Implementing a doser for my setup and need help

[Acronuts]

Hey guys,
I am going the route of using a doser for my 180 setup.
I am looking at a bubble magnus and a jabeo.


Both seem to be well used and everyone seems happy with their choice.


Where I seem to need help is in the collaboration department.


What would be the best advice you guys can give me when setting this up for my system.


Should I test everyday until dialed in like a calcium reactor, etc?
Is it possible to use the liquid media right from the bottle source or is it better to use the plastic canisters?


Your help is greatly appreciated!

 

[zesty]

Two locals got one of each of those dosing pumps. They are both working and no complaints. However, I heard the jabeo is somewhat touchy to get setup for the right "dose".

However, I have no experience with these, myself.

Yeah, just find out what your system is depleting by testing everyday for a week or two and then start slow with dosing. Then keep testing, so you can track your dosing schedule. That's the "basics" but I'm sure there is more and maybe others have a different experience?

 

[Acronuts]

Two locals got one of each of those dosing pumps. They are both working and no complaints. However, I heard the jabeo is somewhat touchy to get setup for the right "dose".

However, I have no experience with these, myself.

Yeah, just find out what your system is depleting by testing everyday for a week or two and then start slow with dosing. Then keep testing, so you can track your dosing schedule. That's the "basics" but I'm sure there is more and maybe others have a different experience?

Thanks Zesty!
I just added 31 new acros/lps's to my reef. I will go ahead and test every 3 days and see what kind of consumption is happening in the tank. The numbers before adding those pieces looked as follows:

Day one - test Ca 450
Day 3 - test Ca 425
Thats 25 less every 3 days

Day one test - Alk 7.0
Day 3 - test Alk 8.2/8.4
Thats 1.2/1.4 less every 3 days

Day one test - Mg 1250/1200
Day 3 - test Mg 1300/1400
Thats 100 less every 3 days

If I were to setup for dosing at those numbers along with the boiled at that time....

I guess I would divide the 25 by 3 to get daily consumption for Ca
then
1.2/1.4 divided by 3 in order to get the daily dosing for Alk
And finally
100 divided by 3 to get the daily dose for Mg.

Am I thinking of this correctly?

 

[Sangheili]

Pac Sun Kore 5th.

 

[cheezefrog]

own the jeabo its not accurate at all though, doeses 2.xmL when selecting 1mL might go with BRS's 1.1mL a minute and plug it into my apex which is what I should have done...Still can't beat the price 100 bucks on Amazon for the Jeabo, maybe i'll keep it around.

 

[psirex]

Bubble Mag 3x Doser

 

[IronVulture]

own the jeabo its not accurate at all though, doeses 2.xmL when selecting 1mL might go with BRS's 1.1mL a minute and plug it into my apex which is what I should have done...Still can't beat the price 100 bucks on Amazon for the Jeabo, maybe i'll keep it around.

Is there not a way to calibrate it I was looking at buying this one

 

[zesty]

Yeah, i'm also using the brs 1.1 doser hooked up to the apex. No complaints.

 

[cheezefrog]

Is there not a way to calibrate it I was looking at buying this one

I calibrated it and accurately, it was actually spot on when I received it from factory...Like I said said 1mL on the unit gets you 2.1-2mL per 1mL selected dosage on the Jeabo...everyone said to just dilute it by 50% but nah. I honestly don't think its that big of a requirement to have a peristaltic dose accurately. Prob will get the BRS eventually.

 

[Acronuts]

I went and picked up a Kamoer this past Friday at WWC. This machine gets great reviews and has many user friendly features, battery backup, delay feature so that pumps don't run together, accurate within +/- 5, but can be calibrated as well, very silent and can literally pull or disburse liquids from more than 3 feet. Will let you know how it goes in a few months.

My thoughts are checking out what type of media I will be using whether premixed or mixing my own.

 

[james2369]

Yeah, i'm also using the brs 1.1 doser hooked up to the apex. No complaints.

