As part of my new build i order the new Bubble Magus Doser pump. During the summers weeks the flexibility of spending some time at the local parks camping is a big part of our family life. The other part of this is my wife - she is wonderful and will do anything to help - with that said I think she would be permanently traumatized if the tank crashed while I was on travel for work - with a dosing system she is abstained from any liability which is good for both of us! Unfortunately the reef tank can be a bit of a ball and chain - primarily for top-off and dosing. For peace of mind and the well being of the corals this is a must have in our household!
Currently I keep it simple and dose KH, Alk, Mg, and KoralKolor. As time goes on I might look into more advanced dosing such as Strontium.
I have an RKE and was planning on dosing using the 1.1ml pumps from BRS. To do this I would have to use one power port on the RKE. This equates to about $20 for the power port + $90 for the pump, totaling at about $110 per dosing pump. the BM-BT01 is less money overall and makes dosing.
The BM-BT01 is under $300 for three pumps showing a $30 savings which is increased by adding the BM-T02 add-on of 4 pumps at about $65/pump.
The price price difference in addition to the dedicated unit was enough to make the splurge worth it.
The unit arrived nicely boxed. Setup is as easy as it gets, plug in power and wait a few seconds for it to load.
I forgot to take a "normal" picture of the doser, so here are the pictures from the BM site:
primary unit:
secondary:
To setup:
(1) set the time
- press escape
- use the up/down buttons to select set time, press enter
- set the time using the up/down buttons for each digit and press enter
(2) connect lines
- I used standard air line tubing which seems to fit nice and snug
- input is on the left, output on the right
(3) prime the pump
- press escape
- use the up/down buttons to select manual control, press enter
- select the pump using the up/down button - pump 1,2 & 3 are on the primary unit, 4,5,6 & 7 on the secondary (I'm guessing an additional add-on would continue the trend)
- press and hold enter to manually run the pump till the air bubbles are out and the line is full
(2) configure pump for dosing
- press escape
- use the up/down buttons to select setup program
- use the up/down button to select 1-3 for the primary unit, or 4-7 for the secondary
- use the up/down to select the pump number
- set the ml/day using the up/down buttons for each digit and press enter. you can select from 1-1999 ml.
- set the cycles per day and press enter. these are based on the following table:
Dose amount (mL): Cycles/day
1: 1,2
2: 1,2,3,4
3: 1,2,3,4,6
4-5: 1,2,3,4,6,8
6-11: 1,2,3,4,6,8,12
12-160: 1,2,3,4,6,8,12,24
161-319: 2,3,4,6,8,12,24
320-479: 3,4,6,8,12,24
480-639: 4,6,8,12,24
640-959: 6,8,12,24
960-1279: 8,12,24
1280-1919: 12,24
1920-1999: 24
- set the start time (take note you can only select the start hour, press enter. the minutes are pre-determined based on the pump number). for example P1-:00 P2-:05 P3-:10 and so on.
*** NOTE - the pumps are forced to run one at a time to prevent mixing of chemicals.
-press esc to return to the main screen
testing:
To test I used a cup of RO/DI and a BRS 250ml flask. For each channel I put a 100 ml single dose and set the time so that it would run a minute after programming.
results for 100 Ml test on each pump:
1- 111 ml
2- 99 ml
3- 109 ml
4- 110 ml
5- 99 ml
6- 100 ml
7- 100 ml - 102ml - 102ml
* as a side not I found it interesting that the pumps are either 100 ml or 110 ml - I was expecting more of a distribution.
as you can see there is variance with each pump, though they seem to be fairly consistent between runs as noted with the multiple runs on pump 7. I have not tried a "head pressure" test, though I suspect the values will not change.
Overall impression:
The unit seems well made, though I'm not a fan of the buttons. Then again, hard to press buttons are a pet peeve of mine. The unit is very easy to use! The pumps are not quiet, but not overly loud either. I'm not sure I would want this in my bedroom, but in the living room with the TV it wouldn't be an annoyance like the automatic cat litter box by the kitchen is. The accuracy seems to be on par with the hobby pumps I looked at, though I'm not expert and have not seriously researched accuracy of dosing pumps. consistency is most important to me.
I also ordered the bracket and line holder - both are fantastic quality and are show-case worthy! WARNING - apparently when buying Bubble Magus pumps it is assumed you have a rimless sump - the bracket will only fit facing down, compared to the horizontal it is made for. this will not impact usage, just something noteworthy.
The only downsides are:
(1) although you can select cycles per day (within the limits of the table above) - you can NOT do a number of cycles within a time frame less than 24 hours - for example you can NOT say dose 100 ML 4 times between midnight and 6 AM. You have to spread the split doses of 24 hours
(2) my grip - calibration tables are not hard to implement - it would have been nice to allow the user to dose a set amount such as 100ml and put a correction value in to increase the accuracy.
overall review:
highly recommended!
