Reef Factory dosing pump ... an alternative.

HuduVudu · May 4, 2022

@Tankkeepers

Just got my Reef Factory dosing pump. WOW!!!! the setup was a joke. I did it from my computer, I could have just as easily done it from my phone. This is what setups should be.

I found the WiFi access point. I set my WiFi to it. I went to dosingpump.io on my browser. I came up with prompts. I followed them. I entered my WiFi. POWWW! I was in. It showed the IP for the device. I forgot it. Went to my router found the IP then pasted into the browser and I was in. My gawd that is how setups should work.

Can't say anything yet about the hardware. I need to get an adapter for it. I did spy a kewl feature that let's me know that I need to calibrate the heads. I think I like that.

Will post more as I set up it up on my system.

Cautiously optomistic.

Tankkeepers · May 4, 2022

HuduVudu said:
@Tankkeepers

Just got my Reef Factory dosing pump. WOW!!!! the setup was a joke. I did it from my computer, I could have just as easily done it from my phone. This is what setups should be.

I found the WiFi access point. I set my WiFi to it. I went to dosingpump.io on my browser. I came up with prompts. I followed them. I entered my WiFi. POWWW! I was in. It showed the IP for the device. I forgot it. Went to my router found the IP then pasted into the browser and I was in. My gawd that is how setups should work.

Can't say anything yet about the hardware. I need to get an adapter for it. I did spy a kewl feature that let's me know that I need to calibrate the heads. I think I like that.

Will post more as I set up it up on my system.

Cautiously optomistic.

Niceeeeee hope it works well for you

I just put in a protien skimmer and a new uv light

This week adding a new ato and a fan to remove humidity

Next week picking up the dosing pump hehe gives you time to test it lol

HuduVudu · May 14, 2022

I finally got my power supply in and busted everything back out and did a legit setup.

Some thoughts.

First, the tubing provided in the box is 1/8" silicone tubing. The tubing is the very nice stuff ... but it is 1/8". The reason for this is that surprise the barbs for the heads are 1/8". This is not really something that I liked. I pretty much use 1/4" for everything. I had some old GHL clear fittings that allow 1/8" to go to 1/4". I took the 1/8" only original barbs off and put on the dual 1/8 - 1/4 barbs on. Worked like a champ. No leaks.

The heads on the Reef Factory run very very quiet. I was surprised by this. They also use a positive drive (not frictional) for the head. This seems to make them quiet and also ensure that they can push through pressure. I calibrated the head for my CaRx before I connected it to the CaRx and then after and there was hardly any difference in output. I thought this was nice.

The heads can be placed at any angle on 90 degrees and this is normal, but a caveat is that you need to make sure that you turn the head all the way to get it to click. Otherwise the head won't move. Always test.

Connection. The radio on these is solid, and the software seems to compensate well for it when the doser is far away from your WiFi antenae. As stated I was able to set up on my computer by logging into the Reef Factory WiFI and then putting it on my wireless network. No log ons, No apps ... no problem. I never have to have a phone with an app to make this work. It is html based so all I need is a browser and it's IP.

The software is definitely minimilistic. Very clean. There are a couple of things that it does that are unexpected. First you can not have a situation where you don't have a container that you "fill". I just ignored this at first but there was a snag. If the container is "empty" in the software the doser will not dose. I know why this is but I am not really a fan of it. The good news is that you can have a million milliter container. I filled it up and boom ... good enough. Also one plus that I liked is that there is a timed alert to calibrate the heads. When you complete your first calibration you have to choose the next calbration in a drop down before you save. I actually think this is a good thing, I like it.

Overall I am happy and I will probably write to Reef Factory to share my feedback. The html interface with no log ins is the big winner on this doser and there is nothing that sours that for me. Also I have to say asthetically it is very clean looking. Now only if where I put it wasn't so messy I might be able to enjoy that part of it.

Hope this helps anyone that might be looking into this doser.

HuduVudu · May 14, 2022

Ok WOW!

Strange behaviour. Everything sets up, but schedule timers don't go off. WiFi is working and the doser can access the network. All seems to be in order. Can dose manually, but the doser will not dose on schedule.

And then I tried this:
All of my IOT is on it's own network that can not connect to the internet. IOT is notoriously insecure and gets hacked all of the time. To protect myself I don't allow any access of my IOT to the internet. No phoning home to hack central. Sooooooo ... I put the doser on a public WiFi with access to the internet. Yep, it then worked. This dang thing is phoning home.

Seriously this is so insecure. But what if you don't care about security ... whelp if you lose internet for any reason your doser won't dose. Nope not even a single drop. LUL. This is so seriously stupid I can't even fathom.

Ok, I am done with all of the pretty garbage. Drew's doser with my Reef Pi FTW.

@Tankkeepers

Tankkeepers · May 15, 2022

HuduVudu said:
Ok WOW!

Strange behaviour. Everything sets up, but schedule timers don't go off. WiFi is working and the doser can access the network. All seems to be in order. Can dose manually, but the doser will not dose on schedule.

And then I tried this:
All of my IOT is on it's own network that can not connect to the internet. IOT is notoriously insecure and gets hacked all of the time. To protect myself I don't allow any access of my IOT to the internet. No phoning home to hack central. Sooooooo ... I put the doser on a public WiFi with access to the internet. Yep, it then worked. This dang thing is phoning home.

Seriously this is so insecure. But what if you don't care about security ... whelp if you lose internet for any reason your doser won't dose. Nope not even a single drop. LUL. This is so seriously stupid I can't even fathom.

Ok, I am done with all of the pretty garbage. Drew's doser with my Reef Pi FTW.

@Tankkeepers

That has got to be the dumbest thing iv ever heard who in the world has internet 100 percent of the time

So the tanks health is dependent on my isp helllz no

Stempel · Dec 30, 2022

hi, do you still use this dosing pump? I am considering Reef Factory or Red Sea and I am looking for reviews... is this still an issue or Reef Factory has addressed this?
thanks

aleksanderalski · Jan 5, 2023

HuduVudu said:
Ok WOW!

Strange behaviour. Everything sets up, but schedule timers don't go off. WiFi is working and the doser can access the network. All seems to be in order. Can dose manually, but the doser will not dose on schedule.

And then I tried this:
All of my IOT is on it's own network that can not connect to the internet. IOT is notoriously insecure and gets hacked all of the time. To protect myself I don't allow any access of my IOT to the internet. No phoning home to hack central. Sooooooo ... I put the doser on a public WiFi with access to the internet. Yep, it then worked. This dang thing is phoning home.

Seriously this is so insecure. But what if you don't care about security ... whelp if you lose internet for any reason your doser won't dose. Nope not even a single drop. LUL. This is so seriously stupid I can't even fathom.

Ok, I am done with all of the pretty garbage. Drew's doser with my Reef Pi FTW.

@Tankkeepers

Hi there.

Reef Factory dosers are working a little different. It's true that you need to connect devices to the wifi when you set them up, but after the installation, device will dose as scheduled connected or not.

It would be highly dangerous for the pump to relay only on the internet connection, so every device has it's own small hardware on which settings are saved and work even if the device will loose internet connection.

Only thing you cannot do when device is offline is making any changes in the dosing schedule.

In case you have any questions or doubts, please contact me on pm any time you want