Jebao dosing pump for water changes?

[surfnsalt]

So I have the dp4 and I'm only gonna use 2 heads for b ionic cal buff system so I was wondering if I could use the other 2 to do either a constant wc or auto one once a week. A. Can I do this? B. Which way is more benificial? C. Do lengths of tubing need to be the same so both heads move equal amounts of water or will the heads keep it equal? The dt is only 10gal so I want to auto change 1gal a week, so that's 3780ml once a week all at once or 540ml throughout the day everyday.
@Randy Holmes Farley

 

[surfnsalt]

Anyone?

 

[bevo5]

So hold on - do you want to use one to supply new water while another takes water from the tank and puts it somewhere else?

Is this on top of your top off water?

I'm not sure but I think the dosing pumps move the same amount of liquid regardless of how long the tube is since it's not like a typical pump fighting head pressure. But I could be wrong. It would seem, however, that this would be a design flaw since you wouldn't be able to rely on the amount being dosed.

But anyway - to do this you would need a source of clean salt water nearby the tank and a drain or something for the old water. Test to make sure the two dosing pumps move the same amount of water and I don't see why this wouldn't work???? I think changing water constantly is probably better than the one big one.

 

[surfnsalt]

Yes. I have ato, so I figured if I move water in and out at the same time it shouldn't trip ato and top off and mess up my salinity. I have space under tank where I can put 3 or 4 gal of salt. With heater/powerhead. Then a 3gal empty to dump old water to. Sorry it's still messy in there gonna strap up wires and tubes once it's all set up.

 

[bevo5]

Yeah. I don't know why this wouldn't work. But you're playing with fire potentially. If one head stops for some reason you're going to flood it all out. One idea to stop that would be to put them both on a timer so they go on and off at the exact same times. that's pretty obvious.

Just make sure the line that is taking water out isn't too far below the water line. That way you can never suck out more than the three gallon jug. Just remember to empty it.

Another possible issue is whether or not the jabeo will back flow. These pumps shouldn't but that would be on my mind as well.

 

[surfnsalt]

More of the setup.

 

[surfnsalt]

Yeah. I don't know why this wouldn't work. But you're playing with fire potentially. If one head stops for some reason you're going to flood it all out. One idea to stop that would be to put them both on a timer so they go on and off at the exact same times. that's pretty obvious.

Just make sure the line that is taking water out isn't too far below the water line. That way you can never suck out more than the three gallon jug. Just remember to empty it.

Another possible issue is whether or not the jabeo will back flow. These pumps shouldn't but that would be on my mind as well.

I primed the pump pulling water out of dt to see if any siphoning happens overnight, none so far.

 

[bevo5]

That's good. I always try to think of the worst case scenario playing out. So with that in mind I'd just make sure the tube taking water out is barely below the surface of the tank. That way you can't ever remove all that much.

Do you have a controller? Another fun thing you could add would be a float switch on bucket that would trigger when it's full so you could A) turn off the pumps and B) get notified when it's full.

 

[hart24601]

Do both heads run at the same time? If not the ato will mess up your salinity quickly. For example as one head removes water the ato replaces it reducing salinity. The other head turns on and replaces saltwater but the ato kept it full, so now you have too much and as it evaporates the salinity will increase. If you can disable the ato when they run then you are ok.

Also keep in mind the it's possible for the heads to not wear evenly. So over a week (possibly) or more one head will not remove the same as the other, so need to keep an eye on it. In a small volume tank I would be concerned about salinity swings.



Edit. Sorry you already addressed the ato issue. I still worry about the heads over time. Many people do automatic water changes with dosing pumps, apex DOS is what I used to do changes, but those heads have greater precision and it was on a larger system. I would be wary of using on a nano.

 

[hart24601]

What I did with my nano was very easy. I made up a 5g bucket of salt water. I also cut a distilled water jug top for a scoop and made a line on it at 1/2 gallon. Once a week I would just scoop out 1/2g and add 1/2g from my bucket (that remained tightly capped). It took literally 2 min and the bucket lasted 2.5 months!!! Easy. The temp drop wasn't very much and had no issues at all.

 

[surfnsalt]

Ok I'm all set up, starting with a test run this afternoon at 3:00 to see if the same amount gets discharged and put back in to system. I made it so from 3:00 to 8:00 everyday it will change 90ml every hour. Which = 540ml everyday and 1 gal./ 3780ml every week. The other two pumps are pumping 2part alk/cal. 1ml a day, at night. Gonna have to keep a close eye on everything for awhile but I do that anyway. Now in the stand where the new saltwater is it's about 75° at 3:00 anyway so I don't think I need a heater in the new saltwater but I was wondering if it needs a power head to keep it moving, if so why?

 

[avery155]

I would put a power head in, otherwise the depleted oxygen will cause the pH to drop, as well as if it is not being agitated the calcium may precipitate out.

 

[ca1ore]

I am unfamiliar with this particular unit, however, I'm using the Apex DOS to do AWC. Does the Jebao allow you to calibrate the two heads to ensure the water out exactly equals water in? Also, keep in mind that most peristaltic pumps are not intended for continuous duty, so the more the heads run, the faster they will wear out. Jebao observably does not appear to be all that robust.