how to auto does bionic

[WindyDayzz]

I have been using bionic for a while now and have been happy i just do not have as much time as before to do it every day. will a dosing pump work or does bionic need to be areated i know i must mix it every time before adding it to the tank any input would be great.

 

[Cody00SS]

Need to mix before putting in the tank? I just add mine right in in a high flow area away from corals.

 

[WindyDayzz]

sorry its dosing. can i put it in a dosing pump

 

[impur]

You can't mix the 2 parts. That will lead to precipitation. You can use a dosing pump for one of the parts.

 

[skireef]

You can use 2 dosing pumps, or get the ESV doser which is driven by two air pumps. Don't forget the timers.

 

[SaltandPepper]

how often do you dose the Bionic? Daily? Weekly?

 

[skireef]

Dosing will depend on the load and tank side. Theoretically, you shouldn't be adding anything without testing first. With the test results, you can specifically answer your own question.

I have mine added daily to the office tank using the esv doser....if I have to rely on me doing it, it aint happening!!!

 

[GSchiemer]

I use a Spectrapure Liter Meter III with the dual pump option. This is by far the best way to dose any of the two part supplements. The pumps can be adjusted down to milliliters per day and ensure both parts are dosed equally. I mix the two parts with RO/DI water and store them in 3 gallon reservoirs. This way I replace evaporated water as I slowly dose B-Ionic.

Greg

 

[Mike O'Brien]

I mix the two parts with RO/DI water and store them in 3 gallon reservoirs. This way I replace evaporated water as I slowly dose B-Ionic.


You use one container for both parts?

 

[GSchiemer]

No. You can't mix the two parts. Each part is in a separate 3 gallon reservoir.

 

[Mike O'Brien]

I mix the two parts with RO/DI water and store them in 3 gallon reservoirs. This way I replace evaporated water as I slowly dose B-Ionic.


You use one container for both parts?

I know, thats your quote. guess I didn't see the s on the end of reservoir.

 

[tanksalot]

Greg:

Your said "I use a Spectrapure Liter Meter III with the dual pump option. This is by far the best way to dose any of the two part supplements. "

Since the Sentry from my company, reefdosingpumps.com, is made for 2-channel operation, and comes with many features absent in the Litermeter III (while being less expensive), I found the above statement very interesting. Here's a comparison of the 2 products: http://www.reefdosingpumps.com/Pages/features.html I would expect most people prefer to dose C-Balance or similar materials separately, and not be bothered with pre-diluting 2 different incompatible materials to incorporate them into the makeup water.

tanksalot

Stan F.

 

[tanksalot]

Please edit out the period after the "html" of the above post to get to the correct page.

Sorry for the problem

Stan F.

 

[GSchiemer]

As with any supplement, it is ALWAYS best to dose it slowly and over a period of time. It's no different with B-Ionic. By diluting the two parts with DI water, you not only spread the dosing over a longer period of time, you replace evaporated water simultaneously. Of course it's also best to replace evaporated water slowly, so it's a win/win situation.

I'm a big fan of the LiterMeter Pumps from Spectrapure. I've been using the original LiterMeter pump for 7 years running on one reef aquarium and haven't even replaced the tubing once. That's amazing to me. I was told that the LiterMeter III is being re-introduced now with an even heavier-duty American-made motor. You can learn more here:

LiterMeter III

 

[Tech Diver]

I am really quite surprised why anyone would like the SpectraPure LiterMeter. I bought one about a year and a half ago and was shocked by the lack of quality for the price that they charge. For my small tank (29 gal) I needed a device to deliver a steady flow of Kalkwasser overnight. The LiterMeter would shoot like a machine gun for about 15 seconds, then remain silent for about nine minutes. This highly uneven dosing procedure was completely unacceptable since I was dosing directly into the tank (I don't have a sump). I called up SpectraPure technical support to see if my unit was defective and even let them hear how loud it was over the telephone. The assured me that there was nothing wrong and it operated as designed. Needless to say, I sent it back very quickly and fortunately got a full refund.

