Bubble Magus Dosing Pump and Aquamaxx Dosing Containers

Sorry guys, it's been a long time I haven't blog and I figured it's time to get back into it.  My tank has gone through many changes and updates.  I figured I start with the Bubble Magus Dosing Pump since that was the last equipment I added before my last post.  With the long time period using it I figure I can actually review this product of it's worthiness.

So this is the Bubble Magus Dosing Pump BM-T01.  It's design is pretty sweet, it has a interactive interface and a nicely bright display to show you what you are selecting.  The instructions that come with it are pretty confusing but after some trial and error I was able to figure it out and adjust it to my specifications.

There are four buttons in the front.  They are label as Up, Down, Enter, Esc.  The Bubble Magus comes with 3 dosing pumps and has the capability of connecting the up to 2 BTM-T02 on the back of the unit to combine a total of up to 11 dosing pumps.  

 The Unit came with a 3 meter tubing but I didn't like the feel to it as it wasn't flexible and long enough.  I replaced it with the Tom Aquatics Flexible Airline Tubing.   I also got the SeaSide Aquatics tube bracket to assist on holding the tubes back to the tank.  It has plastics screws to gently tightly fit the flexible tube to keep them in place.

I seen so many dosing containers that have the tubing connection on the top.  So the pressure from the dosing pump pushes the liquid up the tubing. The flaw with this is that liquid settles on the bottom where it's all concentrated and doesn't mix the liquid well.  The Aquamaxx was a great choice since it has the connection on the bottom.  It has a valve in case you need to shut it off and remove the tubing.  The lid easily pops up to refill the container

At the 1st initial set up you have to manually pump the liquid up to the tubing close to the output of the flexible tube.  If you don't do this, it will take several days till the liquid is push out.  The dosing pump can do from 1 ml to 1999 ml and can do up to 24 cycle per day.  The many options allows you to control the setting to your own specification.  I recommend to do low amounts daily than having a large dosing amount at the end of the week.  This will keep your tank establish to the correct trace elements value without fluctuation to much.  I recommend to do the math on which ever brand you are using on the trace elements to start with.  That way you know around the basic amount to dose and test weekly to adjust and achieve the correct amount needed to your tank.  It's better to be safe and not to overdose and end up loosing your livestock.  

I have to say I been very happy with the results of the unit and the combination of the dosing containers.  It has made the reef tank a lot more easier to maintain and not to mention healthier corals, fishes and other invertebrates. 

New JBJ ATO with Tom Aquatics dosing Pump

So I been getting several water evaporation, and it's a pain getting that 5gl jug over the tank to add water.

I decided to try one of those Auto Top Off system, there's so many out in the market ranging different prices.  Today I'll be focusing on the JBJ ATO, now I gotten several mix reviews that it's an okay item.  

This comes with 2 floater sensors and several brackets to adjust the height of the floater sensors, as well as     

2 suction cups.

I like the feature that you can set this up 2 ways.  The way I'll be setting up is with one floater sensor and as the pump i will be using the famous Tom Aquatics Aqualifter.. oooohhhh la la..

 

So I cut 2 pieces of 3 ft length on the flexible tubing, one to go into the Aqualifter and 1 ft length of the tubing that's going into the into the suction pre-filter. The remaining three feet goes from the suction pre-filter into the reservoir(in this case I'll be using a 5gl water jug)

Next Step is too mount the JBJ ATO, I mounted it next to my wavemaker.  The float sensor was placed with one bracket on the left chamber next to the protein skimmer.   I adjusted the height by cutting a small piece of 1/2" tubing and placing it under the bracket sitting firmly on the rim of the aquarium.  The output hose of the pump was run in between this 1/2" piece of tubing to hold it place and not to allow it to be in the water as this may cause a back flow siphon.

 After testing the system, the Aqualifter was mounted on a hook drilled to the wall at a level that would not affect the outcome of the water being pushed up.  The 5gl jug had a cap with a hole in the middle that was perfect to insert the flexible hose in and still keep it cover from any dust or any other contaminated particles that may affect the water.  I got an old test tube with a rubber cover that would slide perfectly in this hole.  All I had to do was make a small insertion for the flexible tubing to slide in.

It's been 2 days and so far the water level has been stable.