ATO Sensor length (Red Sea Users)

[Devisissy]

So my Tunze ATO sensor wires are too short for my application. I noticed red sea came out with a new ATO and temp gauge. It appears to use removeable S type cables. Can someone tell me how long their sensor wires are on their Red Sea ATO+ are?

Or if there are extensions available? Thank you!

Side not, Tunze you would think will get with it, I see they have a 3rd Gen, but with no controller. Maybe the wires being too short are a blessing in disguise.

 

[Devisissy]

Hello past self this is future self. After you did some research you found the cables you would need to extend the new ReefATO+ sensors are made by Hamilton and are made for oxygen, co2, and water sensors for relatively cheap online. You also found out that Red Sea uses the 12VDC not the 24 and that one is standard and the other is what they call a five port. So me, your future self, orders the ReefATO+.

We will have to wait for other future self to chime in on how they like the Red Sea ATO+.

 

[Devisissy]

Hey this is future future self. Red Sea claims those sensors can not be extended. They don't realize I give zero craps about their warranty. You buy the Hamilton cords. Maybe future future future self will chime in and let us know if they work.

 

[Devisissy]

Hello this is future future future self! So the extension wires were correct except the gauge. I bought 18, 20 gauge when I needed 14-16. I was able to exchange for the correct wires. Note, not the wires for LED these must be wires for sensors to be the correct gauge. Also, the hygger power extension wire works perfectly and strangely that was the shortest of the wires so everything worked well.

 

[JBReefer23]

I love your future self and what does it think of the Red Sea Reefer ATO, or is the future self still in the present?

 

[Devisissy]

I love your future self and what does it think of the Red Sea Reefer ATO, or is the future self still in the present?

Future, future, future, future self here! The ATO is a lot of hype and not a lot of delivering. They advertise;

-Temperature monitoring
-Reservoir monitoring
-Leak sensor monitoring
-Silent operation
-Wifi monitoring

The manual that comes with the unit can be tossed into the burn pile as it does not help you with the app at all and let's be honest, this unit is worthless without the app. Temperature monitoring is bad. The reason being, to save space and manufacturing costs they stuck it inside the water level control unit which sets it very high in the sump so of course it reads much lower than the actual temp of the tank. You can calibrate this to another controller or thermometer but it will fluctuate since your top off is usually in that part of the sump as well, but maybe red sea tanks are different? The best way to do this would be to have a temp probe separate. This would solve the issue, but Red Sea is squeezing all the cash they can from this product.

Leak sensor is separate and I put it behind the sump so if I did have a leak it will make a noise. Does it work, who knows?

Reservoir monitoring is wrong most of the time but gives you sort of a snapshot of when you need to refill. To be accurate it depends on your fill tube length, height, and distance from sump. I eyeballed it so my monitor is off 1.6 gallons give or take. If it says 2 gallons left, it's empty. Strangely the water used is accurate, but only takes what you use in a day. If I add up two days worth it's almost exactly what is left in the reservoir. That is super weird to me but whatever. I think maybe a programmer could use that amount and make a better monitor. I dunno I just use made in china apps I don't make them.

It's is not silent. It sounds like a cow p*ssing on a rock. The first two days I had it people in the house would come running to see what was pouring on the floor. Now everyone ignores it but there is no question the tank is filling and it runs just long enough to make me wonder if it is going to stop of dump the whole container in.

What does work well, wifi monitoring. If red sea can do it so should ecotech, just saying. It works all the time, app is easy to navigate, but the manual leaves out the little fun tweaks you can do. So I should have spent more time snooping around and less time reading their glossy, 10 page Multilanguage full colored manual. Hey Red Sea separate temp probe, lose the pretty box and manual.

Red Sea lets the level get very very low in sump then dumps gallons at a time. Where as the Tunze does smaller amounts throughout the day which in my opinion keeps it much much more accurate water level. This might not matter to some. But for me a 1.7 gallon trigger zone is large.

This unit can not be used for freshwater. Sorry planted tank people.

Overall it's a good buy, but most of the monitoring at this point is gimmick. I am going to be honest, I had a perfectly good Tunze. It's a better ATO by miles, but it does only the one thing. The Red Sea has these other gimmickey things, that makes it a bit more fun. And they can always roll out updates to fix certain things. The red sea is much better looking unit too. If that matters to people.

If you have a Tunze and it works keep it. If you are starting a new tank then consider the red sea but understand if you are concerned with longevity, accuracy, and operation Tunze is the much better unit.

 

[JBReefer23]

I was going back and forth deciding between the Red Sea ATO and Tunze Nano. Since I own the Red Sea Reefer 170. I can eliminate the float valve and 2 gallon reservoir.

The Red Sea ATO is more high tech than the Tunze?
But does that it make it better is another question?

The Red Sea ATO seems to be a better build than the Tunze

The pump for the Tunze seems to be louder? and the pump seems to fail for allot of users....not that the Red Sea ATO is totally silent either? or is prone to failures.

I been learning more about the Red Sea ATO mostly from YouTube on setting up the ATO with the Reef Beat APP, its not exactly easy but it can be done?


Are all ATO 's perfect nope they all have their quirks and failures just like human beings.
It just finding the right one sort of like finding the perfect partner, although perfect is subjective?

 

[Devisissy]

I was going back and forth deciding between the Red Sea ATO and Tunze Nano. Since I own the Red Sea Reefer 170. I can eliminate the float valve and 2 gallon reservoir.

The Red Sea ATO is more high tech than the Tunze?
But does that it make it better is another question?

The Red Sea ATO seems to be a better build than the Tunze

The pump for the Tunze seems to be louder? and the pump seems to fail for allot of users....not that the Red Sea ATO is totally silent either? or is prone to failures.

I been learning more about the Red Sea ATO mostly from YouTube on setting up the ATO with the Reef Beat APP, its not exactly easy but it can be done?


Are all ATO 's perfect nope they all have their quirks and failures just like human beings.
It just finding the right one sort of like finding the perfect partner, although perfect is subjective?

Tunze and Red Sea pumps are both about the same in sound. I can hear the tunze better because the water filling the sump is silent versus the 8 month pregnant lady after a big gulp using the loo in a tiled bathroom.

Tunze uses a pump motor that looks suspiciously like a low voltage Buhler. The red sea are using the made in France sold in Italy low voltage motors from a company I can't recall the name. Both are excellent companies. Both are equal in that part. No Chinese garbage in either. Tunze might be their own builder but it really looks like a Buhler.

Tunze is more consistent and keeps the water level spot on to within half an inch and is near dead silent. The Red Sea is a drastic level increase and decrease through the day, about 1.5-2 gallons difference. Hands down tunze is better. The red sea is loud and until they figure out a way to get it more accurate, allowing finer adjustments throughout the day, it loses the battle. I also have the Red Sea doser. I was using a Jaebo for years and it finally started to fail. I found their doser to kick the living poo out of the Jaebo in every single way and that is why I bought the ATO. It's just too loud and to big a swing for me to currently endorse it. A simple series of updates to the app can fix all these issues. I will not hold my breath.