dosing pump suggestions

[melonheadorion]

with vacation time coming up, i need to implement a doser for supplements. my question really is, is there a huge difference between them that i should look for., im not really interested in spending tons of money for a simple doser, so you can imagine the jebao 3.4 doser is intriguing, but am curious if there is a huge downside of doing that versus spending a significant amount of money for something else. the apex DOS is an option, but im not keen of the price point.
i do have an apex so i can setup some sort of safety to turn off a doser if needed, so im not overly worried about a system overdosing. i am only going to be dosing alk and calcium, and i dose maybe about 10ml a day (2.5) per dose, so it doesnt have to work too much a day. i do not intend on auto water changes.

 

[nothing_fancy]

I've found the Kamoer pumps to be very reliable and cost effective for this sort of thing. If you have a trident this is a simple thing. I have one of the Kamoer pumps pushing soda ash every hour until it the trident tells the outlet to turn off at 8.3 dkh. No issues so far, has kept my dkh values round 8-8.4 dkh consistently. Calcium I haven't tried this with. I have another pump pushing AFR set to turn off if anything goes too high for me.

 

[Tim'sReef]

I will never cheap out again. My first dosing pump was a coralbox wifi dosing pump. And that thing is only useful as a paperweight in my opinion. I never got it to be reliable or accurate.

Maybe the jeabo is better but have no experience with those.

 

[C_AWOL]

+1 on the kamoer pumps. I use the versions that are repurposed for hydros and after you calibrate it once they hold up flawlessly.

 

[nothing_fancy]

Ya agreed, moving parts you get what you pay for in the long run for sure. I might add, since you're already on apex, an energy bar 4 and a few of those Kamoer X1 pumps makes for a really good multi dosing system if you want to avoid doing something like GHL doser 2 w/profilux or Apex DOS systems. You get the scheduling of the kamoers which is dead easy and the on/off functions of the apex for safety. I have a small system but the Kamoer x1 coupled with the EB-4 has been a nice compact system for me. Bigger system maybe you need more bells and whistles

 

[Bret]

with vacation time coming up, i need to implement a doser for supplements. my question really is, is there a huge difference between them that i should look for., im not really interested in spending tons of money for a simple doser, so you can imagine the jebao 3.4 doser is intriguing, but am curious if there is a huge downside of doing that versus spending a significant amount of money for something else. the apex DOS is an option, but im not keen of the price point.
i do have an apex so i can setup some sort of safety to turn off a doser if needed, so im not overly worried about a system overdosing. i am only going to be dosing alk and calcium, and i dose maybe about 10ml a day (2.5) per dose, so it doesnt have to work too much a day. i do not intend on auto water changes.

Since you have already have an Apex, I would go with a gently used DOS from the marketplace forum. You can usually find them for around $200 shipped.

 

[melonheadorion]

Since you have already have an Apex, I would go with a gently used DOS from the marketplace forum. You can usually find them for around $200 shipped.

ive been trying on ebay, but its been no luck. ill check out the marketplace and see if i can find one

 

[Jbell370]

I have 1 DOS on AWC and another ALK/CALC but added a Kamoer pump for NoPox, its small size won me over and it works great, almost a year now. Love their app as well.

 

[vtecintegra]

I use the BRS 1.1 ml controlled by Apex. Not fancy, but have been reliable.

A lot of people have stated the DOS is very loud.

 

[nothing_fancy]

I use the BRS 1.1 ml controlled by Apex. Not fancy, but have been reliable.

A lot of people have stated the DOS is very loud.

Maybe for a Dif thread but why are the Neptune DOS pumps SOOOO Huge? If they took the same tech and put it into a smaller footprint I feel like any apex owner would look into purchasing a DOS. Its almost as big as a GHL Doser 2.1 with half the amount of heads.

