Sps Nightmare

[LARedstickreefer]

To prevent something like this, I have pump 1 on my Jebao dose into a 20ml vial. Then have pump 2 dose from the vial into the tank. I always make sure my pump is plugged into a surge protector also.

Hmmm, that’s actually pretty slick. Our IT guys do something similar with network switches and fiber.

I bet you could add one of the sensor switches to the second container to alarm if the level gets to high, indicating the first pump has malfunctioned.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

We are so sorry about what happened. Thank you for reaching out to our support team and giving us the opportunity to help. This is not a known issue so we are anxious to inspect the pump and test it at HQ to see what we can find out. If we are aren't able to diagnose the problem in our lab we'll definitely have Kamoer test the pump as well. It's a very popular pump and we move a lot of them so we're eager to check it out. Once again we'd like to offer our sincere apology for what transpired.

Jeff @ CoralVue

Thank you for your support of what I’m going through. I’ve been communicating with Angie to iron out the details of returning the device(s). I hope kamoer/coralvue will use this disaster as motivation to develop some sort of fail safe software that can prevent this type of malfunction. I really liked these little pumps. So simple to install and the program. Too bad it didn’t have an alert/emergency shut off, etc.

So far I’ve lost a large frag of sc op and a tgc rainbow feast (pain in stomach)

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Kamoer dosing pumps have a history of failing. I have found many others who have had problems. I was lucky in that my x4 just didnt work right out of the box so my reef wasn't damaged.

I am currently using a DOS for 2part and will probably go CaRX soon.

Wishing you the best for a full recovery for your reef!

 

[Ashley Kekua]

We are so sorry about what happened. Thank you for reaching out to our support team and giving us the opportunity to help. This is not a known issue so we are anxious to inspect the pump and test it at HQ to see what we can find out. If we are aren't able to diagnose the problem in our lab we'll definitely have Kamoer test the pump as well. It's a very popular pump and we move a lot of them so we're eager to check it out. Once again we'd like to offer our sincere apology for what transpired.

Jeff @ CoralVue

so happy to see help from maker! supporter is greatness!

 

[dwest]

Thank you for your support of what I’m going through. I’ve been communicating with Angie to iron out the details of returning the device(s). I hope kamoer/coralvue will use this disaster as motivation to develop some sort of fail safe software that can prevent this type of malfunction. I really liked these little pumps. So simple to install and the program. Too bad it didn’t have an alert/emergency shut off, etc.

So far I’ve lost a large frag of sc op and a tgc rainbow feast (pain in stomach)

Been following this. Sorry it happened, but you certainly have a great attitude. Sharing this had to be hard, but very helpful to others. Good luck!

 

[Jettareefer223]

I woke up this morning and heard my kamoer dosing continuously running and discovered it had added over 750 ml of alk. I quickly ripped out as much sps as I could and placed them in my frag tank. I know they were exposed to the alk spike for less than 6 hours, but I’m guessing the alk is at least 40 dKh and could be as high 60 dKh. My Hanna checker is flashing 20. I had to make a delivery for work and am back home about to do a massive water change as soon as the new water temp comes down a bit.

Broseph you and I have the worst luck! Sorry to hear that I hate technology I swear it’s evil! I hope what you saved bounces back. I know balling methods and pain in the butt, although you’re in total control. With doser’s I only usually put enough for 2 days which would be the end of the world if it dumped. Just my advice for the future. This hobby/trade can be brutal for sure.

 

[ajm83]

Tried one of the kamoer single head dosers myself but discovered one major design flaw with it...if there is a power outage at all it just ceases dosing and flashes red until it is reconnected to the app again...useless if you dont check it daily and especially if it happens while away from home

So if you're on holiday, there is no way for the tank sitter to get it going again?
Alarming if true!

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I appreciate all the helpful recommendations and words of encouragement. I finally dropped my alk to a comfortable range of 9.3 with another wc. I just spent the last 90 minutes returning all the non Tenuis back in the display. I find it shocking that the acros and Montis that were exposed to the 40+ alk spike for 8-12 hours have shown zero signs of stress. Hopefully this story will have a happy ending.

