DIY Tunze Osmolator Calcium Dispenser 5074

[Kailua-Kona]

I just can't convince myself to pay over $100 dollars for a pop bottle with two air hose connectors attached to it.

 

Has anyone successfully built one and is willing to give some tips?

 

The only thing I worry about is that the shape of the container makes a difference. Other than that I can't see why it would take much effort.

 

 

[Kailua-Kona]

Looks like no one has really done much with a DIY Tunze knockoff. I've looked all over the web and see that some people have started the project, but never report the results. Maybe the Tunze dispenser is just a bad idea in the first place. I don't know. Some people just mix the kalk right in their ATO water, but I like the idea of keeping the lime water away from my pump.

 

Anyway, I found a water bottle that looks to be the same dimentions as the Tunze reactor. I've drilled and glued an inflow and outflow. Pretty simple stuff.

 

According to the Tunze manual a small tank (48gallon) should take 10 grams of Kalk every 7 to 10 days. My tank is probably six months to a year away from truly needing to dose so I have time to play with the idea.

 

If Tunze just came down in price to $50 dollars rather than $100+ I would have bought it.

[Kailua-Kona]

Well I plumbed the reactor into my ATO reservoir with a cheap airline check valve to keep the reactor contents from back flowing. So far everything works like it should. I'm still getting the ATO water to my tank and the reactor is full of water.

 

My tank is still young and doesn't have much demand for Calcium or Alkalinity, so I haven't added any Kalk yet. My CA is 450 and ALK is 10 with just the Reef Crystal mix.

 

Anyway, the total cost of building one of these is around $15 not including my time. If you have a good spare water bottle, check valve, and air-line the cost is trivial. I had an extra magnetic sensor holder that came with the Tunze ATO unit. I glued it right to the water bottle and that works great to hold the reactor in place but any strong pair of magnets would work.

 

Now I just have to wait and see if this thing will work for my future Ca Alk demands.

[hey]

From what I have seen on a few polls on the subject osmolator users worry that kalk straight through the pump will damage it but none had actually had a failure in months of doing it. IMO it would be easier to just replace the 20$ pump every 6 months if it does cause failure.

 

post pics of your design though I would like to see how easy one would be to make myself if I decide to go that route.

[Kailua-Kona]

Hey,

 

This picture shows it not fully complete, but you get the idea. I added a Chapstick cap to go over the inlet so the water flow wouldn't flow straight up. You may also be able to see a piece of filter floss held at the bottom of the container wit a cut plastic coat hanger. I didn't have the length right so I stuck a bottle cap to show it being held in place. I later cut another coat hanger to the right length and removed the bottle cap.

 

I tested the unit with 1/2 tsp of Kalk and it works, but my tank isn't near consuming enough Ca and Alk to require me to run the unit. Which is good, I have it all hooked up and monitoring it for leaks.

 

[hey]

looks pretty good I may have to give that a try

[mcarroll]

Hey,

 

This picture shows it not fully complete, but you get the idea. I added a Chapstick cap to go over the inlet so the water flow wouldn't flow straight up. You may also be able to see a piece of filter floss held at the bottom of the container wit a cut plastic coat hanger. I didn't have the length right so I stuck a bottle cap to show it being held in place. I later cut another coat hanger to the right length and removed the bottle cap.

 

I tested the unit with 1/2 tsp of Kalk and it works, but my tank isn't near consuming enough Ca and Alk to require me to run the unit. Which is good, I have it all hooked up and monitoring it for leaks.

 

 

Good work, but I see why buying one pre-made is a decent option. Tunze apparently got it right. Shocking!

 

Why not knock off their design more completely and do the mixing the same way they do? Seems like it would make it a more usable system. Also, the one legitimate critique of their unit is the tiny opening at the top for adding new kalk....why'd you copy that feature? Pick something with a wide mouth for the next revision.

 

FWIW, my reef has been around for 6 or 7 years. $100/6 or 7 years is chump change - I've spent more than that on baking soda! Use a savings plan if cash flow is the issue. (Yes, that is old-fashioned. Yes, I do it. You should too.) DIY has a place in my heart, especially when you can do better than what's out there, but there is a such thing as being too cheap too.