I also use 1.1brs with apex 2yrs 3pumps no problem yet[emoji106]

 

[murjan]

I have been using the Jebao for about 7 months now and I think it has been working well enough. of course you get what you pay for in this hobby, I would have gone for a more expensive one if I could afford it, but its not so bad after all.

I found that it has to be calibrated every couple of months to keep it accurate, and when its calibrated it is actually accurate enough, I used low range scale to weigh how much liquid it disperses for small amounts like 1ml.

one of the 4 dosing motors got fried when i was using it for top off, so if your tank needs to be dosed a lot (like more than 200ml per day) i would go with another brand, and for anything over 50ml I would split that to several smaller doses so you dont over drive those Chinese motors.

for how to approach the dosing regime, I first made sure that I am starting from a balanced point where the ALK/cal in my tank where i wanted them to be to start with, and correct it as per the reef calculator.

then I used the BRS table that suggests your potential daily needs for dosing and went from there and it was close enough. it took me 9 days and 3 testings (test every 3 days) to find the right dose and a few followup tests a week apart each just to make sure I am still on the right track and I found that after the 1 month my Alk has creeped up a little so I toned the dosing a few mils down and is being rock solid so far months after that.

its very important to always test at the same time of the day, and I found it good to test a few hours before your first ALK dose, in the morning.

do not bother with testing Calcium too much, you should be dosing equal parts of the 2 solutions, test for ALK as it swings much more than Cal especially while you are still in the process of figuring out how much to dose, Cal is much more forgiving and I usually test it once a month or less once I found the right dose.

it doesnt matter the container you are dosing from as long as you keep an eye on its contents and it is not prone to evaporation. I just started using 1 Gal jugs from ACE, which will be enough for my tank for a few months before I have to refill it, I like to drill a whole for the tube and a smaller vent whole to allow some air in and keep the lid tight.

I hope that helps!

 

[Acronuts]

I have been using the Jebao for about 7 months now and I think it has been working well enough. of course you get what you pay for in this hobby, I would have gone for a more expensive one if I could afford it, but its not so bad after all.

I found that it has to be calibrated every couple of months to keep it accurate, and when its calibrated it is actually accurate enough, I used low range scale to weigh how much liquid it disperses for small amounts like 1ml.

one of the 4 dosing motors got fried when i was using it for top off, so if your tank needs to be dosed a lot (like more than 200ml per day) i would go with another brand, and for anything over 50ml I would split that to several smaller doses so you dont over drive those Chinese motors.

for how to approach the dosing regime, I first made sure that I am starting from a balanced point where the ALK/cal in my tank where i wanted them to be to start with, and correct it as per the reef calculator.

then I used the BRS table that suggests your potential daily needs for dosing and went from there and it was close enough. it took me 9 days and 3 testings (test every 3 days) to find the right dose and a few followup tests a week apart each just to make sure I am still on the right track and I found that after the 1 month my Alk has creeped up a little so I toned the dosing a few mils down and is being rock solid so far months after that.

its very important to always test at the same time of the day, and I found it good to test a few hours before your first ALK dose, in the morning.

do not bother with testing Calcium too much, you should be dosing equal parts of the 2 solutions, test for ALK as it swings much more than Cal especially while you are still in the process of figuring out how much to dose, Cal is much more forgiving and I usually test it once a month or less once I found the right dose.

it doesnt matter the container you are dosing from as long as you keep an eye on its contents and it is not prone to evaporation. I just started using 1 Gal jugs from ACE, which will be enough for my tank for a few months before I have to refill it, I like to drill a whole for the tube and a smaller vent whole to allow some air in and keep the lid tight.

I hope that helps!

murjan thx for your help. Glad to see that you were able to still use the jabeo and find how to get things as accurate as possible.
I plan to test tomorrow to see where i am at. I still at this point need to make the adjustments to get to what i feel are my numbers; 450 ca, 9 dkh, 1400 mg.
If tomorrow i am very close to those then i know where to go from there.
Either way I am glad I went the dosing route!