Dosers

[Anonymous]

These are some of the shortcomings of hospital surplus peristaltic pumps and you have to live with them. There's no way to independently control or calibrate the independent channels, which IS possible on both the AquaMedic and Spectrapure peristaltic pumps. Also, both the AquaMedic and Spectrapure controllers will retain their settings if powered off; there's no way to overcome this with your pump.

Greg

This is a really great feature of the Litermeter III. I can put it on a timer and have it power on and deliver kalk, say, only at night when the pH is a bit depressed, and it will retain those settings.

 

[Mihai]

Well, I get the consolation prize for keeping the alk and Ca rock steady, as I dose it all the time. You on the other hand, shock the system every night. I know what you'll say: that the shock is really small and... I agree with you, but I really need to hang on something to have the consolation prize . I really wish there would be an easy way to keep the configuration active and only run the pump 5 minutes a day.

I think that in the end the drawback comes from the design: the litermeter was designed for aquarium dosing, while the flexiflo was not.
It's probably a great pump for enteral feeding :sighs:

M.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I get the consolation prize for keeping the alk and Ca rock steady, as I dose it all the time. You on the other hand, shock the system every night. I know what you'll say: that the shock is really small and... I agree with you, but I really need to hang on something to have the consolation prize . I really wish there would be an easy way to keep the configuration active and only run the pump 5 minutes a day.

I think that in the end the drawback comes from the design: the litermeter was designed for aquarium dosing, while the flexiflo was not.
It's probably a great pump for enteral feeding :sighs:

M.

You can keep the pH steadier by dosing kalk at progressively longer intervals with a peak just before dawn. With a Ca reactor running I'm getting consistent levels of Ca/Alk anyway. Rather than shocking the system it's keeping the pH high at night when it tends to dip lower than normal.

 

[GSchiemer]

If you're using a dosing pump to dose kalkwasser or feed a kalk reactor, you want to run it when the lights are off and the pH is naturally lower. The result is that the pH tends to remain steady over the 24 hour period instead of going through day/night swings. This is especially beneficial when running a calcium reactor. There is also less chance of precipitation when the pH is lower and it's a more efficient use of kalkwasser.

So, it's LESS of a shock to the system to dose at night only. Although it's not as critical when using two-part supplements employing bicarbonate as one of the alkalinity components, it's also better to dose during the night, especially if sodium carbonate is part of the alkalinity formula.

As you stated, the hospital-grade surplus pumps are made specifically for short-term enteral feeding and the tubing is designed for single-use applications, not continuous duty. They are well-made and probably cost a lot more than the aquarium dosing pumps when new, but they simply weren't designed for aquarium applications. For the same reason, I wouldn't use a LiterMeter to pump food into a patient's stomach.

Sorry, but you don't get the consolation prize.

Greg

 

[Mihai]

Sorry, but you don't get the consolation prize.

That sucks even more! . Let's see, how else can I use them? I guess that they would be good for that device with the long for denitrification. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, my nitrates are pretty good.
Any other use for an aquarium? Please...

M.

 

[GSchiemer]

They might be okay for replacing evaporated water or dosing phytoplankton; although I'm not a proponent of dosing phytoplankton.

Greg

 

[Mihai]

I'm not into phytoplankton either and for the water I have a closed loop system (for my system the daily consumption seems to vary quite a bit).
OK, I'll admit: they're useless :-(.

M.

 

[Anonymous]

I use my dosing pump to deliver fresh water into a tee on the venturi of my needlewheel skimmer. It keeps the air intake free of salt crystals. I'm dosing with pure RO/DI though. Just a thought....

 

[Mihai]

OK, and with the other two?


M.

 

[Anonymous]

I use a Cole Palmer and the beast simply rocks!!!

 

[ChrisRD]

Not to bring this thread back from the dead, but I saw this on another board and thought it had some good info on the Cole-Parmer pumps...

http://www.reeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67&page=1&pp=15