Excited!!My 2part dosing system works great!!

[Mac Inger]

So just sharing maybe it will help somebody.

I had two aqualifters and i thoroughly test them side by side to se if their outputs matched. They do.
After testing my tanks alk and ca consumption over a few weeks i found out i needed 60 ml of alk and ca supplementation a day.
So i bought two timers from HD,..the battery operated ones which you can program down to a minute.

The issue then was this,..in 1 minute time, the Aqualifter pumps out 110 ml. So i bought some iv lines with pinch roller from ebay and tested those out again back to back to see the would give me 60 ml/min.

I have the iv hoses going to a very high flow are in my sump (skimmer output,..i checked to see there was absolutely no precipitation,..in fact not even time for the usual white cloud to form,..it dissolves instantly).

After checking for a few days then i let the system run on its own for two and a half weeks without doing any tests to see how it performed long term.

I tested tonight with Elos test kits. CA 425 Alk 10 Mag 1400

[bertoni]

That sounds great! Just watch for demand shifting over time.

[Mac Inger]

That for sure. I am leaving town for 20 days, so this was my test on how the system would work unattended for a longer period of time. I wont be adding anything to the tank until i get back.

But yes this apparently is a very cheap and so far reliable setup.
2 aqualifters = $20
2 timers = $20
iv lines = $5

beats dosing pumps...

[rdnyva]

This sounds very promising. I'm considering a litermeter simply because manually dosing every day is a pita but the price is prohibitive. I'm not familiar with aqualifters but I assume they are powerheads. Could you post more details of what you have done and a picture? This sure interests me. Thanks

[Mental1]

I am trying to figure out how to add calcium easily to my system. I have 2 aqualifters -- one needs a new diaphram (which I have just replaced -- hope it works - next time will just buy a new pump) and the other is running my topoff system in which I dose for alk. I understand the iv line and pinch rolers to control how much you dose but my current pump turns on through the use of a float sensor. So what/how does the pump turn on?

[Mental1]

Sorry -- it's the timers that turn the pump on -- I read your post again. I am going to try this -- thanks for doing the ground work!

[twon8]

i used this method for while several years ago for auto top off of kalk, but as the bucket water level gets lower the aqualifter has a harder time pumping and it won't put out as much in the same amount of time.

the aqualifters don't handle head pressure, and if you raise your bucket you risk it developing a siphon as the diaphram wears out.

[timrandlerv10]

does the kalk settle in the bucket?

anything else somebody starting next week should watch out for?

[Mac Inger]

twon8 : How big was your bucket ? I am using the 1 gallon jugs that came with the 2part. They are a little shorter then say a 2 liter coke bottle. That is not even close to enough head to make the aqualifter slow down.

Yessir,..you have to make sure youre not creating a siphon,..so the effluent end of the hose should be higher in the sump then the highest level of liquid in the bottle (AND out of water
I will take a few pictures and post again.

timrandlerv10: I am not dosing Kalk, but here is what i did. (Kalk will settle at the bottom). I drilled a hole on the cap of the jugs, then insrted a rigid airline tubingthat went straight down, to about an inch from the bottom,..then outside the cap i just connected regular soft tubing from the jug to the aqualifter. So this way you can make the rigid tubing as short/long as you want and you will not be reaching the undissolved part at he bottom.

[twon8]

i was using a 5 gallon bucket.

a gallon jug would work, but with large demand that wouldn't last very long.

[Mac Inger]

Twon,..i guess then the solution would be to use buckets that are wider rather the taller. 1 gallon = 3764 ml. Dosing 100 ml a dday, gives you 37 days out of a gallon jug. I think thats a reasonable time. With 5 g jugs you would be set for a long time.

Here is a pic of my tank. I have 4 clams and several sps colonies.

http://erginkuke.com/images/Fish/New/

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happy tank

[Mac Inger]

rdnyva : this is an aqualifter

http://www.tomaquarium.com/webfiles/...qualifter.html

[Mental1]

You don't get a syphon if the end of the hose that feeds the stuff into the sump is not in the water. My top off hose does not go into the water...