 

[melonheadorion]

Maybe for a Dif thread but why are the Neptune DOS pumps SOOOO Huge? If they took the same tech and put it into a smaller footprint I feel like any apex owner would look into purchasing a DOS. Its almost as big as a GHL Doser 2.1 with half the amount of heads.

thats another reason that turns me off from the DOS. i can get over that, but its helpful to save space by getting something different. the info out there seems to indicate that the DOS with the apex does more than the average doser can, and is kinda why im asking this in the first place

 

[nothing_fancy]

thats another reason that turns me off from the DOS. i can get over that, but its helpful to save space by getting something different. the info out there seems to indicate that the DOS with the apex does more than the average doser can, and is kinda why im asking this in the first place

That info is true, direct communication with trident to adjust dosing amounts is a big plus especially for 2 part. I was hoping when Neptune released the apex pro they would start to come out with some type of stackable form factor DOS pumps, maybe in the future.

 

[JCM]

I've been using a Jebao dp-4 for about a year now. No issues yet, it's loud but it only runs for a few seconds a day so I don't care.

 

[Jared Bryant]

I've been using a Jebao dp-4 for about a year now. No issues yet, it's loud but it only runs for a few seconds a day so I don't care.

I've had one on a tank for a couple years and it's not that bad in a cabinet. The time does drift though on mine. It will be off a few minutes every few months or so. I don't really care either.

 

[JCM]

I've had one on a tank for a couple years and it's not that bad in a cabinet. The time does drift though on mine. It will be off a few minutes every few months or so. I don't really care either.

Now that you mention it, mine has drifted about 4 minutes over the last year. Not that it matters if it doses at 6 or 6:04. I'm happy with it for $75

 

[Uncle99]

$90 bucks running 5 years.
Now I have two.

 

[melonheadorion]

That info is true, direct communication with trident to adjust dosing amounts is a big plus especially for 2 part. I was hoping when Neptune released the apex pro they would start to come out with some type of stackable form factor DOS pumps, maybe in the future.

im mostly just needing to get one for the time when im out on vacation and i dont have to rely on someone that doesnt know the "what for" when it comes to tank additives. i can get someone to feed them, but i dont feel comfortable with trusting them to dose a half a cap 4 times a day on the 12s and the 6s. a little unreasonable to have someone come at midnight and 6am. with luck, i wouldnt have to change a dosage amount while im out for a week, and the dosage amount i set would be good on any standard doser, but if it were something like the DOS, it would be useful if i could change the dos. its a hard decision, of course

 

[nothing_fancy]

im mostly just needing to get one for the time when im out on vacation and i dont have to rely on someone that doesnt know the "what for" when it comes to tank additives. i can get someone to feed them, but i dont feel comfortable with trusting them to dose a half a cap 4 times a day on the 12s and the 6s. a little unreasonable to have someone come at midnight and 6am. with luck, i wouldnt have to change a dosage amount while im out for a week, and the dosage amount i set would be good on any standard doser, but if it were something like the DOS, it would be useful if i could change the dos. its a hard decision, of course

True, all in all, a week is really a short time. So long as you're comfortable with your ATO and Temp control, maybe you have a little bit of redundancy there and some safe guards...I think you'll be fine either way if you do a water change right before you leave for vacation. That being said, if you're hand dosing that much everyday, I think regardless of what you decide to invest in for automatic dosing, its gonna be a game changer for you.

 

[Pistondog]

with vacation time coming up, i need to implement a doser for supplements. my question really is, is there a huge difference between them that i should look for., im not really interested in spending tons of money for a simple doser, so you can imagine the jebao 3.4 doser is intriguing, but am curious if there is a huge downside of doing that versus spending a significant amount of money for something else. the apex DOS is an option, but im not keen of the price point.
i do have an apex so i can setup some sort of safety to turn off a doser if needed, so im not overly worried about a system overdosing. i am only going to be dosing alk and calcium, and i dose maybe about 10ml a day (2.5) per dose, so it doesnt have to work too much a day. i do not intend on auto water changes.

For that size dosing, i use brs 1.1 ml/min pumps, on a timed apex output. Just make sure you 'calibrate', the 1.1 is closer to 2 but consistent.
I have dos (currently idle), noisy at higher flowrates, and versa for awcs.

 

[minus9]

Sentia Dose, these things are awesome and you can start with just one primary pump, then add secondary pumps as needed. They are modular and one primary pump can power all the secondary pumps you would ever need. The app is great and easy to program. I have 5 total over two systems and run them all under one app. I love my GHL doser, simply one of the best hardware dosers, but their software absolutely sucks, which is why I finally made the switch.