JBJ ATO Float modification

[dmolavi]

I haven't bought it yet, but it looks like the floats in the JBJ ATO are held in place via a bracket that hangs over the top of the tank. I'm not a big fan of that type of fastener, and was wondering if anyone has mod'd their floats to use a magnet, similar to the Tunze ATO.

 

[Rutrag]

You are correct that the float brackets are over the rim style. I haven't made that mod, but it should be pretty easy to do.

Are you running the floats in tank or in sump? I have one float in the reservoir and another in the sump. (You can set the JBJ with one float or two, with the second set up as a shut off or top line fill OR as a shut off when the water level drops in your reservoir to keep from burning up your transfer pump.) Since this is all in a cabinet, the look doesn't matter to me here.

 

[dmolavi]

I have a 20G nano, sumpless, so one float will be in the tank, the other in the reservoir. It's only the tank float that I really care about, and want to make sure a rare-earth magnet won't cause the float any harm.

 

[Rutrag]

It's a mechanical float, so I can't imagine it would.

i don't think it comes out until later this month, but have you looked at any of the information on the Hydor Smart Level Control? I saw a video on it from Mr. SaltwaterTank, and it looked like it would be ideal for nanos.

 

[dmolavi]

I just saw the video on YouTube. I wonder if it has the auto-shut off on the pump to keep it from running dry the way the JBJ does. This is definitely much more compact for a nano tank.

 

[dmolavi]

I just saw Mark's video on it, very nice indeed. I might have to put off my JBJ purchase to see when this comes out and for how much.

I suppose a simple float in the reservoir to kill power to the whole controller might take care of the dry reservoir problem, unless it's built-in somehow, but it doesn't appear to be.

 

[Rutrag]

What I've seen indicates the price point is somewhere between $80 and $100. Unfortunately, I don't think there is any safety to kill the pump if the reservoir level drops. However, if you were using an Aqualifter, it wouldn't matter as that is a diaphragm pump, and won't be damaged if it were to run dry.