High Volume Dosing Pump

[jservedio]

Anyone have a recommendation for a higher volume dosing pump? My Bubble Magus gets about 20-25 gallons between new heads and I need something that'll handle more, much more, between servicing.

 

I'm switching back to kalk and because of not having a single low volume ATO reservoir, can't just run whatever saturation of kalk I need in the ATO so I'll be using my reactor to dose 100% saturated and would like to do it on a doser. Unfortunately, I'd just burn through my current doser in just a few months.

 

I've considered switching to a different type of pump, but if there is a peristaltic pump out there that'll do the trick, I'd like to go with it! 10x would be ideal (~250g) if there is one out there.

[Jaren45]

Would the aqualifter pumps work? Not sure how they would handle kalk over time but those things last so long in my experience

[mitten_reef]

are you talking quantity per dose? 

 

or if I read this more correctly, this is for continuous duty and that it needs to last 250 gallons between servicing?  would this come down to the kalk-tubing interaction/reaction?  

 

This seems like what you're looking for: https://www.coralvue.com/kamoer-fx-stp-wifi-continuous-duty-peristaltic-dosing-pump

 

replacement tube is only $6: https://www.coralvue.com/kamoer-fx-stp-wheel-tubing-assembly

 

I'd definitely reach out to Coralvue to see what their experience is with running kalk thru this.

 

been told that the EM Versa is very nice, but they do not say anything specific about using with kalk.  

 

BRS Drew doser v2 is probably the "dumbest" version you could get?

 

[jservedio]

10 hours ago, Jaren45 said:

Would the aqualifter pumps work? Not sure how they would handle kalk over time but those things last so long in my experience

I used to dose my Kalk with an aqualifter, but I don't have the 5g bucket as my ATO anymore, so I can't just mix in my Kalk to bring the saturation to whatever it needs to be in order to exactly replenish my Ca/Alk with my ATO. I am pushing it through a reactor, so 100% saturation and I want to dose it.

 

34 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

are you talking quantity per dose? 

 

or if I read this more correctly, this is for continuous duty and that it needs to last 250 gallons between servicing?  would this come down to the kalk-tubing interaction/reaction?  

 

This seems like what you're looking for: https://www.coralvue.com/kamoer-fx-stp-wifi-continuous-duty-peristaltic-dosing-pump

 

replacement tube is only $6: https://www.coralvue.com/kamoer-fx-stp-wheel-tubing-assembly

 

I'd definitely reach out to Coralvue to see what their experience is with running kalk thru this.

 

been told that the EM Versa is very nice, but they do not say anything specific about using with kalk.  

 

BRS Drew doser v2 is probably the "dumbest" version you could get?

 

Thank you!

 

Not continuous duty - more like 1,000-2,000ml/day which is well beyond what my old Bubble Magus and most mini dosers can handle (it'd burn through a head in about a month and a half). However, I was spending some time looking through Kamoer's catalog last night and I don't think I need to spend quite that much to get what I need - looks like for around $90 or so I can get what I need if I'm willing to live with some limitations. 

 

It looks like the Kamoer KSP-F01A will do 43ml/min and is "rated" for 800h on motor and 1000 hours on the head which should get me roughly 550g of dosing before needing to replace the motor and head - only issue is while the heads are super cheap, it's separate from the motor and the documentation is garbage so I'm not sure which if their 12v DC motors I'd even need. Also the motor is internal, so would probably be a pain to replace - thankfully at 43ml/min, I should only need to replace it every 3 years or so. Biggest issue seems like lack of memory so I'd need a battery backup on it which adds cost.

 

If I get a simple controller, I may actually be able to use something even cheaper like a BRS ATO peristaltic pump: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-top-off-doser-50-ml-per-minute-bundle.html that'd get me a whopping 1100g on a $13 tube! Looks like now I've got to look at battery backups and controllers. Drew's doser would be a far too slow to use and would have to run it for like 12 hours a day. The ATO doser would only have to run for about 30 minutes a day.

[mcarroll]

Sounds like you have some good options already.....but just to throw some more ideas out there....

 

Considering how inexpensive baseline 4-channel dosers can be, maybe consider running one with multiple heads (from 2-4) in parallel to achieve the volume you want?  Should be an easy load for the volumes you've mentioned...and cheap enough to keep a backup unit on hand.

 

Also, if you're good at deal-finding, I've seen several folks get second hand/refurbished Stenner chemical dosing pumps for a job like this.

[jservedio]

1 hour ago, mcarroll said:

Sounds like you have some good options already.....but just to throw some more ideas out there....

 

Considering how inexpensive baseline 4-channel dosers can be, maybe consider running one with multiple heads (from 2-4) in parallel to achieve the volume you want?  Should be an easy load for the volumes you've mentioned...and cheap enough to keep a backup unit on hand.

 

Also, if you're good at deal-finding, I've seen several folks get second hand/refurbished Stenner chemical dosing pumps for a job like this.

Thanks, I'm going to go with the BRS pump for now and a generic Amazon digital timer with 8 schedule slots per day for under $100 total. If that ends up not cutting it, I'll have to up the budget.

 

I had considered splitting it through all three channels of my current doser, but even doing that I'd still be replacing expensive heads like every year and burning out the motors. It'd cost more to replace all the heads in my doser than it'd cost to just buy the BRS peristaltic ATO pump. Every cheap 3/4 channel reef doser I found just isn't made for handling that much volume and it'd be cheaper to get something actually made for the volume. At least with the ATO pump I'd get years between needing to replace tubes and the tubes are really cheap.

 

I did look at the Stenner 5gpd pumps and while it'd definitely work and be bulletproof reliable, it's extremely overkill and weighs something like 8 pounds - they are massive. If the BRS pump fails, this is what I'll end up going with. But, I'd prefer not to have a $350 bowling ball of a pump next to my stand - it definitely wouldn't fit inside.