# Tunze nano ato failure



## Lilphil26 (Sep 15, 2015)

So I just got home and have a look at my tank and see that in is a lot higher than it should be and I can hear the tunze ato pump cycle for a quick second on and off repeatedly. This tank is very new and there is no calcium deposits or hard water deposits or salt creep on the float sensor. (This is the nano with just the mechanical float switch). I cycled the power on the ato and it seems fine now. I took the float switch out of the tank for Shitzandgiggles and turned the float switch upside down. It comes on and off just like it should. Luckily the built in timer saved my tank and my hardwood floor. My salinity is at 1.023 now from 1.025 so I hope everything is ok. (Just a couple clowns and 3 small coral frags). 

Has anyone else had this happen? I expected to see the float was stuck but it's fine. As you can imagine i no longer trust it and I thought buying a decent ato such as this would prevent this from happening. I doubt the full size tunze would fit in my rear chamber of my 25 lagoon.


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## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

Where is the ATO plugged in, a controller powerbar by chance?


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

salinity at 1.023 is perfectly fine. Just let the tank evaporate out the extra water and it'll go back to 1.025 within a few days or possibly sooner. 

I actually keep my tank around 1.024 and my soft corals and LPS seem to like it much better for some odd reason.

As for the ATO, any mechanical or electrical equipment can fail at any given time. It's the chance we take for convenience.


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## Lilphil26 (Sep 15, 2015)

fury165 said:


> Where is the ATO plugged in, a controller powerbar by chance?


I dont have a tank controller but the ato is plugged into a power bar along with my return pump and rw4 power head. I do this so when i do waterchanges i just turn off the power bar to make life easier. Im letting the excess water evaporate back down to where it was before the ato failure. We shall see what happens.


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## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

Lilphil26 said:


> I dont have a tank controller but the ato is plugged into a power bar along with my return pump and rw4 power head. I do this so when i do waterchanges i just turn off the power bar to make life easier. Im letting the excess water evaporate back down to where it was before the ato failure. We shall see what happens.


Sounds good. I asked about controller because I've had experience with a reefkeeper powerbar that had a faulty outlet that kept on tripping on and off on and off


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## Lilphil26 (Sep 15, 2015)

After this incident I can seriously see me getting an Apex down the road. I am not sure if I should go with the Apex Jr or just bite the bullet and get the reg Apex. I could see myself wanting to add the ph probe or needing more than 4 outlets on the powerbar, so instead of buying the Apex Jr and upgrading it, I might as well just buy the full size.

Part time job, where art thou!


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## Lilphil26 (Sep 15, 2015)

More ato issues.... 

Now the ato makes the pump run for about 3 seconds and it might pump out 100mls of water each time. It runs about 8 times per hour. It used to move enough that you could see a difference in the pump chamber and the float switch moved about 1/4 inch in travel. Should i be concerned? It is maintaining water level more precisely than before it overflowed. Just seems weird how it changed all of a sudden


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

I would rather have it come on a few times every hour than twice a day or so. Your water will be consistent this way for sure.

Mine usually works around 4 times an hour or so and dumps 200ml each time.


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## saltmeup (Nov 12, 2015)

altcharacter said:


> I would rather have it come on a few times every hour than twice a day or so. Your water will be consistent this way for sure.
> 
> Mine usually works around 4 times an hour or so and dumps 200ml each time.


Sorry to jump on this string but where can I grab wire and more hosing to extend the length of my tunze nano ATO.... Setting it up but doesn't have the length I need


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## Lilphil26 (Sep 15, 2015)

I think you could run and wire you wanted really as its low voltage and amps would be miniscule. As far as hose goes what about the same size airline tubing? Just solder an extension wire on to your pump.


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## saltmeup (Nov 12, 2015)

Lilphil26 said:


> I think you could run and wire you wanted really as its low voltage and amps would be miniscule. As far as hose goes what about the same size airline tubing? Just solder an extension wire on to your pump.


Thanks for the response. Challenge is, I'm looking for what those sizes actually are .... So I can purchase more tubing, not easy to locate


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## larrysy (Jul 21, 2014)

When I first got my Tunze ATO, it would only run for 3 seconds in the "ON" position then stop - 



 Tunze shipped me a new controller from Germany and the replacement worked for about one year now.

Recently, I got a new replacement pump. The pump would also run for only 3 secs even with direct power from a 9V battery. I complained with the seller and I was sent a new one which works.

Tunze has a 2 year warranty. You might want to use it.


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## Lilphil26 (Sep 15, 2015)

I posted in a tunze support forum and was told the magnets being lined up are critical. Mine is working as it should now. Phew!!!!


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