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easy, inexpensive DIY dosing pump


glennr1978

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Dumb question:

 

Glenn, how did you calculate your Cal/Alk usage for your tank?

 

 

I calculated my doseage by testing for alk and ca at the same time of dayfor 3 days in a row. That gave me an idea of how much of each my tank was using in a 24 hour period.

 

Then I used this calculator to give me an idea of how much of each part to dose initially. After a while it was more trial and error than anything else until I found the perfect balance.

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  • 1 month later...

Very clever idea!

 

Sounds like a good idea, but if your budget allows for a real peristaltic pump these are supposedly very good pumps while still not breaking the bank from the more expensive pumps like the LMIII:

 

Drew's Doser Peristaltic Pumps: ($85 each and you would need 2 for 2-part)

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Two-Part-Kit...oduct_info.html

 

These pumps have four rollers to prevent backflow. For peristaltic pumps it is important to have at least 3 rollers.

 

To the OP... I'm not knocking your idea. It's definitely a cheap and effective. I'm just throwing an idea out there for people who need to pump a further distance than your mod will allow and are not willing to spend a lot more for the LM III.

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Glen you make me so HOT!

 

lol... You never cease to impress me. Guess what I just bought 3 of for my new 30br system? ;)

 

This beats the hell out of the $600+ I would spend on a 3x LiterMeter setup!

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Midnightsun

The best, most versatile and cost effective method in a conventional unit is the Marine Magic Dosing pump found on ebay. A double unit runs about $120 delivered. Can't beat the features and FYI, it uses the same pumps as on the Bubble magnus or GHL units. In fact, you can actually clip any one of the pumps off and simply clip them on any of the 3 units mentioned here. 32 timers a day, each pump has a separate timer and you can even calibrate the flow if you want things dead on. I personally run the triple unit and can't say enough about it. Triple comes in at $160.

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Patrizio_g

Well i got the aqua lifter yesterday and i did my ATO for my 10 Gal tank.

 

I tested it and i takes 10 min to top off the tank, so i set it with 6 on/off of 1 minute and 2 of 2 minutes, so it will fill my tank during the day a bit at the time, i will see how it works today and do any adjustments if i need to.

 

here are some pictures:

 

post-66530-1307291468_thumb.jpg

 

post-66530-1307291495_thumb.jpg

 

post-66530-1307291556_thumb.jpg

 

post-66530-1307291579_thumb.jpg

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Patrizio_g

Now i have some questions for the dosing pump:

 

this is what im thinking so i dont have to use 3 pumps, 2 for dosing and 1 for ATO.

if i know how much water i need for a week lets say 2 liters of fresh water, and lets assume i need 25 ml of Ca and 25 ml of Alk. so what happens if i mixed all (2 litres FW + 25 ml Ca + 25 ml Alk) and put it in thee container for the ATO, the water will be already dosed wen the ATO put the water on the tank.

 

So what do you think glennr1978?

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whiteheadfamily2415
Now i have some questions for the dosing pump:

 

this is what im thinking so i dont have to use 3 pumps, 2 for dosing and 1 for ATO.

if i know how much water i need for a week lets say 2 liters of fresh water, and lets assume i need 25 ml of Ca and 25 ml of Alk. so what happens if i mixed all (2 litres FW + 25 ml Ca + 25 ml Alk) and put it in thee container for the ATO, the water will be already dosed wen the ATO put the water on the tank.

 

So what do you think glennr1978?

 

Any word on this from anyone? I wonder the same...

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Old thread, but I figured for posterity I'd add my experience and answer a question.

 

Patrizio, you're going to have problems with your design. The Aqua Lifters will be creating a vacuum as they remove the liquid from your dosing bottles. Make a 2nd hole in the lid for air to be allowed in as the liquid is leaving. I ran into this - eventually when the vacuum gets strong enough, the Aqualifter will just stop delivering and you find your alk and ca numbers on the floor. :(

 

You cannot mix the Alk and Ca components of Two-part. If you do they almost instantly form chalk (which is useless to us). Some people will mix their Alk component in their ATO and dose Ca on testing only. Or get a doser for Alk and put Ca(+Mg) in the ATO. Or dosers for the two part and mix lime (kalk) in your ATO. :) Lots of options...just can't mix the two. For the record, Kalk is an all in one and there are a few other commercially prepared all in one chemicals that will give you alk and ca all at once if that's the way you need it.

 

-Matt

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A 12V peristaltic pump is $12. I just started my new diy project building a 3 channels dosing system with arduino and TFT touch screen panel. Now the total cost is $76. I just purchased the components and haven’t started to play on them.

 

 I just wanted to give another alternate methode with similar budget.

 

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A DIY auto doser is probably the worst investment in time and money. A Toms Lifter is $30 or more. After lots of looking into DIY I spent less than $100 on a 4 channel dosing pump. I only use 3 channels right now, but I can program and control it to dose tiny amounts 24 times a day, skip a day, etc etc etc.  Just WAY more accurate and customizable. 

So if you want simple and reliable do it this way. Or if inexpensive is your goal a syringe used manually a few  (or just once) a day is the other option.

 

 

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