Tunze Osmoregulator, is it worth the cash?

[Nemo2007]

I have a problem. I used the baffled partion of my sump to create a refugium. This leaves me constanly tinkering with my protein skimmer as the water level in the sump changes. It renders my protein skimmer useless after long trips. The solution suggested by my LFS was an auto top off device. One solution cost about $66 using a simple float sensor attached to an included outlet and a small pump. The other solution was the Tunze osmoregulator. The pump is included but it costs about $176. I can afford either one, but is it worth it? Is there a better alternative? I want to make one solid purchase and not feel the need to look back.
--As opposed to my multiple light fixtures and circulation pumps I still need to get rid of.

 

[Ben1]

I know its a bit more expensive but I highly recommend the spectrapure liter meter. It is such a nice pump its so worth the cash. I had the old version for years and it never failed me. I just put my old one as my feed for my ca reactor and bought a new one with the auro top off module for top off.

If you take regular long trips its a must have in my book.

 

[dougc]

The Osmolator works well. Mine has been in use for about 4 years. It has several failsafe features that go beyond a simple float switch. The optical water-level sensor has only caused me trouble a couple of times when it got dirty. Those are probably the only two times I have cleaned it, too. It also has a backup float switch that will shut the unit off if the water gets too high. It also will not run for more than 10 minutes at a time. This is intended as another protection against flooding, but it also keeps the pump from running dry for too long if I let the reservoir get empty. The pump is the most likely item to fail, but a replacement can be found for about $20 (maybe more now with the dollar spiralling into a black hole against the euro). All in all, I feel like I've gotten my money's worth out of the Osmolator.

 

[Nemo2007]

Thanks for the input.