Alk is driving me nuts!

[Ian Baxter]

Always take reviews with a grain of salt. HAHA

Seriously though, if that's how they worded it, it sounds like it was a user error with programing. It doesn't automatically split doses. You have to program it to do separate doses, or at least mine was that way, I suppose it might depend on the model. If it was meant more along the lines of the doser malfunctioned, every doser can malfunction. Yes, jebao probably has a higher failure rate, but many of us (myself included) haven't had any issues. Plus you get what you pay for a lot in this hobby. When I buy jebao I fully understand it might fail. If I have a problem with that, I don't buy it. For example, my main return pump is a Sicce SDC but my maifold/skimmer feed pump is a jebao pump. I knew when I purchased my return pump that 14ft of head pressure with a 20ft horizontal run was a lot to ask of any pump. I don't have Abbyz money, so I went the next best thing I could afford. I like Jebao, and personally have quite a few of their products on my tanks, but in that instance, with a higher than normal demand I didn't want to risk it. I started off with a jebao doser because I needed a doser for the tank but I couldn't afford to swing a name brand at the time and figured even if I only used it for a year it was a good $70 spent. It served me well, and eventually I upgraded to a GHL doser for reliability and accuracy. For me personally, I don't really see what I gained by going to a GHL over the jebao because I had a good experience with my jebao doser and ultimately feel like I wasted the money. If I were to buy a new name brand, I'd go with a Redsea doser or a couple of Kamoer F1's. If I was budget minded I would just buy a jebao without hesitation again.

Since you're just dosing AFR, I'd take a look at the Kamoer F1. Its a great price for a quality product.

I'll look into those. The reason I was kind of looking at Apex is to control my lights, powerheads, and uv pump from the same system. Then add the DOS for additives and eventually I would love to do auto water changes. But, the price is so much. Every time I get ready to pull the trigger on a used Apex Jr or a DOS, I talk myself out of it as I only have two fish right now. I need to buy 2-3 more to start QT this week.

 

[Kodski]

I'll look into those. The reason I was kind of looking at Apex is to control my lights, powerheads, and uv pump from the same system. Then add the DOS for additives and eventually I would love to do auto water changes. But, the price is so much. Every time I get ready to pull the trigger on a used Apex Jr or a DOS, I talk myself out of it as I only have two fish right now. I need to buy 2-3 more to start QT this week.

I have a different view of having a controller on your tank. While I agree a controller can save a tank, I firmly believe a controller like the Apex is a major reason for so many tank crashes. The number one cause of mistakes is complacency, whether its in a place of work or a hobby. Controllers can cause hobbyists to take a more hands off approach which is one cause of complacency. Believe it or not another reason for complacency is success. We tend to not follow through with normal procedures when things are going well and ultimately how mistakes are caused. In reality that is the most important time to follow our process to a T.

I feel that much of this hobby is drawing conclusions from anecdotal evidence. (aside from what some scientists like Randy do for our hobby) If you look at the tanks that do the absolute best, or tanks that have come close to disaster but avoided it or the issue was caught in time, you'll find it was tanks that the owner is involved hands on with every day. Those hobbyists follow a set procedure religiously no matter how well the tank is doing. Those people are also the rare hobbyists that can take one look at their tank and know something is wrong even down to saying, oh I need to up my alkalinity dose by 15 mL. I can guarantee that they didn't learn that from watching numbers on the screen of a controller. Sure many of them have controllers, but in my opinion and observation, I think its strictly to only use a last ditch failsafe and aside from that rarely pay much attention to them. Which is the intended use case of something like the Apex, but again most users rely on a controller entirely too much and it causes complacency.

On top of all of that, one entire reason I love this hobby is because it gives me busy hands. Busy hands means I can take that much more pride in my hard work of keeping a reef tank.

 

[Kodski]

I'll look into those. The reason I was kind of looking at Apex is to control my lights, powerheads, and uv pump from the same system. Then add the DOS for additives and eventually I would love to do auto water changes. But, the price is so much. Every time I get ready to pull the trigger on a used Apex Jr or a DOS, I talk myself out of it as I only have two fish right now. I need to buy 2-3 more to start QT this week.

Obviously I don't run a controller. I bought a Kamoer XR1 water change system. It seems like a great piece of kit. I haven't hooked it up yet, I need a larger saltwater bin first, so I can't comment on the ease of use or longevity. But another thing to keep in mind if you didn't want to go with an Apex.

 

[Ian Baxter]

Obviously I don't run a controller. I bought a Kamoer XR1 water change system. It seems like a great piece of kit. I haven't hooked it up yet, I need a larger saltwater bin first, so I can't comment on the ease of use or longevity. But another thing to keep in mind if you didn't want to go with an Apex.

You make a good point about a controller can cause complacency. There are times when I just don't feel like doing a WC and end up waiting a few more days. LOL. But, obviously I can't really do that with dosing. I can't seem to find anything on the XR1. Is that an older model?

 

[Kodski]

You make a good point about a controller can cause complacency. There are times when I just don't feel like doing a WC and end up waiting a few more days. LOL. But, obviously I can't really do that with dosing. I can't seem to find anything on the XR1. Is that an older model?

Sorry it’s the X2RS by Kamoer, guess I should have double checked before posting. lol