Marc interviews Alan Flojo from Central Coast Reefkeepers about his DIY 2-Part dosing system on the show floor at the Marine Aquarium Expo (MAX) in Costa Mesa, CA. See the video below for all the details.
If you were trying to follow along the math part, I guess it goes to show that a
mic + camera = arithmetic kryptonite
Here’s how it should’ve played out:
Say you need 30 ml of whatever additive.
I found that 1 drop per second will yield 6 ml (10 drops per ml). It's surprisingly precise. So, it'll take 5 minutes to yeild 30 ml. Simply program the timer for five 1 minute intervals throughout the day. That could be 12:00, 5:00, 10:00, 3:00, 8:00. Isn't that easy?
Just play with the drip rates and durations to meet your specific needs. I like the 1 drop per second drip rate because it’s very easy to eyeball and recalibrate for consistency. You could just as easily go with 1 drop every 6 seconds to yeild 1 ml per minute.
Sweet! I just got the overflow box today for my sump upgrade and I'm putting together an order from BRS for their 2 part system, guess I'll have to add an couple aqualifters to my order now.
Maybe 3 of them, I use one for my auto top off too, so not a bad idea to have a spare.
Do you think these pumps will be able to replace peristaltic pumps? I thought they were pretty inconsistent in their dosing?
peristaltic pumps dose more accurately, and require less adjusting. But, those pumps also cost 6X more. If you can swing it, by all means.... This is merely a low cost alternative.
I found that the aqualifter is surprisingly accurate/reliable once you get it dialed in and then periodically make adjustments. I made adjustments daily for a few days, then only needed to fine tune weekly (if that). Some factors that will significantly affect the drip rates will be: changing height/distance of any component (keep distances as short as possible & maintain), back flow (use check valves to maximize precision), crusty buildup (wipe off nozzles as needed).
Even with the need for periodic adjusting it's so much easier than daily dosing by hand. It also allows you time to save up/look for a great deal on a peristaltic pump or reactor setup. Good luck.
You know, it may be possible for me to do something similar to dose my vodka daily. It never even dawned on me until this moment!
Could work but BE CAREFUL with such a potent additive. Even a little overdosing can cause MAJOR issues. I manually dosed vodka for months and I think the dosage for my 90g was 0.6 ml (which is 6 drops). For that scenario, I'd adjust the drip rate to 1 drop every 6 seconds, and program the timer for 1 minute. Maybe one could dilute the vodka to 1/10th strength and dose 60 drops per minute, for 1 minute. Much easier to monitor and less potential for ODing. Ugh...There's that math stuff again.
I'm dosing 15ml per day, and this July will be 2 years straight. If I watered down the vodka, that might do the trick. And the AC III can turn it on and off but a digital timer is pretty fail-proof.
Deltec has a 1ml/min dosing pump for $100. I've thought about buying that a few hundred times since MACNA.
One thing to consider is that the high alcohol content in vodka will evaporate in an "unsealed" reservoir. On the other hand a sealed reservoir will create a vacuum from the displaced air/liquid, severely affecting the drip rate. Best to use a collapsible reservoir like boxed/bagged wine (blech). Already sounds like too many variables to deal with for vodka.
Have you ever heard of a product called "Algone"? Daily vodka dosing became a pain, so I stopped. Then phosphates, nitrates, diatoms crept back up so I had to restart vodka again. Pain. Then I was turned on to "Algone" and tried it in lieu of vodka. Those who dose vodka have probably observed the characteristic white film of beneficial bacteria on the glass that replaces the diatoms. That point is when most find their phosphates/nitrates go undetectable and dosage is set. "Algone" are sachets of impregnated media that you throw in your filter sock and replace weekly (they smell like rotten eggs after a week). Even after stopping vodka, and switching to "Algone", I noticed that the beneficial film of bacteria continued along with undetectable PO/Na. I used all 6 sachets in the pack (6 weeks) and stopped to observe. The thin film, and undetectable PO/Na still continue to this day and I stopped 8 months ago. One of the best things about "Algone" is that it's an inexpensive product and your system doesn't become dependent on it. Give it a try and see for yourself.
Yes, I did try Algone for a long time, since it is used to lower nitrate but it never was able to keep up with the needs of my tank. Those pillows would swell up, so I knew it was working and the smell was another indicator, but that wasn't enough.
Anyone know an on-line sourcr for the drip valves? The only ones I could find locally give me 22ml per min. Since I'm trying to dose 30 ml per day this makes things a bit tricky with only a 1 minute accuracy timer.
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