X-mas Came Early

[unleashed]

Well, x-mas came early for me today.

Finally I got my TUNZE Osmolator Auto top-off unit.

A complete pain in the arse to set up (I'm the least tech savvy person you will ever meet), but works perfectly now that it is.


In the box:

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]


Two sensors and holding devices:

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]


Control Unit:

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]


Heated FW Reservoir - note the Osmolator's pump

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

-------------------------------------------------

The unit comes with some great safety features such as

- Water level alarm if water level drops too low or is too high
- Automatically cuts the power to the pump if the reservoir is empty thus stopping the pump running dry. Also sounds and alarm
- If the pump runs for too long, it automatically stops and sounds and alarm.

The sensors are also very very accurate

[gm72]

Wow, very cool apparatus there!

[Lady Hobbs]

WOW. I just love it!

(what is it?) :)

[gm72]

HAHAHAHAHA!

Lady, you are the bomb.

:l19:

[unleashed]

WOW. I just love it!

(what is it?) :)
It is an auto top-off unit.

It measures the amount of evaporation prescisely and then pumps in FW water to compensate for this. This prevents the specific gravity getting too high and potentially killing your livestock.

I can do this manually, but this device makes topping off so much easier because all I have to do is make sure the reservoir is kept full.

Also, I forgot to mention, I also bought a mated pair of orange spotted prawn gobies (Amblyeleotris guttata). Although, I didn't take the chance to snap a pic of them and they have now buggered off into the rock work somewhere.

I am also eying up a large school (10+) of blue eyed cardinals (Apogon leptacanthus) at the LFS

[Lady Hobbs]

Well, now I really do love it. Nice idea and work saver. Congrats on your new toy.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Wow, that is a nice addition unleashed. Those things are toted as being the best on the market. Great quality, but you have to pay a lot to get it. Looks good.

[Ocellaris]

Lucky man. I wish I could get some Tunze stuff.

Here's you're next step.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[unleashed]

Wow, that is a nice addition unleashed. Those things are toted as being the best on the market. Great quality, but you have to pay a lot to get it. Looks good.

Cost me $320NZD

[kaybee]

Unleashed,

Thanks for posting!

From what you've seen so far, having hands-on experience with it, do you think the two sensors and bracketing devices can be connected to an overflow box? (e.g., configured to control water-level inside the overflow box, not the main tank).

[unleashed]

Kaybee,

It obviously depends on the dimensions of the overflow. But in my opinion, it can be done because you can attach the mounting brackets together to create one long sensor mounting bracket rather than two, and have both sensors on the one long bracket.

However, it would be an expense way to adjust the water level in the overlow IMO and it may be easier and cheaper to just adjust your overflow plumbing etc....

[Rue]

Ohhh! Technical stuff! Lookit all the wires! :hmm3grin2orange:

Congrats! Gotta luv stuff to fiddle around with!

[unleashed]

Congrats! Gotta luv stuff to fiddle around with!

The good thing is that I no longer need to fiddle with it :19:

[Northernguy]

Nice stuff!thumbs2:
It would make life a little easier once you got it dialed in!

[unleashed]

pretty much all you need to do in order to dial it in is just place the sensors at the same level that you want the water to be at.

When the water drops below that, it will automatically pump more FW in

[jimpierce]

way cool!!!

[Tigerbarb]

Looks like an interesting device. How much do those things go for, anyway? I'll admit that top-offs are the only part of my tank's maintenance that I hate doing 100%.

[unleashed]

How much do those things go for, anyway?

Mine cost $320NZD

-----

On the controller, there are 4 lights.

1x "Water Level Too Low" - level has dropped too far below the sensors
1x "Pump On" - Water pump on
1x "Level" - Water at the correct level
1x "Water Level Too High" - Water level is too far above the sensors

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

This pic shows the controller with both the "Level" light and the "Pump On" light. The water level difference is soooo small that the pump only needs to be on for about 30 seconds to compensate the evapouration difference, hence why both lights are on

[labnjab]

Awesome. After getting our sump going, an auto top off unit will be out next project.

[kaybee]

Kaybee,

It obviously depends on the dimensions of the overflow. But in my opinion, it can be done because you can attach the mounting brackets together to create one long sensor mounting bracket rather than two, and have both sensors on the one long bracket.

However, it would be an expense way to adjust the water level in the overlow IMO and it may be easier and cheaper to just adjust your overflow plumbing etc....

That's the thing, I really don't have any way of adjusting the overflow 'plumbing' since what I have isn't a conventional configuration. Instead of an overflow box leading to a sump, I actually have a sump-less set up. I've got the intakes of a canister filter and HOB protein skimmer placed inside the overflow box. My goal is to use the Tunze Osmolater to maintain the water level in the overflow box a couple centimeters below the water level in the tank (to maintain the 'surface skimming' effect of the overflow). A couple of cm's below the water line would give me about 4.5" of height to work with.

What is the length of those brackets?

[unleashed]

What is the length of those brackets?

Off the top of my head, about 15 or so centimeters