Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155 Auto Top Off - Worth It?

PapaDragon · Oct 31, 2015

I'm going out of town and don't trust my DIY ATO enough to hook it up to a large fresh water reservoir. Was considering getting the Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155 Auto Top Off, but gosh it's pricey. Anyone recommend it?

whatchamacallit · Oct 31, 2015

Loved mine

MTWiley · Oct 31, 2015

I've had mine for a few months and I love it, I had a JBJ ATO on past tanks, but the Tunze 3155 keeps the levels much more stable/closer to the setpoint. I have hardwood floors and based on what I've read I couldn't find a single instance of for a Tunze 3155 failing in the on position and emptying the entire reservoir into the tank. I can't say the same for DIY & cheaper alternatives. It was hard to swallow, but ultimately, I didn't want the $150 I saved by going with a cheaper ATO to cost me several thousand to replace my hardwood floors and/or crash my tank.

PapaDragon · Oct 31, 2015

Thanks. I'm going to get it

Nomadic1 · Oct 31, 2015

I have 4 of them. The oldest one took 10 years before it failed, and the other three (ranging from 5-8 years old) are working fine. I can't name many other products last that long.

ngvu1 · Oct 31, 2015

Make sure you test it out before going out of town. Most people love the tunze 3155. They just don't like the price

AZDesertRat · Oct 31, 2015

I believe in a quality ATO but have been seeing a lot of complaints on the Tunze the past couple of years. I have been using the Spectrapure UPLC-ll for 8 trouble free years now.

Martyd · Oct 31, 2015

I love mine and recently hooked it up to a large freshwater reservoir in my basement. It has triple redundancy; using an electric eye, a backup float switch and an electronic time controller that won't let it run nonstop in the event of a failure or empty reservoir (I believe it won't run for longer than 10 minutes). Could it still fail? Yes, but it's highly unlikely.

lyrical · Nov 1, 2015

I love mine. Definitely worth the money for someone that is not DIY friendly.

dmort · Nov 1, 2015

I have two of the nano osmolators on my two tanks and provided I clean the float every 2-3 months, it works flawlessly.

chaoha · Nov 1, 2015

I've had mine since March. If I ever do another build it would include this, can't believe I did my top manually for years

jerseypete · Nov 1, 2015

Love it. Had it 18m now and have it hood to a 37g top off

gmastr85 · Nov 1, 2015

I would recommend it! It may be a little pricey but its easy to use, works flawlessly, and you don't have to worry about it. I currently have 2 of them and wouldn't use any other brand!

PapaDragon · Nov 1, 2015

jerseypete said:
Love it. Had it 18m now and have it hood to a 37g top off

Oh my gosh that's an organized cabinet. Amazing!

jerseypete · Nov 1, 2015

PapaDragon said:
Oh my gosh that's an organized cabinet. Amazing!

Took me a while to get there. But it's worth it now

Nomadic1 · Nov 1, 2015

AZDesertRat said:
I believe in a quality ATO but have been seeing a lot of complaints on the Tunze the past couple of years. I have been using the Spectrapure UPLC-ll for 8 trouble free years now.

Very likely due to a shift in manufacturing many of the parts in Chinese factories to compete with the knockoff/patent stealing Jebaos of the world.

MTWiley · Nov 1, 2015

Nomadic1 said:
Very likely due to a shift in manufacturing many of the parts in Chinese factories to compete with the knockoff/patent stealing Jebaos of the world.

How exactly sure is charging the same price as they have for years and using inferior(as you suggest) components considered "competing with knockoff/patent stealing Jebaos"? I have a newer (~3 months old) 3155 and it seems to work just fine to me.

PapaDragon · Nov 1, 2015

I ordered one today

Nomadic1 · Nov 1, 2015

MTWiley said:
How exactly sure is charging the same price as they have for years and using inferior(as you suggest) components considered "competing with knockoff/patent stealing Jebaos"? I have a newer (~3 months old) 3155 and it seems to work just fine to me.

Because if they were making it in Germany, with German labor, it would probably be twice the price. Are they using inferior components now? I believe so -- Roger at Tunze has told my local retailer that the power supplies on the newest units will, at best, last 2 years before failure, as they are made in China. Compare that to the power brick on my 10 year old unit, made in Germany, and still going strong.

Twomuchless · Nov 1, 2015

Love mine had the Smart Ato but the magnet that holds the unit together rusted in my sump and I'm thinking that's where my algae problem was from anyway Tunze makes a good unit