best doser for kalkwasser

[Gary Majchrzak]

believe it or not, I still top off makeup water manually. All my makeup water is kalkwasser (limewater). What's the best device for auto topoff?
BRS 2 part doser looks simple and inexpensive. So does Drew's Doser. I know Litremeter is rated the best but I really don't see a reason to spend that much money on a simple dosing contraption for kalk.

 

[gary greguire]

do you use a controller?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I have an ACjr but I don't use it for topoffs. My ACjr has extra outlets available.

 

[gary greguire]

I think you can get the cheap doser pumps that do not have the built in controllers and use your JR to run it. I do not know because I havent bought a controller yet.

 

[Gravesj1s]

I like the reefiller diaphragm pumps because of their proven track record I've known folks having these things run well over a decade . No tubing to replace like with perstalitic dosers . Nothing to wearout on these things also it's worth mentioning you can clean the lines of any buildup with pumping vinegar easily with these pumps with the ready supplied drain valve though
Fwiw I found mine for 100$ shipped in the selling forum and was surprised that's all the guy was asking for it with no interest
Only con is noise but it's not an issue for me in the basement sounds like a canopener when on

-Steve

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

yes

yes

I was thinking of running an inexpensive dosing pump on a timer. In my case the "timer" would be my ACjr. I would program an outlet to be "on" several times each day ...to match evaporation.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I like the reefiller diaphragm pumps because of their proven track record I've known folks having these things run well over a decade . No tubing to replace like with perstalitic dosers . Nothing to wearout on these things also it's worth mentioning you can clean the lines of any buildup with pumping vinegar easily with these pumps with the ready supplied drain valve though
Fwiw I found mine for 100$ shipped in the selling forum and was surprised that's all the guy was asking for it with no interest
Only con is noise but it's not an issue for me in the basement sounds like a canopener when on

-Steve

thanks, Steve. Noise isn't an issue here. Reefiller, eh? Who sells these? I don't think I saw them on BRS website..........

 

[StashuDave]

Based on your being able to use your AC Jr and you probably already know your evap per day based on your many years of doing it manually something like a simple Drews Doser is probably all you need. The Drews Doser does a good job and all you really need to do is a little math to match up time and evap rate.

Dave

 

[Gravesj1s]

New they're pricey Gary but based on a solid history I wouldn't hesitate to pickup a used one , just a thought

I know champion lighting has sold them for probably 20 years spectrapure is another I think carries them
I'd link or check but I'm on my phone
Goodluck whatever you decide

-Steve

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Based on your being able to use your AC Jr and you probably already know your evap per day based on your many years of doing it manually something like a simple Drews Doser is probably all you need. The Drews Doser does a good job and all you really need to do is a little math to match up time and evap rate.

Dave

thanks, Dave. That's what I was thinking but I hadn't really put a lot of thought into it PLUS I wanted to hear other's suggestions.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

okay

okay

Drew's dosing pump only delivers 1.5 ml/minute so it won't work for topoff. Too slow. BRS offers a similar unit that does 50ML per minute.
Looks like a winner.

 

[redmanx9]

From what I understand you can use your controller to run your top off water. You can use float switches or you can run it on a timer to whatever you set it at. I'm not a 100% to which direction I'm going yet.

Here is some great material to get you underway.
http://reeftech.webs.com/

I should be getting my Apex Lite next week. I was going for a ACJr but I ended up getting the Lite cause I wanted the extra outlets.

 

[pascal32]

Steve - for the reefiller is there an issue with KALK affecting the diaphragm or the valves? I get worried about valves and kalk in the same sentence.

peristaltic dosing pumps are great pumps - like Steve mentioned the tubes wear and need to be replaced. the wear [IME] has been a reflection of how much has been moved through the pump. long of the short the tubes need to be replaced.

I used a BRS 50ML as a topoff pump for my 72, did the job, though I'd be reluctant to use it for a larger tank.

