Heater in ATO Reservoir?

should you put a heater in your ato reservoir to keep the water at the same temp as the Tank. This seems like it would cause less fluctuations. Cant find any answers online?
Thanks

 

Since ATO systems add very little volume at once. There is very little impact on tank temp. The ATO would have to dump quite a bit of water to fluctuate the temp of the tank.

 

The only time I'd call this useful is when talking about a ATO pump that is too strong, and if you had anything in the section the ATO dumps into that's live.

 

ok. thanks guys. does it matter what size pump u use for your ato pump?

 

You don't need a very strong pump. I use a Maxi-jet 400 because I had it already. Tom Aqualifter is a commonly used pump for ATO systems.

 

I use a Maxi-jet as well (1200), its been in use for 2 years now and never a problem.

 

I have an AquaClear 101 (80 gph), turned down all the way, with a ball valve. This way, it takes about 4 minutes to dump a gallon of water for the topoff.

 

nice. should i be wanting to gate the pump blackraven1425? Im using an old biocube pump/ i think its 243gph.

 

An ATO with a valve or a low gph pump is much safer. If you do a water change and forget to turn off the ATO. Or if the ATO switch gets stuck. There will be much less FW dumped into the system.

 

I use Tom's Aquatic Aqua lifter and it works great except the head is only 3 feet which limits where you can put your reservoir. I'm working on establishing a 30 gallon res behind my wall but will need a stronger pump. Like everyone else has said, the amount of water is so tiny that heating it really makes no difference. Besides that, within a day or so that water is room temp which usually isn't that much cooler than the tank.