I looked all around to find something of high quality and came across a product from Reef Dosing Pumps called the Sentry. It is based on a high-precision medical pump, is built like a tank, and lets me connect it to a timer/pH controller so it delivers only when needed. Furthermore, I can control the dosing to such a fine degree that I literally can add one drip per second or even slower. I have had it running continuously (and silently) for a year and a half without ever having to do any maintenance on it.

As a VP of Engineering I honestly can't see how anyone can shell out $300 for a LiterMeter that uses a motor that my son has in his toy racing car. The housing is cheap soft plastic, the peristaltic rollers are cast and uneven, and the electronics also consists of a cheap circuit board with no conformal coating. In contrast, I have recently found out that the Reef Dosing Pumps Sentry is based on a medical unit that costs over $1000 when new. Additionally, since it was designed to be used on human beings, it obviously had to pass the toughest quality and ruggedness standards set by the Federal government. Otherwise, the medical manufacturer would be sued by the public in no-time.

I would NOT use a LiterMeter if I got one for free! All you have to do is open it up to see that is a very low quality product. The Sentry from Reef Dosing Pumps wins hands-down.

NOTE: I am in no way associated with the Sentry product. I am just and Engineer who demands high quality in all the products I buy whether it be a car, toaster, watch, etc. Sorry if I sound so tough about the LiterMeter, but I just can't stand shoddy products, especially when the price far exceeds the value.

 

[impur]

You could also get 2 FLEXiFLO-III dosing pumps off ebay for about $100 bucks total shipped to dose your b-ionic. I use one for my kalk 24/7 and highly recommend one. Have had no problems whatsoever and its quite as can be. Of course it would take up more room than a dual one.

 

[diverrad]

I have the senty as well does a great job a dosing AB plus it even has a battery back up bult in. Had it for 2 years no problems.

 

[GSchiemer]

I am really quite surprised why anyone would like the SpectraPure LiterMeter. I bought one about a year and a half ago and was shocked by the lack of quality for the price that they charge. For my small tank (29 gal) I needed a device to deliver a steady flow of Kalkwasser overnight. The LiterMeter would shoot like a machine gun for about 15 seconds, then remain silent for about nine minutes. This highly uneven dosing procedure was completely unacceptable since I was dosing directly into the tank (I don't have a sump). I called up SpectraPure technical support to see if my unit was defective and even let them hear how loud it was over the telephone. The assured me that there was nothing wrong and it operated as designed. Needless to say, I sent it back very quickly and fortunately got a full refund.

I looked all around to find something of high quality and came across a product from Reef Dosing Pumps called the Sentry. It is based on a high-precision medical pump, is built like a tank, and lets me connect it to a timer/pH controller so it delivers only when needed. Furthermore, I can control the dosing to such a fine degree that I literally can add one drip per second or even slower. I have had it running continuously (and silently) for a year and a half without ever having to do any maintenance on it.

As a VP of Engineering I honestly can't see how anyone can shell out $300 for a LiterMeter that uses a motor that my son has in his toy racing car. The housing is cheap soft plastic, the peristaltic rollers are cast and uneven, and the electronics also consists of a cheap circuit board with no conformal coating. In contrast, I have recently found out that the Reef Dosing Pumps Sentry is based on a medical unit that costs over $1000 when new. Additionally, since it was designed to be used on human beings, it obviously had to pass the toughest quality and ruggedness standards set by the Federal government. Otherwise, the medical manufacturer would be sued by the public in no-time.

I would NOT use a LiterMeter if I got one for free! All you have to do is open it up to see that is a very low quality product. The Sentry from Reef Dosing Pumps wins hands-down.

NOTE: I am in no way associated with the Sentry product. I am just and Engineer who demands high quality in all the products I buy whether it be a car, toaster, watch, etc. Sorry if I sound so tough about the LiterMeter, but I just can't stand shoddy products, especially when the price far exceeds the value.

It sounds like you didn't understand how to operate the LiterMeter. Once you set the amount to be dosed over a 24 hr period, the pump doses this amount in 150 increments over that period. This is why it dosed every 9 minutes. That's the way it's supposed to work.

