day
Learning lesson: never run a reef tank without an apex and never try out new equipment or methods just before leaving on a vacation. I think we have all been here before at least those of us with reef tanks for a long time
@@Mark43613 Neptune ato has solved all my worries to the point I forgot all about it. It just works.. and I’ll definitely get my hands on the new trident and DOS. So many ways to upgrade the tank. I’ll cover them when the time comes 🫡🤝🏾
I just switched to the Avast Marine Parrot ATO - my tunze kept failing to fill the sump if I didnt clean the optical eye regularly. Norhing but good reviews on the Avast Marine, hope it works for me!
Are you ever worried about your tanks seams with your wave making motion? That's a lot of force going back and forth (weight) slamming up against the seams for hours a day I presume. I thought tank manufacturers warn against it, if I'm not mistaken.
Looks good bud. One recommendation, i use now after an apex head unit died 4 years ago or so (fortunately I was home), was not running both my flow and returns on the same ecosystem. I use kasa power strips, which i can control remotely, for powerheads and apex for returns. Lose the feed modes for all flow off, but that was a major boost for my redundancy game. Could also move the fail off only ato to kasa as well.
I’ve had the switches fail twice on me in a year so I scrapped it and just did a gravity fed ATO with a float switch so far it’s been amazing I bought a hang on float valve from Amazon and drilled a hole into my brute full of RO that I keep upstairs
I would still add a wife saver and optical sensor to that setup it has a solenoid that will shut water off if that float fails. Your still at risk without another layer of redundancy 🫡💯
@@CJSAQUARIUMS yes sir ! There could always be something with Water 😆 but the only part that touches the water is the plastic part that floats so there’s no chance of it getting stuck unless I acccidentally knock it over while tinkinering in the tank .
Oh no!! I am looking at which ATO to get for my IM EXT 100 with the RFS sump. Do you have a recommendation based on your experience?! I have an AutoAqua Smart ATO Micro on my current tank which I thought I would use on the EXT. I just want something simple and reliable and will work with our RFS sumps! Did the HydroFill ATO fail? Or did the Tunze just kick/fail on and stayed on? Scary stuff!
Hydro fill fails off due to probes being dirty too easy. Tunze failed on for an unknown reason.. assuming sensor kept triggering it on and the high level float never stopped it from filling. Nightmare scenario indeed. In scrapping them both going with Neptune ato 🥃🤦🏾♂️
Reef tank owners really remind me of lawn owners… lawns are delicate supports no biodiversity and when not maintained dies or gets taken over by native weeds. Same thing happens with a reef tank that has zero necromass capacity it crashes. 99.99% of you reefwrs don’t get it’s like a garden it accumulates organic matter the plants produce chemicals of all sorts the animals start to work together. Anyways till he figures out to get some biomass in there that can clean the water out correctly he’s gonna be stuck at home taking care of a tank
I’ve had the same problem with the Tunze ATO, gets stuck in the on position, so I switched over to the Neptune ATO. Problem solved! Although the sensors on the Neptune ATO need to be scrubbed down every few weeks. Still like it better than the Tunze.
Im surprised both sensors failed on tunze, i have had a apex brick on me so all eggs in one basket can have its own risks. Well glad it went better then your previous velvet experience with you just getting back into the game. I have a 180 and a large sump and expanding to a mangrove display etc so salinity swing arent as concerning for me. I have a 20T with Tunze osmolator with the sensors at different heights, also have an Avast K2 feeding i think 1.8L a day 24/7 with a Versa so its sorta an ATO in its own right
Me and you both I never had issues with it till now and even the internal max run timer failed somehow it just kept filling. I’m changing it all out for Neptune Ato. At least it has 3/4 layers of redundancy and I can manually kill it remotely as well. Ato should not be something we worry about this is a first for me! 🤦🏾♂️
lol it didnt fail you did you cant run 2 ATO If one is on and other thinks it out of water it will keep running ... ben there done that. just run the tunze ATO you will never have a problem BTW i still run mine and i got it when they first came out never had a fail i didnt start
Not true at all… two diff types of ato and diff types of sensors completely independent. Only way they could interfere with one another is splashing water directly on sensors which I don’t have happening.
What in the hell is goin on with your lawnmower blenny?!? Looks like a bloated tad-pole, never seen that before Glad your losses were minimal, got a 10 day vaykay myself, fingers crossed 🤞