Dosing pumps

[Aliasnumber1]

Does anyone have advice on dosing pumps, I want to have 2 pumps on my programmable timer for 2 part and was considering buying peristaltic pumps from ATPinstruments or ebay.

[SPS20]

Does anyone have advice on dosing pumps, I want to have 2 pumps on my programmable timer for 2 part and was considering buying peristaltic pumps from ATPinstruments or ebay.

 

I use a Litermeter III. I *love* it.

 

It's a little pricey, but very worth the money. You just calibrate it, then punch in on the screen exactly how much you would like each channel to dose per day, and it takes care of the rest.

 

Easy as pie.

[mseepman]

I use a Litermeter III. I *love* it.

 

It's a little pricey, but very worth the money. You just calibrate it, then punch in on the screen exactly how much you would like each channel to dose per day, and it takes care of the rest.

 

Easy as pie.

 

 

You might look at www.bulkreefsupply.com and their "Drew's dosing pump" It works really well as an ATO and has 3 heads so no siphon worries.

[d0ughb0y]

I use a Litermeter III. I *love* it.

 

It's a little pricey, but very worth the money. You just calibrate it, then punch in on the screen exactly how much you would like each channel to dose per day, and it takes care of the rest.

 

Easy as pie.

 

do you let it run 24/7 or do you use RK2 to turn it on when needed? Does it have its own scheduler?

[dtfleming]

I thought the litermeter III you needed two more external pump to run two part. As it only has one internal pump

[vg30et]

I thought the litermeter III you needed two more external pump to run two part. As it only has one internal pump

 

It only has 1 internal pump but has the ability to control 2 external pumps. To dose a 2 part, only 1 additional external pump is required.

[Aliasnumber1]

I thought i might be able to cut cost by purchasing my controller separate from my pumps, rather than a product marketed directly at our hobby. I also wanted my controller to have the lights to be off every 10th day - the water does clear up a little and the corals seem to get some extra pop. Today made me realize i need a flood safe water change/top off. So I'm goign to put two 55 gallon barrels outside and feed them in through 1/4" tubing, in a recirculating manner, then a NC solenoid inside my stand feeding into the reservoirs. The solenoids will be opened similar to how the osmolator operates. Water changes will occur overnight, and top off while the lights are on.

[SPS20]

do you let it run 24/7 or do you use RK2 to turn it on when needed? Does it have its own scheduler?

 

The LMIII has an internal battery backup, so it can be externally controlled. I do not have mine controlled by my Aquacontroller III atm..

 

The LMIII works by delivering minuscule doses many times per day. You calibrate each channel separately first, then you just punch in how much you want it to dose per 24 hours, and the unit takes care of the rest.

 

You could plug the LMIII into a controller so that it would only dose at night, for instance. For example: If you ran it 12 hours a day and wanted it to deliver 150ml per 24 hours, then you would have to set it to deliver 300ml per day.

 

I do not use mine this way, however, as my daily calcium demand is very high, and if the doser is off for 12 hours, I will lose 1-2 dKH and 20ppm calcium in that time. So, I just leave it on 24/7.

 

I thought the litermeter III you needed two more external pump to run two part. As it only has one internal pump

 

It has one pump built in, and you can plug up to three more external pump units into it. Each pump is calibrated and controlled independently. So, I have the base unit and one external pump, for a total of two channels. My tank depletes alk a bit faster than Ca, for instance, so I set my alk dosing pump at a slightly higher rate. The LMIII is very handy that way.

[dtfleming]

Tks for the info, hmm Litermeter III or ca reactor.

[SPS20]

Tks for the info, hmm Litermeter III or ca reactor.

 

I went through the same mental debate a few months ago, and obviously decided for the LM III.