[carlos_fb]

That is a very cool idea, thanks for sharing.

Beautiful tank by the way!

[lilchris]

I have been trying to figure out away to dose my 2 part w/o buying the expensive dosing pumps. I thought of the same thing. One question I have though. When the aqualifters shuts off, do you lose you vacuum in the lines? Could you put a one way check valve in line so you will not lose that vacuum. Also that will supply solution to the tank as soon as the pumps kick in right. I am going to try this because I am going away to 2 months and my wife will not keep up on the dosing. SHe has watched my tank before but she was not pregnant w/ twins either. So I know she will not be dosing anything.

[Mac Inger]

Yes,.. you do loose a little vacuum and depending how your lines are gowing the liquid will fall down with gravity. I have the same thing,..i dont think it makes much of a difference,..but if your case is extreme then you could dose for two minutes and not one,..or open the pinch rollers on the iv lines more....many workarounds.

Sounds like my problem too, but without the kids The girlfriend is not gonna dose and i dont trust her to do it either .

For two months id go with 5 gallons of solution for both alk and ca,..guess it depends on your tanks needs but its pretty easy to calculate

ps...thanks Carlos

[jennmac415]

great idea! can you tell me what brand those timers are? I can't seem to find them... what section were they in at HD?

Thanks!

[jennmac415]

great idea! can you tell me what brand those timers are? I can't seem to find them... what section were they in at HD?

Thanks!

[josephatmbibank]

WOW I'm going to do this setup also!!!

-Joseph

[Mac Inger]

They are called Intermatic.

I found this link to their website
http://www.intermatic.com/?action=pr...cid=43&sid=114

but really any timer that can be programmed down to a minute would do. I didnt choose these particular brand over any other, just the first ones i found

cheers

ergin

[jkt182]

Ergin,

What timing settings do you use to allow your dosing to last so long?

[Mac Inger]

Originally posted by jkt182
Ergin,

What timing settings do you use to allow your dosing to last so long?

Im not sure i understand...i drip alk for 1 minute at 2pm and ca for 1 min at 9 am. ...????

[jennmac415]

where did you get your aqua lift pumps? Also, how did you figure out how fast to drip the solutions... I am not sure I understand that part. sorry just and ol "reefmama" here...

[DJChesnutRabbit]

OK, This thread is really cool.

I've been running a very similar setup for about a month now and it seems to be working great.

I have 2 Tom's aqualifters, and I bought 2 cheepo digital timers from Wally world ($8 and change each.)

You'll see I drilled out the caps and inserted check valves to prevent the vacuum that I see you guys were talking about.

Here's a couple pics of my setup.

[Mac Inger]

Look at you with your fancy check valves showing off

Reefmama, you have to do some tests for a bit to figure out the alk/ca consumption of your tank. That would vary on what corals
you have and how many.
For example :
lets assume you just did a water change.

1. Measure your alk and ca (i strongly suggest quality test kits,..i like Elos)

2. 24 hours later measure them again. You will see a drop in both values.

3. Go to jdieck's reef chemistry calculator here :
http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html
Input your gallonage including sump. (i took out a tape measure, measured my tank up to water level and then also the sump. Calculated the gallonage for both and added them,...theres plenty of calculators online that will give you the gallonage based on height width and depth in inches).

4. Tell the calculator how much you want to raise your Alk and CA based on your last test. for example, if your tanks consumption is 1mql (alk)/ 24 hours then after inputing gallonage and telling it you want to raise you readings by 1meql, choose the product you will use (bionic, randys 2part etc) and it will tell you how much of that specific product to add. Simple. Same with CA.
You need to dose exactly the same for both parts.

5.Lets say the calculator told you you need to add 40 ml to take your alk and ca readings to desired levels. Now test your pumps and iv lines so that they pump 40 ml per minute.

6. Set alk to drip at night and ca during the day for one minute each in a high flow area.

7. Open a bottle of wine and pat yourself in the back.

Keep checking to see you have got it right for a week or so and make appropriate changes. Demand for alk and ca will change as you add more coral.


ps...if you alk and ca figures are out of whack its a good idea to get them where you want first then continue through the steps above