 

[RandyC]

That’s a question I wanted to know the answer to as well. The Hanna checker maxes out at a reading of 20 dkh and flashes when it’s higher, which happened this morning. So I am just guessing that it spiked to 40 or more. My tank was consuming 30 mls of 2 part a day and the alk was 8.2-8.3 every day. So this malfunction added around 700 mls in minutes and I changed around 75% of the total water volume with fresh 7.8 dKh water. The Alk measured 12.5 after the water change.

Sucks that this happened man. Not that I wish this to ever happen to you again, but if you ever need to test higher than 20dkh, you can just dilute the sample and do the math to figure out what the is actual alk level is. For example, only use 5ml of tank water and 5ml of RO/DI and multiple the results by 2.

 

[fishead]

Hope all goes well for you Chaswood. You have some awesome stock there! I'm using the same unit to dose kalk from a 5 gallon drum. 170ml every two hours. Maybe a float valve on the end of the line from the doser into the sump might pull it up if pump stays on? What do you think?

 

[Proteus Meep]

So if you're on holiday, there is no way for the tank sitter to get it going again?
Alarming if true!

If your tank sitter notices it flashing they would need to download the app and connect to the device....wether that would then resume dosing on its schedule or need completely reprogaming with being connected to a different device i dont know

 

[PhreeByrd]

Very interesting thread, and it's great to hear that the OP's quick action prevented a potential disaster. I hope all of the surviving corals continue to do well.

Seems to me that almost everybody is running some sort of controller on their systems. I don't have any experience with the current controllers, but don't almost all of them have the ability to measure alkalinity in some way? I'd think that as a fail-safe, it would be pretty foolproof to have the controller shut down the doser if the alkalinity rises too high.

It's not nearly as direct of a method, but my old controller will shut down my doser if the tank pH rises too high. In my case though, there is nothing other than the alk doser that would drastically raise the pH.

 

[SeaDweller]

I appreciate all the helpful recommendations and words of encouragement. I finally dropped my alk to a comfortable range of 9.3 with another wc. I just spent the last 90 minutes returning all the non Tenuis back in the display. I find it shocking that the acros and Montis that were exposed to the 40+ alk spike for 8-12 hours have shown zero signs of stress. Hopefully this story will have a happy ending.

I think it helps that your livestock was doing well and healthy, so they endured it well.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Well we won’t know how well they endured it until a few weeks pass ime. Alk spikes always show their damage a week + later from what I have seen.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Hope all goes well for you Chaswood. You have some awesome stock there! I'm using the same unit to dose kalk from a 5 gallon drum. 170ml every two hours. Maybe a float valve on the end of the line from the doser into the sump might pull it up if pump stays on? What do you think?

That might work to prevent what happened to me.

 

[HaloPhenom27]

I don’t need a doser yet, but would probably only have enough in the reservoir to last a day or two, as suggested above.

This probably won’t work once the corals go into full colony mode and the dkh demand is high.

How much does a CaRx cost?

Mine was about $50.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Mine was about $50.

$50 for CaRx? Regulator, solenoid, ph monitor, and peristaltic pump?

 

[HaloPhenom27]

$50 for CaRx? Regulator, solenoid, ph monitor, and peristaltic pump?

No, $50 for the reactor. They asked how much for a Calcium Reactor and I gave what I paid for mine.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

No, $50 for the reactor. They asked how much for a Calcium Reactor and I gave what I paid for mine.

Gotcha.

 

[Ike]

Great to see more examples of Alkalinity spikes that dont cause RTN of coral. Looks like you have healthy corals.

Spikes seem to be fine as long as nutrients aren't dangerously low. Otherwise, most spikes IME just harm color a bit. Spikes below 5 dKH can be brutal, and that could be more PH related as well.

Most people forget that it was once pretty common to run 15-20 dKH.

Chaswood, happy to hear you didn't lose much!