DIY dosing pumps?

[Chameleon]

Anyone ever make DIY dosing pumps. I'm looking for some ideas, now that my demand is getting quite a bit above what my kalk saturated ato can take care of. I want to make something reliable but not too expensive. If you have any experience please share.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

Yap, did 1 of those
[video=youtube;m9qEBCB_oVA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9qEBCB_oVA&feature=player_embedded[/video]

 

[Young Frankenstein]

see more here, let me know if you need more photos or help.

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/do-yourself-diy/89294-what-have-you-made-your-tank.html

 

[Chameleon]

Yeah that looks really cool...seeing that prompted me to post this thread to see what else was out there. It looks really good. I'm not sure I would be able to do it from the video and pics alone though. Does it work well?

 

[revhtree]

Great idea.

 

[mcarroll]

Yap, did 1 of those
[video=youtube;m9qEBCB_oVA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9qEBCB_oVA&feature=player_embedded[/video]

Holy steam-punk, Batman!

...or...

What not to try at home!

:tongue:

I kid I kid...except for the steam punk part. Heheh....wow! Is there a story to go along with that contraption?

I would favor something a bit more solemn like this: ;)

• Aqua Lifter: $10-$20
• Aqua Lifter Holder: $3-$5
• Top Fin airline valve: $1-$6
• Airline, 2 feet: $0.20
• Oranje Juice container / "reservoir": $4 and includes yummy juice.
• Add the best timer you can afford, but a $7 15-minute lamp timer will work. Get a digital lamp timer with down-to-the-minute or -second capability if possible. I use a ReefKeeper Lite.

Another avenue is the peristaltic pumps you can find on eBay:

• Just a 12v motor attached to a pump head, some tubing and motor-leads: about $20
• "Ready to use" options including a rheostat for about $45 shipped if you have a little budget to play with.
• One of the providers there even sells a triple-headed doser with a built in computer not unlike the Bubble Magus for about $170 or so shipped.

For $30 you can automate your dosing - and I highly recommend it. For $50 you can even do it pretty comfortably.

Personally, right now I'm using the one Aqua Lifter (as pictured, but moved the check valve to the output after the airline valve) and one DIY peristaltic pump, both controlled by my ReefKeeper Lite.

-Matt

 

[Chameleon]

Nice ideas! I think I'm going to try the aqualifter one. I'll calibrate it using a graduated cylinder and a stopwatch and go from there. How slow can I get the aqua lifter to pump with one of those valves? I am thinking if I could get it where I could dose 4 times a day for 15 minutes each I could get it to drip the amount I need in an hour and it would work perfect. I'm just concerned I wouldn't be able to throttle back the aqualifter that much without causing harm to the pump. Since my tank is has mostly mini colonies atm I get most of what I need from kalk saturated ATO, but still need to dose 20mL of part a and b a day so I would want to dose 20mL in an hour time.

 

[impur]

That is just an inline air valve. I like these ones, they are a little more precise

Micro Air Valve - Barb x Barb - 6 pk | ThatPetPlace.com


The aqualifter is only $15 and you can replace the diaphragm in it if it goes bad so I wouldn't worry about harming the pump. The diaphragm is only 3 bucks.

Replacement Diaphragm for Aqua Lifter Pump - 2 pk | ThatPetPlace.com

 

[Steelerfan747]

Really cool ideas. I went with brs dosers and think every are awesome but it's food to know there are cheaper alternatives

 

[Steelerfan747]

I'm just not much of a diy guy and really like the clean look you get with a factory doser

 

[impur]

I use the Bubble Magus triple doser and absolutely love it. So simple and works great. Even cheap to replace the pump heads if they go out.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

That is just an inline air valve. I like these ones, they are a little more precise

Micro Air Valve - Barb x Barb - 6 pk | ThatPetPlace.com


The aqualifter is only $15 and you can replace the diaphragm in it if it goes bad so I wouldn't worry about harming the pump. The diaphragm is only 3 bucks.

Replacement Diaphragm for Aqua Lifter Pump - 2 pk | ThatPetPlace.com

HD sells those 5 for 3.99 in the micro sprinkler section

 

[Chameleon]

Great! good to know!

HD sells those 5 for 3.99 in the micro sprinkler section

 

[Chameleon]

where is the micro sprinkler section btw? I've never been there...nothing ever needed micro sprinkler

 

[mcarroll]

Nice ideas! I think I'm going to try the aqualifter one. I'll calibrate it using a graduated cylinder and a stopwatch and go from there. How slow can I get the aqua lifter to pump with one of those valves? I am thinking if I could get it where I could dose 4 times a day for 15 minutes each I could get it to drip the amount I need in an hour and it would work perfect. I'm just concerned I wouldn't be able to throttle back the aqualifter that much without causing harm to the pump. Since my tank is has mostly mini colonies atm I get most of what I need from kalk saturated ATO, but still need to dose 20mL of part a and b a day so I would want to dose 20mL in an hour time.

That is just an inline air valve. I like these ones, they are a little more precise
Micro Air Valve - Barb x Barb - 6 pk | ThatPetPlace.com


The aqualifter is only $15 and you can replace the diaphragm in it if it goes bad so I wouldn't worry about harming the pump. The diaphragm is only 3 bucks.

Replacement Diaphragm for Aqua Lifter Pump - 2 pk | ThatPetPlace.com

Aqua Lifter
As Impur says, no worries about harming the Aqua Lifter. Up-front cost on them is low. Repair cost is even lower. Plus, I've run them for several days against 100% back-pressure and they just don't seem to be phased by wear like that. (It's a re-dressed air pump, after all....works nothing like a conventional water pump.)

Airline Valves
I actually went out of my way to acquire those specific micro-ball valves that you link to, but after using them I switched to the cheaper, easier to find Top Fins due to their design.

I also happen to like the 90º angle you get with this valve.

The Top Fin ones are adjusted more like a gate valve with multiple layers of threads, which makes their range of adjustment pretty darned fine. On the flip side, just like full-sized ball valves, those micro valves you linked are quite stiff and therefor hard to make fine adjustments to when you're trying to dial in your dose.

If you really want to go top-of-the line, the only way to go is a Flow-Rite needle-pinch valve. 100% designed for flow-control on soft tubing, not prone to clogging since it doesn't actually handle the flow, and also has the adjustment action of a gate valve.

Needle Pinch Valve | Flow-Rite

The PV-2 is the correct model for airline tubing. USPlastic seems to have the most reasonable pricing.

Dosing
When you're locked to a 15-minute dosing time it's very possible you may be better off diluting your two part by 50% with RO/DI water - then you can double your dosing volume and fit the doser's limitations (15 minute doses) a little easier. Also, since you'll be dripping very small amounts (20 mL equivalent) very slowly (over 15 minutes) I wouldn't worry much about breaking up the dose into multiple 15-minute doses - won't hurt, but it's unnecessarily complicated for just starting out. When you have to dose a 1000 mL per day you may want to begin worrying about this. Keep i t simple! :)

 

[mcarroll]

where is the micro sprinkler section btw? I've never been there...nothing ever needed micro sprinkler

They don't seem to have a very universal spot for this stuff.

Lowes and HD both seem to put it generally in the same area as plumbing, but you might find it on an end-cap or possibly around the gardening/hose fittings instead.

-Matt