IceCapDual Optical ATO - Auto Top Off Controller

This is the second one I have recently bought as I heard great things about Ice Cap ATO. The first came defective due to a bad sensor. I reordered and received this one today. First I could tell that all the contents were just thrown together in the box and that the instructions were missing but the big problem was that the clear rubber water line had water IN IT?! You can see the water in the line in the photo I took. Definitely this unit was returned at some point and then shipped out as new! I was not impressed at all! Thankfully Amazon helped me with problem but now I have to find myself another ATO system. I'm sure this is a very rare instance and somehow got by someone in shipping at Ice Cap. I will try to reach out to Ice Cap just to inform them.

I like the IceCap ATO. I've had it running for a couple of months now and have had no issues with it at all. The only time I can hear it run is if the house is dead quiet and I'm in the same area as the tank or if I'm standing next to the tank. Other than that it's pretty quiet. The little pump that comes with it is sufficient enough to lift the water from the bottom of my ATO reservoir to the top of my 40 gallon tank which is about 4-4.5 feet of head lift. It came with everything you need to get it setup and running. The sensor mount is magnetic. I use a natural bristle 1" paint brush to gently clean the sensors periodically so I never even have to remove them.THE CON: The reason I only gave four stars is because this is not specifically designed to accommodate a tank that has a rim around it. However, it can be configured in such a way that it becomes a non-issue. For one, the bracket for the hose end that goes into the tank does not fit properly on a rimmed tank, so you will have to use an alternative method to secure the hose so it stays put. Secondly, the way they instruct you to mount the sensors in the bracket is not ideal for an aquarium with a rim. For me personally, when configured as they suggest I feel that the distance between the sensor triggers is too great for a rimmed tank. What I ended up doing is positioning both sensors so that they point up and then gave the bracket a slight turn to the left so that the low level sensor sat a tad more in the water and the high level sensor sat a tad more out of the water.So far I have no complaints regarding the functionality of this ATO and I would recommend it to anyone who is not ridiculously picky about having to mildly tweak a product to get it the way they like it..

The physical install was fairly straightforward, all components are a lot smaller than I expected, which was good. I have a tank with a rim and really wanted the water top off level to be level with where the black rim starts, this took quite a bit of experimentation but now that it’s set, I haven’t had a problem.Now for the issue…The kit includes an in-line siphon breaker that needs to be inserted somewhere in to your feed line from the reservoir to the tank. The manual points out that this leaks water when the pump is active - in other words, right when the ATO is doing it’s primary job - the system leaks water. The manual does not describe how much water leaks when the pump is active and I was pretty shocked to find that it’s a lot - enough that I needed to get a mop out to clean up. It’s not like the water even drips nicely down the pipe in to the reservoir, it actually sprays out from the siphon insert, hitting my wall and some nearby electrical outlets.Again, the manual makes reference to the fact that it leaks when active (no criticism there) but it doesn’t describe how bad the leak is.The only solution I could figure out (and I haven’t been able to do it yet) is to ensure that the siphon breaker is below the top of the reservoir but above the max height that you ever intend to fill the reservoir, that way, the leaks end up back in the reservoir.The problem I now have is that having cut the pipe already (to insert the siphon breaker) I do not have the right combination of remaining pipe lengths to do what I described above as a solution. It would be nice if the manufacturer / dealer could reach out and offer me a new pipe - I’ll try to contact them.Outside of the above, I’m happy with the product and would recommend it, although I’d also recommend some tweaks to the user manual.

I am very happy with the performance of this ATO. It seems overpriced, but it INCLUDES a pump, which most don't even at the same price point. The fact that it is a complete plug & play system, with no programming, is excellent. It is in my display tank under LED lighting and is working flawlessly. The only funny thing is that clownfish feeding at the surface can set it off for a couple of seconds. I guess they make just enough ripples to trigger the low side fill. Also, the blue LED light on the controller module is very bright, maybe too bright for a bedroom tank. A piece of tape fixed that problem. The included plastic tubing clip won't fit the rim of the glass, so I bought a "probe holder" Aquarium Tank Ph Orp Probe Electrode Holder, Hose Holder Fixture Acryl (4 Probe)  that has thumbscrews and holds the tubing great. Lastly, the tubing is very kinked in the package, but soaking it in a hot water bath for 10 minutes will soften it up enough so you can straighten it out. Aquarium Tank Ph Orp Probe Electrode Holder, Hose Holder Fixture Acryl (4 Probe)

Was pretty excited to receive this, spent a bunch of time rerouting cords and making everything all neat, to have the thing not work right out of the box, no matter what I tried the alarm would not turn off. For $130 bucks the only thing that was nice was the box, returned the same day