 

I liked the simplicity of just punching in a number, rather than tweaking a calcium reactor. Ca reactors can be a bit tricky to set up, and there would be absolutely zero room for error on a tank as small as my 20L. I have used Ca reactors on larger tanks in the past, and they do an admirable job. But, even in large tanks, they can wreak havoc if you make a mistake or something breaks, like a pressure regulator for instance. I opted for the easier solution which is more expensive in the long run, as I do have to replenish my 2-part supply now and then. I think the peace of mind and incredible reliability of the LMIII make it worth it.

 

All I have to do to adjust it is bump it up a bit if a parameter is slowly falling, or down if the associated parameter is rising. I test my Ca and Alk weekly, and tweak the LMIII as neccessary. Once you have it "dialed in", it is rock steady. However, as corals grow, demand slowly increases, so it is best to test weekly and never be too complacent. The only maintenence the LMIII requires is refilling the reservoirs every few weeks, and recalibrating the pumps every 6 months or so. I know people who have used them for 10+ years without replacing the peristaltic tube, so that is almost a non-issue.

[dtfleming]

I went through the same mental debate a few months ago, and obviously decided for the LM III.

 

I liked the simplicity of just punching in a number, rather than tweaking a calcium reactor. Ca reactors can be a bit tricky to set up, and there would be absolutely zero room for error on a tank as small as my 20L. I have used Ca reactors on larger tanks in the past, and they do an admirable job. But, even in large tanks, they can wreak havoc if you make a mistake or something breaks, like a pressure regulator for instance. I opted for the easier solution which is more expensive in the long run, as I do have to replenish my 2-part supply now and then. I think the peace of mind and incredible reliability of the LMIII make it worth it.

 

All I have to do to adjust it is bump it up a bit if a parameter is slowly falling, or down if the associated parameter is rising. I test my Ca and Alk weekly, and tweak the LMIII as neccessary. Once you have it "dialed in", it is rock steady. However, as corals grow, demand slowly increases, so it is best to test weekly and never be too complacent. The only maintenence the LMIII requires is refilling the reservoirs every few weeks, and recalibrating the pumps every 6 months or so. I know people who have used them for 10+ years without replacing the peristaltic tube, so that is almost a non-issue.

 

Whats the lowest It can dose? Like if I wanted to dose 60ml in 24hrs.

[SPS20]

It can dose anything from 50ml to 99liters per day, per channel. It is best, however, to dilute whatever you want to dose with RO/DI water and dose a higher amount per day if you need to dose anything less than 100ml per 24 hours. The reason for this is that the pumps are only extremely accurate above about 100ml per day. Under that, the running cycles are too short to be very accurate.

 

I just buy my b-ionic, dump each component into it's own small reservoir, fill the original b-ionic container three times with RO/DI water and dump them in the reservoir. Voila, a 25% solution of b-ionic. This allows me to accurately dose the relatively small amounts needed for my 20L I have two of these reservoirs from which my LMIII draws its components, and whenever the reservoirs get low, I mix up more diluted b-ionic. It takes a couple of weeks to empty the reservoirs, so its a relatively low-maintenance approach.

[dtfleming]

Tks for the info josh

[SPS20]

My pleasure.

 

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the unit.

[Aliasnumber1]

Did you ever (or have you seen) a calibration for accuracy? Do you dose into the tank or into a sump?

[SPS20]

Did you ever (or have you seen) a calibration for accuracy? Do you dose into the tank or into a sump?

 

Yes, I calibrated it when I first got the unit, then put it on a 24 hour timer into a measuring cup. At the end of the 24 hours, it was dead-on. I repeated this after a month of use, with exactly the same results. Calibration consists of placing the output from the pump into a measuring cup. You enter calibration mode and press a button, then the unit starts pumping. When it reaches a certain amount (500ml I think) you press the button again and it stops pumping. From that, it calculates the flow rate of that pump and thus can dispense accurately.

 

I have mine dose into the overflow box, because the strong currents there guarantee the components will mix into the tank water quickly. Anywhere where flow is always strong will work.