Tunze 3155 Osmolator Universal

[frewl]

I'm thinking about getting this ATO and the Calcium Dispenser. I was wondering if anybody had any experience with these. And should I pony up the extra 18 bucks for the storage container or is it just an overpriced paint bucket? I'm thinking about getting it since the water in that container would be there for a while unlike the temp buckets I use now.

 

[matttvi]

Frewl;41931 wrote: I'm thinking about getting this ATO and the Calcium Dispenser. I was wondering if anybody had any experience with these. And should I pony up the extra 18 bucks for the storage container or is it just an overpriced paint bucket? I'm thinking about getting it since the water in that container would be there for a while unlike the temp buckets I use now.

I love the reef pak 500 (comes w/ the osmolator), but if I got it, i would replace that bucket w/ a 20g or so tank and just use a lexan cover w/ a cut out for the pump and water lines.

 

[cameron]

Whew looks a bit pricey to me. If all you are trying to do is dose kalkwasser, you can do it cheap with a bucket, autotopoff.com unit and a aqualifter which would come in well under $60 and works really well. You can up that to a 20 gallon storage container from USPlastics for $60 or get a tank as suggested above. You can even swap the autotopoff.com unit for a JBJ ATO unit if you want something pretty.

If you are looking at top of the line the LiterMeter III gets no better and has additional abilities such as dosing 2 part or auto water exchanges.

 

[mufret]

I use the osmolator w/ calcium dispenser on my 55g and find it to work very well. While the osmolator can be used with any size setup, the Kalk dispenser seems better suited for smaller setups. Also, although I like the simplicity and size of the calcium dispenser, you might also consider using one of the DIY kalk reactor setup with the osmolator to save a little $. The Osmolator is a bit more expensive than many of the top off setups out there but it does offer some nice features including an optical water level sensor that has been found to be a bit more reliable than the mechanical ones. There are certainly more economical ways to accomplish the task of dosing kalkwasser but you'll be hard pressed to find a system that's easier to setup and maintain. Replacement part, if ever needed, are also relatively inexpensive and readily available.