 

Also FWIW, I like Tunze's design a lot better due to its simplicity, but the TLF kalk reactor fits your $50 price point better if you wanted something that "just worked." (As with all things, moving parts tend to break down though...which is why I like the Tunze design better.)

 

Can you say where you got your inlet/outlet parts and what you used for the gluing? Links would be nice in a DIY thread if possible. Assembly photos too!

 

Thanks!

 

-Matt

[Kailua-Kona]

Good work, but I see why buying one pre-made is a decent option. Tunze apparently got it right. Shocking!

 

Why not knock off their design more completely and do the mixing the same way they do? Seems like it would make it a more usable system. Also, the one legitimate critique of their unit is the tiny opening at the top for adding new kalk....why'd you copy that feature? Pick something with a wide mouth for the next revision.

 

FWIW, my reef has been around for 6 or 7 years. $100/6 or 7 years is chump change - I've spent more than that on baking soda! Use a savings plan if cash flow is the issue. (Yes, that is old-fashioned. Yes, I do it. You should too.) DIY has a place in my heart, especially when you can do better than what's out there, but there is a such thing as being too cheap too.

 

Also FWIW, I like Tunze's design a lot better due to its simplicity, but the TLF kalk reactor fits your $50 price point better if you wanted something that "just worked." (As with all things, moving parts tend to break down though...which is why I like the Tunze design better.)

 

Can you say where you got your inlet/outlet parts and what you used for the gluing? Links would be nice in a DIY thread if possible. Assembly photos too!

 

Thanks!

 

-Matt

 

For a small tank I don't think mixing is an issue since the Kalk tends to saturate the water in the container by itself. The new water coming through the bottom of the container is enough to disturb the Kalk layer.

 

The vessel does have a large and a small opening at the top. The whole top dome does unscrew.

 

I used 1/4 in drip irrigation connectors and Plumber's Goop to glue. Everything is working great. No need for a $100 Tunze plastic container.

 

Lastly, I don't find the $100/6 year argument compelling. This hobby is expensive enough without being gouged for something that obviously costs a pittance to make. The fact that they did charge that much insulted my intelligence and that's part of the reason why I posted in the first place.

[rwalsh156]

Hi,

 

I was reading you post. You DIy looks grat, but I dont think mant people attempted to mimic Tunz's product because of the consequences of using too much Kalk. If used in excess it can skyrocket pH beyond safe levels. most peopel I talk to tend to add Kalk, if hey use it, to their RO top-off reservoir in small amounts. I hoep that helps.

[mcarroll]

For a small tank I don't think mixing is an issue since the Kalk tends to saturate the water in the container by itself. The new water coming through the bottom of the container is enough to disturb the Kalk layer.

 

The vessel does have a large and a small opening at the top. The whole top dome does unscrew.

 

I used 1/4 in drip irrigation connectors and Plumber's Goop to glue. Everything is working great. No need for a $100 Tunze plastic container.

 

Lastly, I don't find the $100/6 year argument compelling. This hobby is expensive enough without being gouged for something that obviously costs a pittance to make. The fact that they did charge that much insulted my intelligence and that's part of the reason why I posted in the first place.

 

The opening in the Tunze is about 1.5"...which seems too small to me. Is your larger than this? I'm not sure I see what you're talking about from that pic.

 

I think by "mixing their way" I meant a simpler injection site/one bottle...not that you weren't getting adequate mixing.

 

Last, if you can't look at money over time, I don't know how you'll ever justify spending money on anything significant. DIY is great, but it's not the only way. Consider that, as I've said, I've spent more on bakng soda than this reactor. Someday I'll have spent more on kalk. All the while, the amount I've spend on the reactor is getting very close to negligable/forgettable. Not saying you need to spend money on a Tunze, but your logic is flawed on judging the relative value of somethig like this to someone who isn't DIY'ing. Your intelligence was never under assault. Simply wanting to help others is all the reason you need to post that anyway! (And I meant it that you should make a build thread and post photos of more details....it's a nice design!