Gary - is there a reason you are leaning away from a basic pump like the maxi-jet? You can restrict the output to slow the flow and control the topoff via the controller. parts are cheap and keeping an extra sets you back $20 - that way you have a spare on hand.

 

[pascal32]

I should have mentioned I use a kalk reactor on a 50ml pump. My take on kalk is that it is one of two means I use to maintain alkalinity and calcium - by using the kalk reactor on a fixed interval along with dosing of two-part, i fully control the levels regardless of evaporation. I use a topoff via my controller for keeping the water level in the sump. When I have high evaporation i dose the same as low evaporation - in my house seasonally I notice large fluctuation in evaporation, probably largely due to the fan i use for cooling in the summer.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Gary - is there a reason you are leaning away from a basic pump like the maxi-jet? You can restrict the output to slow the flow and control the topoff via the controller. parts are cheap and keeping an extra sets you back $20 - that way you have a spare on hand.

isn't it cheaper to keep spare tubes on hand than a spare MJ?

Kalk will destroy a MJ fairly quickly IME. I will be pumping (or drawing) kalk from a 30 gallon Brute. I like the idea of using tubes and the BRS topoff unit.

 

[pascal32]

The MJs that failed you - were they mixing kalk or pushing the saturated mix? I've read of maxijets getting torn up from mixing, thought they would last longer just pushing saturated kalk.

How many gallons per day are you topping off?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

evap is between 1-2 gallons per day. The kalk barrel destroys all pumps. I mix kalk with a Mag7 and it has to be rinsed after each mixing. I really don't want to place a pump in that barrel 24/7

 

[pascal32]

evap is between 1-2 gallons per day. The kalk barrel destroys all pumps. I mix kalk with a Mag7 and it has to be rinsed after each mixing. I really don't want to place a pump in that barrel 24/7

that seems like a reasonable expectation

1-2 gallons per day? wow, my tank does more than that while I'm sleeping.

at 2 gallons/day you are looking for about 7500 ml/day, divide by 50 (ml/min) and you end up with 150 minutes per day for 2 gallons.

BRS lists the tube life at 2hrs/day for 12 months which is 730 hours. if that is accurate you should get 292 days of usage (about 9.5 months) out of the tube.

at the cost of $10 I would replace earlier, say 7 months just to be safe.

considering the options:
traditional pump - too much wear and tear (though i have read the ehiem fairs well)
maxijet - too much wear and tear
reefiller - expensive and uses valves (I'm not a fan of valves, sorry steve )
aqualifter - likely to clog, some reports of success, too few to gain comfort
BRS Dosing pump - medium price buy-in with cheap annual cost

thinking you are spot on with the BRS 50ml/min pump.

 

[Waterobert]

For many years I have been using Tom aqua lifter pump with digital timer. I set it 12 times a day to run for 2-3 minutes. Never had a problem except for reprogramming timer during the summer. I used kalk but never fully saturated mix. One time I went for 16 days vacation, had no problem.
Last year I got the real ATO with water sensors etc. Few weeks later ATO dumped 4 gallons of fresh water at once. Tiny, little F*ing snail jammed sensor. So much for fancy ATO. I was lucky that I didn't use kalk.

Kalk is not so friendly towards pumps. What if you could pump air into sealed container with kalk which has air line tubing attached at the bottom. Pressure created by pumped air would push kalk out of container into your tank. Aqua lifter pump would never pump kalk and would never get clogged.Just an idea worth of exploring.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

yeah.. I thought about a pressurized way to deliver kalk. Good options are out there but once I mix my 30 gallon Brute I just wanna leave it alone in there. I don't like floats or valves.
If the tube fails on the BRS unit what's the worse case scenario... kalkwasser leaks onto the floor? That sure beats getting kalk dumped into the aquarium.
I'm liking the BRS unit for delivery more and more.

Thanks for breaking that down, Pascal.