Please help me. Dosing pumps timers? Ahhhh

[mb167204]

I’m super frustrated and really hoping someone can help me out here.

So. I have a 35 gallon mostly sps/lps. I recently bought two BRS 1.1ml dosing pumps to dose with.

My one pumps rate is 1.85 ml/min and the other is 1.7 ml/min.

So my daily dose I’ve been dosing which has had my parameters spot on with no budge at all is 7.5ml/day.

So if I run my pumps on a timer for 4 minutes. I get the following dosages.

Calcium: 7.4ml
Alkalinity: 6.8 ml

As you can see my alk is underdosed which I feel will add up eventually.

My though process at this point was to get another timer and run the alkalinity doser itself for 1 extra minute two times a week. Overall this should get my total dose per week within .1ml.

My question. Am I being to anal about having them equal each day since overall per week it should be basically the same. Will that two days that I run the alkalinity doser longer make my stability messed up.

Also what I think would perfectly fix my problem is a digital timer that could let me run the timer for a specific set time down to the SECONDS. All the timers I found online have the minimum time interval of minutes.

Please don’t recommend a controller as I’ve invested to much in this pathway of doing things at this point. Thanks and I really appreciate someone’s help as I’m about to blow a gasket.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Here's a thought since you're dose very small volumes......dilute your alk and calc solutions.

Also, two timers....one for alk and one for calc. You actually don't want to dose both at the same time.

 

[mb167204]

Here's a thought since you're dose very small volumes......dilute your alk and calc solutions.

Also, two timers....one for alk and one for calc. You actually don't want to dose both at the same time.

Yeah the two timers is what I’m planning on but that still won’t fix the problem with the imbalance. I want to dose both parts the close as I can but with the pump rates being different my dosages will always be a little off ( about .5 ml per day). That’s why I wish I could find a timer that could be programmed by the second because that way I could run my slower pump for like 30 more seconds and it would pump the same amount.

 

[mb167204]

Part of me also thinks I’m being to nit picky as my weekly water changes should even everything out anyways.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Again, you can "fix" this with dilution. Let's say you dilute both alk and calc solutions by 75%. As an example, 250 mls of Alk or Calc made up to 1 liter.

So now you'll need 30 mls of each (7.5 / 0.25) to get the equivalent of 7.5 mls of the concentrated mix.

So now 16.2 minutes of dosing of one and 17.6 minutes of dosing of the other gives you the "proper" dose. Since there is some playing room, I'd start with 16 minutes of one and 18 minutes of the other and with testing, adjust accordingly. The dilution gives you a little more playing room....and assume your timers are by the minute.

 

[mb167204]

Thanks. I think this is what I might do. I assume I just mix rodi water to dilute it.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Yes, RO/DI.

 

[lewisriverfisherman]

Just my thoughts....
If you don't already have timers look into wifi timers. They are a few bucks more but are worth it. Theses allow you to set multiple start/ stop times thru out the day. I run 3 wifi timers and 3 brs 1.1ml dosers.

 

[Water Dog]

Use this website. Although it is for programming through the Apex, you will be able to extrapolate how many seconds each doser needs to run based in their individual flow rates for a given dosing volume.

https://www.reeftronics.net/adpg/dosingcalc.php

 

[Jr'sReef]

What WiFi timer do you use?

 

[lewisriverfisherman]

What WiFi timer do you use?

I have 3 of these so far they work great.

 

[mb167204]

Use this website. Although it is for programming through the Apex, you will be able to extrapolate how many seconds each doser needs to run based in their individual flow rates for a given dosing volume.

https://www.reeftronics.net/adpg/dosingcalc.php

Yeah that’s the problem. I don’t have a timer that lets program down to the second. Do you know if any?

 

[mb167204]

Just my thoughts....
If you don't already have timers look into wifi timers. They are a few bucks more but are worth it. Theses allow you to set multiple start/ stop times thru out the day. I run 3 wifi timers and 3 brs 1.1ml dosers.

Which timer do you use. This is the info I’m looking for.

 

[mb167204]

I have 3 of these so far they work great.

Can this be programmed down to the second?

 

[mb167204]

Can this be programmed down to the second?

Nevermind. I see that they Cannot.

 

[lewisriverfisherman]

Can this be programmed down to the second?

No sorry these only set minutes and not secconds.

 

[Jr'sReef]

Idk but I feel like WiFi timers would be spotty, what if it turns on and WiFi goes out. Wouldn’t it stay stuck in the on position? Or vice versa which isn’t a big deal but you wouldn’t know if it dosed or not...

Idk I have WiFi timers on my skimmers and a few other things just don’t know about it on a doser?

 

[Jr'sReef]

Idk but I feel like WiFi timers would be spotty, what if it turns on and WiFi goes out. Wouldn’t it stay stuck in the on position? Or vice versa which isn’t a big deal but you wouldn’t know if it dosed or not...

Idk I have WiFi timers on my skimmers and a few other things just don’t know about it on a doser?

 

[DBR_Reef]

Yeah that’s the problem. I don’t have a timer that lets program down to the second. Do you know if any?

Yes, an Apex. Just kidding I've used these before- they go down to the second, this link no longer has a prime option, but I'm sure they are available somewhere, or you can just buy from a third party.

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Programmable-Socket-switch-Energy-Saving/dp/B00WHPNON6

 

[Greybeard]

Yes, an Apex. Just kidding I've used these before- they go down to the second, this link no longer has a prime option, but I'm sure they are available somewhere, or you can just buy from a third party.

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Programmable-Socket-switch-Energy-Saving/dp/B00WHPNON6

I've used that very timer, or one that looks just like it. Worked great. You can split your doses into 8 times a day.

Needless to say, I retired these when I bought my Apex