English manual: www.fish-street.com/downloads/bmt01.zip
connecting the two units is a single wire for signal and power:
installed in new sump:
Bracket to hold dosing pumps:
Line Holder:
Currently I keep it simple and dose KH, Alk, Mg, and KoralKolor. As time goes on I might look into more advanced dosing such as Strontium.
I have an RKE and was planning on dosing using the 1.1ml pumps from BRS. To do this I would have to use one power port on the RKE. This equates to about $20 for the power port + $90 for the pump, totaling at about $110 per dosing pump. the BM-BT01 is less money overall and makes dosing.
The BM-BT01 is under $300 for three pumps showing a $30 savings which is increased by adding the BM-T02 add-on of 4 pumps at about $65/pump.
The price price difference in addition to the dedicated unit was enough to make the splurge worth it.
The unit arrived nicely boxed. Setup is as easy as it gets, plug in power and wait a few seconds for it to load.
I forgot to take a "normal" picture of the doser, so here are the pictures from the BM site:
primary unit:
secondary:
To setup:
(1) set the time
- press escape
- use the up/down buttons to select set time, press enter
- set the time using the up/down buttons for each digit and press enter
(2) connect lines
- I used standard air line tubing which seems to fit nice and snug
- input is on the left, output on the right
(3) prime the pump
- press escape
- use the up/down buttons to select manual control, press enter
- select the pump using the up/down button - pump 1,2 & 3 are on the primary unit, 4,5,6 & 7 on the secondary (I'm guessing an additional add-on would continue the trend)
- press and hold enter to manually run the pump till the air bubbles are out and the line is full
(2) configure pump for dosing
- press escape
- use the up/down buttons to select setup program
- use the up/down button to select 1-3 for the primary unit, or 4-7 for the secondary
- use the up/down to select the pump number
- set the ml/day using the up/down buttons for each digit and press enter. you can select from 1-1999 ml.
- set the cycles per day and press enter. these are based on the following table:
Dose amount (mL): Cycles/day
1: 1,2
2: 1,2,3,4
3: 1,2,3,4,6
4-5: 1,2,3,4,6,8
6-11: 1,2,3,4,6,8,12
12-160: 1,2,3,4,6,8,12,24
161-319: 2,3,4,6,8,12,24
320-479: 3,4,6,8,12,24
480-639: 4,6,8,12,24
640-959: 6,8,12,24
960-1279: 8,12,24
1280-1919: 12,24
1920-1999: 24
- set the start time (take note you can only select the start hour, press enter. the minutes are pre-determined based on the pump number). for example P1-:00 P2-:05 P3-:10 and so on.
*** NOTE - the pumps are forced to run one at a time to prevent mixing of chemicals.
-press esc to return to the main screen
testing:
To test I used a cup of RO/DI and a BRS 250ml flask. For each channel I put a 100 ml single dose and set the time so that it would run a minute after programming.
results for 100 Ml test on each pump:
1- 111 ml
2- 99 ml
3- 109 ml
4- 110 ml
5- 99 ml
6- 100 ml
7- 100 ml - 102ml - 102ml
* as a side not I found it interesting that the pumps are either 100 ml or 110 ml - I was expecting more of a distribution.
as you can see there is variance with each pump, though they seem to be fairly consistent between runs as noted with the multiple runs on pump 7. I have not tried a "head pressure" test, though I suspect the values will not change.
Overall impression:
The unit seems well made, though I'm not a fan of the buttons. Then again, hard to press buttons are a pet peeve of mine. The unit is very easy to use! The pumps are not quiet, but not overly loud either. I'm not sure I would want this in my bedroom, but in the living room with the TV it wouldn't be an annoyance like the automatic cat litter box by the kitchen is. The accuracy seems to be on par with the hobby pumps I looked at, though I'm not expert and have not seriously researched accuracy of dosing pumps. consistency is most important to me.
I also ordered the bracket and line holder - both are fantastic quality and are show-case worthy! WARNING - apparently when buying Bubble Magus pumps it is assumed you have a rimless sump - the bracket will only fit facing down, compared to the horizontal it is made for. this will not impact usage, just something noteworthy.
The only downsides are:
(1) although you can select cycles per day (within the limits of the table above) - you can NOT do a number of cycles within a time frame less than 24 hours - for example you can NOT say dose 100 ML 4 times between midnight and 6 AM. You have to spread the split doses of 24 hours
(2) my grip - calibration tables are not hard to implement - it would have been nice to allow the user to dose a set amount such as 100ml and put a correction value in to increase the accuracy.
overall review:
highly recommended!
English manual: www.fish-street.com/downloads/bmt01.zip
connecting the two units is a single wire for signal and power:
installed in new sump:
Bracket to hold dosing pumps:
Line Holder:
