# Dosing via drip system



## Gumby (Aug 1, 2005)

I'd love to get an automatic dosing pump, but after checking it out it would be too expensive for me. My AquaMedic distributor buddy can get me a pump for $80... too much. I've got a busy schedule this semester and often find myself neglecting my dosing duties which leads to deficiencies, algae growth and stunted plants. 

I was wondering if anyone had ever attempted dosing via a drip system. This is commonly done on reef tanks for dosing Ca.


Do any of you have experience with dosing via a drip system? If not, any ideas? How would you figure out how much ferts go into the tank in one day? My chem knowledge is limited so I figured I'd ask you guys(and girls) for help.

Any ideas on how this could be done would be appreciated.


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## slickwillislim (Oct 11, 2005)

I did try this. I hooked a one gallon bucket up with a small hose fitting at the bottom that i attached to an airline. I then hooked up the air line to a valve that i had modified to allow for very little flow. I filled it with water and set the bucket on a table and let it drip for a few hours. I used the general idea that 20 drops is 1ml i did the math in excel. I then simply added enough water for twenty days and dry ferts/some liquid ferts and mixed it all up. 

Make sure you find a valve with very low flow rate. Make sure when your measuring how much water it puts out in a certian amount of time that you have the same height off the water as you will in your tank. As less and less liquid is in the bucket less pressure will be present and flow will decrease.

This is by no means a perfect way of measuring and I will warn you i didnt run out of water until a few days after the 20th but that was due to less pressure over time. I would also recomend stirring the mixture just to make sure it isnt just sitting at the bottom. 

To avoid all this trouble i would look into Kent aquadose its quite common and it works on these same principles but would probably be more acurate. 

If anything here seems off it probably is. I am writing this right before i go to bed so hopefully you can decipher what i was trying to say.


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## New 2 Fish (Dec 31, 2004)

I've been thinking about this too... I work in the medical field, and we have IV drip sets that deliver the flow from IV bags. There are sets that make 1 drop=1/60th of a ml and some that make 10 drops=1/10th of an ml. This can be hooked up to a bag with say 1000mls of fertilizer fluid. Then, the rate can be adjusted to ge tthe desired dose. The only thing I haven't figured out is how to do macros and traces on opposite days.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

You should be able to get something from a hospital supply company. You want to look for a refillable bottle (was easier to find 20 yrs ago) and a micro-drip IV tubing set. You can adjust the flow rate quite precisely. Use it to run your macros and do manual micro dosing 1x or 2x / week.


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## New 2 Fish (Dec 31, 2004)

So would you shut off the macros on the day you dose traces?
Sounds a heck of a lot easier than measuring everything out every other day! (I'm lazy.)


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I'd probably just let it keep on dripping. I'm not sure that there is much behind the old wisdom of dosing every other day. It probably would be a bad idea to mix micros and macros together in a concentrated stock solution since this probably would lead to a precipitate from compounds coming out of solution. In a solution as dilute as the aquarium water (we're talking about 1-2 ppm here) it probably isn't a big worry.

It's not like the phosphate levels are magically zero on the day you dose traces. That stuff is always in there (hopefully).


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## New 2 Fish (Dec 31, 2004)

Ahhh.... well that makes sense! I may try this for my grow out tank since it's a cold walk out to the little building in the back of my yard...


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Just curious and maybe a dumb question: Doesn't a setup like this require that the dosing recipient be higher than the surface of the aquarium water? Unless I'm missing something I don't see how else the drip would work...

If so, does this mean you have like an IV stand sitting next to the aquarium?


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## yme (Jul 25, 2005)

why don't you make your own dosing pump?










further info at: http://www.home.zonnet.nl/rsetteur/

notice that the pump I made is not discussed in english. if you go to "zelfbouw" and than choose "doseerpompje ruben" you will find it.

greetz,

yme


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## RuslanJamil (Oct 30, 2005)

*DIY Dosing Pump*

Since it works on a light timer, I would guess that it only works for one day, right? So the syringe will have to be replenished daily. Or am I missing something?

Thanks.


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## yme (Jul 25, 2005)

RuslanJamil said:


> Or am I missing something?


I guess so 

It is a continuous system due to the T-coupling and the check valves. The stock solution is connected to the airline and is sucked into the syringe through the first check valve. the check valve prevents the solution to go back when the plunger is pushing the solution out of the syringe. So the solution is going through the second check valve and goes into the air line towards the aquarium. fully automatic!

greetz,

yme


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Now that is a brilliant idea! And the second check valve ensures that the syringe draws from the fert recipient and not from the line going to the tank. 

I like it.

Do you find the timer "rotor" strong enough to pull and push the syringe plunger?


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## yme (Jul 25, 2005)

Unfortunately, It is not my idea. I just copied it!

And yes, it is strong enough to pull and push a 10 ml syringe. Larger would give problems. And notice that you should have a rubber plunger.

I have no problems at all with the device since I corrected a construction error: the nut, located at the center of the timer, was moving along the vertical bolt, which resulted in jamming of the system and subsequently a destroyed cog of the timer. 

I have made two of these pumps, one for nitrate and one for fosfate. And it works perfectly!!


greetz,

yme


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## fishyface (Feb 7, 2005)

New 2 Fish said:


> I've been thinking about this too... I work in the medical field, and we have IV drip sets that deliver the flow from IV bags.


i've tried this several times in the past with very inconstant results unfortunately...not sure why, perhaps the line became partially obstructed. good luck in your endeavors though.


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## RuslanJamil (Oct 30, 2005)

Awesome idea, whoever the inventor is. Something to try one of these days... 

I presume dosing is done during lights on and the syringe is 'refilled' at night.


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## magicmagni (Aug 19, 2004)

Wow that is amazing. I wonder if you could run two syringes off of one timer? Then you could dose traces and macros with one at alternating times. (while one is pulling fluid in the other is pushing it out)

Also wondering what if any internal mods need to be done to the timer? It's hard to tell from just looking at the pictures on the website, but it looks like the person is changing something inside of the timer?


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