Watch those dosing lines folks

gbroadbridge · Aug 22, 2022

Everything humming along fine and then this.

Watch those dosing lines especially if you are using a high concentration Alk supplement.
if this happened when I was away on a business trip it would be disaster.

wculver · Aug 22, 2022

Maybe you are able to stop the doser if numbers go below a threshold using a controller? That way things are on pause while you get back to things.

gbroadbridge · Aug 22, 2022

wculver said:
Maybe you are able to stop the doser if numbers go below a threshold using a controller? That way things are on pause while you get back to things.

Well, the problem was the doser wasn't dosing and the corals were consuming Alk.

I have pretty high Alk demand as it's a mixed reef with quite a few SPS coral.

I'm slowly bringing it back up to 7.7 where it belongs. Nothing seems to be upset so far but they will probably let me know in a few weeks.

JGT · Aug 22, 2022

What actually went awry?

gbroadbridge · Aug 22, 2022

JGT said:
What actually went awry?

The dosing line where it drips into the tank blocked up.

I've been told that I should have the ATO topup wash the lines, but hadn't got around to it.

JGT · Aug 22, 2022

Ah, yes, that could do it.

fish farmer · Aug 23, 2022

gbroadbridge said:
The dosing line where it drips into the tank blocked up.

I've been told that I should have the ATO topup wash the lines, but hadn't got around to it.

I had similar happen while on vacation. The dosing pump line was getting tired, I was meaning to replace it, alk was below 7 when it is usually mid 8's. Some coral were not happy.

homer1475 · Aug 23, 2022

gbroadbridge said:
The dosing line where it drips into the tank blocked up.

I've been told that I should have the ATO topup wash the lines, but hadn't got around to it.

100% would stop the end of the line from caking up, and is really simple just requiring an airline T valve.

gbroadbridge · Aug 23, 2022

homer1475 said:
100% would stop the end of the line from caking up, and is really simple just requiring an airline T valve.

Yep, just thought it would never happen to me.

It was astonishing how fast alk dropped, but I dose over 150ml a day of double strength balling.

lol, live and learn.

The SPS are unhappy at the moment, no night time polyp extension at all

Still working to get back to 7.7 but they seem to be sucking it up more than usual.

Dburr1014 · Aug 23, 2022

I ran out of co2 on the calrx. Went down to 5.9 or so. Oops. Coral didn't skip a beat.
Called my local airgass the next day. We're out of co2 5lbs. tanks they said.
That night, dug out the doser and mixed up cal and alk solution, got it online.
It was nerve racking to say the least.
Finally pickup co2 last night. Didn't realize we are in a co2 shortage.

gbroadbridge · Aug 23, 2022

Dburr1014 said:
I ran out of co2 on the calrx. Went down to 5.9 or so. Oops. Coral didn't skip a beat.
Called my local airgass the next day. We're out of co2 5lbs. tanks they said.
That night, dug out the doser and mixed up cal and alk solution, got it online.
It was nerve racking to say the least.
Finally pickup co2 last night. Didn't realize we are in a co2 shortage.

Everything seem to be in shortage at the moment

radiata · Aug 23, 2022

homer1475 said:
100% would stop the end of the line from caking up, and is really simple just requiring an airline T valve.

That's a very interesting idea. I wonder if one could automate those valves by replacing them with some standard controller driven 1/4" solenoid valves? I'm having problems wrapping my head around your idea, so any of your additional thoughts will be much appreciated...

Reefvision · Aug 24, 2022

gbroadbridge said:
The dosing line where it drips into the tank blocked up.

I've been told that I should have the ATO topup wash the lines, but hadn't got around to it.

Had similar problems, in my case the hose popped off of dosers exit barb and alk was dosed all over sump area /floor. I like the idea of a tee airline to keep exit tube from caking up.

vcollins9850 · Aug 24, 2022

radiata said:
That's a very interesting idea. I wonder if one could automate those valves by replacing them with some standard controller driven 1/4" solenoid valves? I'm having problems wrapping my head around your idea, so any of your additional thoughts will be much appreciated...

Just run the alk and auto top off into each side of the T. Every time ato pumps ro it will flush the entire valve. I had this issue with all for reef clogging end of line so t valve hooked to top off fixed it.

homer1475 · Aug 24, 2022

vcollins9850 said:
Just run the alk and auto top off into each side of the T. Every time ato pumps ro it will flush the entire valve. I had this issue with all for reef clogging end of line so t valve hooked to top off fixed it.

Exactly this, with the exception that I place the T sideways. ATO on the top, ALK line into the side, output on the bottom.

This way the RO/DI can't back siphon(unlikely anyways) into the ALK line, and the ALK line won't push the ALK up into the RO/DI line.

gbroadbridge · Aug 24, 2022

homer1475 said:
Exactly this, with the exception that I place the T sideways. ATO on the top, ALK line into the side, output on the bottom.

This way the RO/DI can't back siphon(unlikely anyways) into the ALK line, and the ALK line won't push the ALK up into the RO/DI line.

Thanks for the ideas folks.

I was just going to aim the rodi topup so it sprayed over the dosing lines.

As my tank has unlimited RODI and the skimmer goes straight down the drain there were some disaster scenarios there. I have to run everything pretty carefully, as I often go away on 4-8 week trips and the tank needs to completely foolproof.

Lucky I was home when the Alk line clogged up.

Laith · Aug 25, 2022

I had the same thing happen to me once. But it wasn't the end of the tube that was blocked but a build up of solid carbonate precipitate in several places all along the tube (Alk tube is about 50cm long).

So now every time I fill my carbonate dosing container (24 liters) I also remove the tube and clean it out. Doesn't take long and the 24 liter container lasts about four weeks (currently dosing 840ml a day).

Lavey29 · Aug 25, 2022

Is there a T line fitting that works with the red sea nozzles? I get the alk build up too.

gbroadbridge · Aug 25, 2022

Laith said:
I had the same thing happen to me once. But it wasn't the end of the tube that was blocked but a build up of solid carbonate precipitate in several places all along the tube (Alk tube is about 50cm long).

So now every time I fill my carbonate dosing container (24 liters) I also remove the tube and clean it out. Doesn't take long and the 24 liter container lasts about four weeks (currently dosing 840ml a day).

840ml a day???

Crickey, I'm going nuts trying to keep up with 200ml a day.

How much water do you remove each day to keep the salinity stable or do you just make manual adjustments?

tc760 · Aug 25, 2022

I just dealt with a similar issue with my AWC lines. I have been running this system for several years with zero issues. All of a sudden I noticed my tank going down fast. Turns out I trusted the stability of the system to much. I check salinaty a couple times a month and it hardly moves.

My in line for new salt water clogged but my drain line continued to work so I was removing water with out replacement. The ATO was filling my tank with RO water and my salinity dropped to 1.020 from 1.026 in a couple weeks. Turns out my 50+ feet of 1/4" line was nearly filled with deposits. Quite the joy to clean out.

In retrospect I should have known all the gunk on the bottom of the 55 gal barrel would eventually clog my lines