I strongly disagree with your comments about the quality of the LiterMeter. I've used EVERY dosing pump sold for the aquarium market, and even some swimming pool dosing pumps, and by far the LiterMeter is the best designed and highest quality. Unlike the hospital surplus pumps, the LiterMeter was designed for aquarium use. I have one running for 7 years continuosly and haven't even changed the tubing! Try that with another pump. The hospital pumps are designed to work for a short period of time (not continuously) and the tubing was designed for a limited ONE-TIME use. It won't stand up to long-term kalkwasser dosing, and it certainly won't maintain it's accuracy over an extended period of time. The LiterMeter does this and more.

By the way, you don't need a timer with the LiterMeter. It's built-in to the pump controller.

Either you are very misinformed or a shill.

Greg

 

[Tech Diver]

Greg,

First off, I am neither a shill nor misinformed. I am an Engineer who has a great deal of experience developing very high quality products. I was in fact, one of the key developers of the Ring Laser Gyroscope for the Tomahawk Cruise Missile. My point being that the very precise nature of my profession requires me to recognize both quality and poor engineering when I see it.

As we are both aware, the LiterMeter cycles every 9 minutes or so, and as such, delivers a large quantity of dosing agent in just a few seconds at the end of the long cycle. Clearly this is not a good design if you have to dose directly into the tank. The shock of delivering so much Kalkwasser (even at the tip of a circulation nozzle) can be quite damaging to sensitive corals. The hospital dosers spread the delivery smoothly over a continuous period of time. I feel this is a much better approach. After all, we constantly hear that there should be no sudden changes to the aquarium environment whether it be temperature, pH, salinity, etc.

As for the one-time use tubing, I agree that sort of tubing does not hold up (it is specifically designed to fail in order to force users to use sterile supplies). HOWEVER, the tubing that came from the Sentry guys does hold up. It is definitely a different material than the hospital variety and I have been using the original one that came with the product for a year and a half with Kalkwasser (not RODI water) running through it. I have a spare but I don't see having to replace it any time soon.

As for quality, the motor in the LiterMeter is just plain garbage. It has such little torque that it HAS TO run at a fairly high speed to keep from stopping. That is reason why SpectraPure MUST have it cycle for nine minutes because it is just NOT CAPABLE of delivering a slow steady dose. This is not my opinion; it is an engineering fact. This design is far less costly than utilizing a reduction gear-train with a synchronous motor but far less accurate as well.

The rollers that are in the LiterMeter are cast plastic and are not very round. These rollers should either be extruded or turned on a lathe so the unit does not vibrate so much when it runs at its high rate of rotation. As I recall, the rollers run against a tube that is held by a curved plastic wall (essentially a large cylindrical tube). Again, this is an unevenly curved piece of cast plastic that contributes to the noise and vibration because it changes the location of the center of the motor axis during each revolution. This should either be machined or made of a much thicker piece of plastic with dimension stability for the casting process. Again, I feel they sacrificed quality for development costs.

As for the statement "made specifically for aquarium use", what does that really mean? A hospital doser is of high enough quality that it can be used for scientific and medical purposes, while an aquarium doser can not. I'm not sure what feature a LiterMeter has that I could not find in a hospital doser (maybe the timer?). I could NEVER EVER get away with putting a LiterMeter in one of my research labs. The accuracy, durability, and quality are just not there.

Comparing the LiterMeter with the Sentry (or any other hospital doser) is just like comparing a Timex with a Patek Philippe watch. To understand and appreciate the huge difference in quality, you must open them up and look inside. Once you have done so, the facts are clear.

Greg, please understand that you should not take this as a personal attack and we should keep this dialog on a professional level. I must share with you that I do not appreciate you calling me a shill or a misinformed individual. I look at this purely from an engineering analysis perspective and couldn't care less about the manufacturer or what was the original intent of a device.

Peter

 

[Anemone]

Interesting discussion. FWIW, ESV sells dosing units for their B-Ionic. They are run by a air pump (buy your own). I haven't used one, just know they exist.

Now, for automated top off, I personally like my Tunze Osmolator way more than I liked my ReefFiller (similar to the litermeter). Don't have to constantly fiddle with the adjustment knob to compensate for changing evaporation levels, and no worries about a mechanical float switch sticking.

FWIW,
Kevin