 

I was reading you post. You DIy looks grat, but I dont think mant people attempted to mimic Tunz's product because of the consequences of using too much Kalk. If used in excess it can skyrocket pH beyond safe levels. most peopel I talk to tend to add Kalk, if hey use it, to their RO top-off reservoir in small amounts. I hoep that helps.

 

You still control the dosage by how much kalk powder you add...the Tunze is not different in that respect. Compared to adding the kalk to the RO directly, the big advantages are that your pump is isolated from the kalk and the kalk is isolated from the air.

 

-Matt

[mcarroll]

[…]IMO it would be easier to just replace the 20$ pump every 6 months if it does cause failure.

 

Just assuming your scenario and numbers for the sake of discussion....

 

If I had used that logic and had that experience, I'd have paid more for cheap chinese pumps than I have actually paid for the Tunze by this time....around double the cost, in fact. In the course I would have generated a huge waste steam of unrecyclable electronics and wasted the potential of several pumps.

 

As a strategy, this is cheap but *not* inexpensive. Know what I mean?

 

$0.02

[mcarroll]

Btw, it seems some of Kona's parts are a bit more specialized (and maybe hard to find/duplicate) than they appear.

 

I'm hoping he/she will post some more pics showing details of dis/assemby and sources for things that aren't so common.

 

-Matt

[mcarroll]

I did find that the bottle he's using is the "Aladdin Two-Way Lid Insulated Water Vessel, 16 oz." and it looks like they go for around $15. It's out of stock at the manufacturer, but Amazon has it, so you may also find it at local retailers. Funny: It gets crappy reviews at Amazon for the plastic cracking very easily.

[mcarroll]

 

Well I plumbed the reactor into my ATO reservoir with a cheap airline check valve to keep the reactor contents from back flowing. So far everything works like it should. I'm still getting the ATO water to my tank and the reactor is full of water.

 

My tank is still young and doesn't have much demand for Calcium or Alkalinity, so I haven't added any Kalk yet. My CA is 450 and ALK is 10 with just the Reef Crystal mix.

 

Anyway, the total cost of building one of these is around $15 not including my time. If you have a good spare water bottle, check valve, and air-line the cost is trivial. I had an extra magnetic sensor holder that came with the Tunze ATO unit. I glued it right to the water bottle and that works great to hold the reactor in place but any strong pair of magnets would work.

 

Now I just have to wait and see if this thing will work for my future Ca Alk demands.

 

• The bottle costs $15.....not the whole DIY.
• It's a cheap plastic bottle which you can expect not to last. (If you read up on it, it doesn't even last as a water bottle.)
• Your time should be worth something even if you don't think it is.
• The airline connectors aren't a common item so maybe you could elaborate on where to find them and how much to expect them to cost. I'm guessing at least $5 for them.
• The Tunze Magnet (or one like it) costs around $25 - more than your entire assembly - and is pretty much required for this design to be practical. (A non-magnet solution isn't pretty.)
• If you want a Tunze 5074 for $50 you want to shop for a used one. Hard to take you seriously otherwise....I missed this bit until now. (In case you were serious, the TLF reactor is from China....price is more your speed for that reason.)

 

Realistically, this DIY...

• ...will cost someone no less than $50 to replicate IF they can find all the parts locally/without paying for shipping.
• ...is still untested...and I suspect you will find some problems
• ...is made from parts as cheap (flimsy) as the cost would indicate...no reasonable expectation that it will last

If that's cool for you (or someone else), great - it's probably a great exercise to build one.

 

But to suggest any kind of equivalence to the 5074 beyond theoretical function is kind of a joke. The TLF reactor (and every other kalk reactor) is also "equal" in this way but takes no time to build and costs no more.

 

For me? I just saved money for a few months and bought what to me was the best (most simple) kalk reactor on the market. It was nothing at all to save $100 a little at a time like that...and I'm broke! I'll admit that saving money is old-fashined, but it's still worth thinking about if you aren't rich!

 

But then I still don't see why $100 seems like such a mountainous sum of money for something like this. It's not. Or it is...but then the whole dang hobby is too expensive too cuz $100 is chump change for any reef bigger than a glass of water.

 

$0.02

 

-Matt