Vario or litermeter

[rishma]

I am almost done building a very nice kalk reactor, and I need to decide on a dosing pump. I need quality, reliability, versitility, longevity, and all the other "ity's" you can think of.

Thanks

 

[Big R]

I use a Vario and a quality timer.

R

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know if you will find anybody with both products for a decent comparison, but I have a litre-meter and it has lots of "ity".

 

[jiml77]

I use a reef filler on my kalk reactor. It is pretty loud, but not a problem in the garage. I have it set to pump 1 gallon in 4 hours, which is my daily evaporation. I have two radio shack digital timers. One to mix the kalk for 15 minutes 4 times a day and one to turn on the reef filler. It comes on from 4-8 am, and has worked flawlessly for 9 months now. Occasionally I will change the flow rate on the pump as the seasons change. The pump works great with head pressure as I pump to the second story. I add a 1/2 pound of kalk every couple of months and thats all I do. This setup made reef life really sweet!

 

[danmhippo]

Jim, you set it to pump "1 Gal in 4 hours"?

1gal/4hr = 6gal/24hr!!!!

Wow, how big of tank do you have? I lose 1Gal per day.

 

[Big R]

I would guess that Jim only tops off for 4 hours, not 24.

R

 

[Osama]

UI have Natureef dosing ESV ( 2bottles) for two years with no problems & is hooked up to a timer.
I hust got a liter meter for dosing kalk and I like the controls in terms of controlling how much specific volume to dose per day and the pump goes on onlyto dose the liquid then it is off on its own.

 

[danmhippo]

Can't comment for vario as I have no experiences with them. I use Litemeter in combination with their liquid leveler. Litemeter has a safety control that is designed to hook up to the liquid leveler. When the sensor detects the water level has reached, it will stop further dosing of the litemeter to prevent overflow. Once the water level dropped, the litemeter operation will resume. Another great thing about the liquid level sensor is it's non mechanical, and uses air pressure instead.

 

[PDD]

No experience with either of the expensive products you reference. If you are interested in saving some money, I would suggest you look into a used medical equipment company. You can find reliable, used peristaltic pumps cheap. Just a thought.

FYI - I dose my kalk 24/7 and I dose phyto 24/7 using such pumps. You can literally "dial in" your dose and consequently your ph.

Good luck.

 

[wasabi]

i have a vario doser. i was trying to decide between it and the liter meter. i chose the vario, because it seemed simple and it is. i have it hooked up to a timer and i'm still dialing it in for evaporation