Bubble Magus Dosing Pump

[straydum]

just to backtrack, as i slowly moved over the dark side of keeping sps, it became evident that my ca and alk began dropping at obvious levels on a daily basis and very soon i was adding additives so often just to sustain my water perimeters to the bare minimum. it didn't take long to realize that this daily monitoring and adding cannot be sustained especially when i go back to my studies.

for a peace of mind and the well being of the corals, two options came to mind,

1. get calcium reactor

2. get a dosing pump

for those who has seen my setup, a calcium reactor isn't going to fit into my cabinet or my sump even and i wasn't going to put in out in the open. a dosing pump on the other hand isn't going to be cheap. so for a while i decided to try out using 2 Tom Aquatics Aqua-Lifter Dosing Pumps. they do work but the inconsistency in dosing is terrible. tuning is key with these guys, and together with a trusty timer you get something like this! (not mine).

it wasn't long before 1 unit broke down and it was back to my original idea, get a dosing pump

after much research and talking to people with experience (especially with wilsontantw), i took the plunge and came home with this

packaging seems rather solid with the whole pump bubble wrapped within the box. the BM-T01 packing list,

1. quantitative pump control box

2. power transformer

3. instructions

4. PVC transparent pipe (3 meters)

5. 6 hose connectors (attached to the pump)

first look the unit seems rather big being 23.5 x 16 x 7cm. the base comes with 4 small anti-slip sponges at the corners so you needn't worry about the pump sliding off. the buttons are rather hard to press and i eventually resorted to using my nails to do so. there're 3 pumps for you to dose 3 things. at the moment i'm only doing ca and alk but i would add in either top up water or mg (or both) to the third pump eventually.

setting up took less than 5 minutes!

(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 (important)

- 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

- 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

- 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, in other words the pumps are forced to run one at a time to prevent mixing of chemicals.

-press esc to return to the main screen and you're done!

as seen in the table, the number of doses per day is sort of confined to the following cycles according to how much you dose. so for instance you can't dose like 5 times a day, instead only 4 or 6 depending. because of this i try to make my dosage dividable by 4 or 6 and change my cycles accordingly. the pump timings also make it not possible to dose at any time you wish. you can't set the start timing to say 0730, only 0700, 0705 or 0710 depending on your pump, meaning pump 1 will always start from XX00, pump 2 XX05 and pump 3 XX10.

the pump is virtually silent when its not running but when it starts its quite loud though its not a bad thing i would say. it sounds like a whirl of gears like those in toy cars and i can hear it from my room almost 8 meters away from my tank in the living room. maybe this pump would be a bad choice for a bedroom addition but for me it lets me know that my pump is working and dosing for my tank. having said that i haven't been woken up yet by the dosing halfway through the night.

good points:

1. overall well made, seems like a reliable piece of equipment

2. very easy to program and use

3. ensures a stable input of ca and alk (in my case)

4. pumps are forced to run one at a time at at least 5 mintues intervals to prevent mixing of chemicals

not so good points:

1. may be a pricey option to some

2. dosing schedule is not flexible. i can't set to dose my alk in the night say from 2000 to 0500.

3. overly hard buttons!

4. perhaps too loud for noise sensitive users

[samsies]

Nice review dude!

I'm sure those contemplating on going to the 'dark side' but are hesitating because of the dosing regime will be swayed by your review for sure.

[divinesloth]

Hey, thanks for the indepth review. I think I'll grab one on my next business trip to China!

[straydum]

thanks for the comments

for those who are interested or don't know this yet, you can 'upgrade' your dosing pump with the following gadgets

an extra 4 dosing channels which can be connected to your primary set, meaning you can now choose from pumps 1-7!

holders for your pump

holders for your tubes even!

and matching solution holders

[wilsontantw]

Hey, thanks for the indepth review. I think I'll grab one on my next business trip to China!

Wah bro. You also get to go QD?? Issit too much to tompang the 4 channel add-on for me?? Hehe.

Darren: good writeup man! I can never do this kinda review. It's so far been serving me well (since aug 2010). No complains actually.

[straydum]

thanks bro, i wouldn't have got it without consulting you though most of the technical info came off the instruction manual too

now i'm thinking of the many things i can do with another 4 channels, possibilities are endless!

sighh ridiculously addictive hobby

[wilsontantw]

I'm keen to explore the 4 channels too. Hehe. Use it for auto top off. Plus all the other Addictives.

[straydum]

can dose so many more things!

maybe for now you can consider combining top up with mg dosing to save 1 channel. i'm going to do this on mine soon. it would either be vodka water or mg water

[divinesloth]

Yo bro,

heheh let me know what you want. I have my own taobao list already. Haha!

;p

Wah bro. You also get to go QD?? Issit too much to tompang the 4 channel add-on for me?? Hehe.

[wilsontantw]

Yo bro,

heheh let me know what you want. I have my own taobao list already. Haha!

;p

Thanks for the offer bro. Just a 4 channel one will do. Don't want you to pay gst. (purchase over $400).

[tropic]

This dosing pump is amazIngly godsend. Really take the hassle of manually dosing once you get it right. I also plan to get the 4 dosing pump . Way cheaper as it suppose to ride on the main unit .

[dr evil]

hi guys,

will bring in the extra 4 channel dosing module and the container (2.5L & 5L) the after this CNY.

Let me know if you are keen ya!!!!

[wilsontantw]

Yo dr evil. Can pm me the price for 4 channel extension pls?

I'm quite keen to get if the price is right.

[dr evil]

Yo dr evil. Can pm me the price for 4 channel extension pls?

I'm quite keen to get if the price is right.

pm send....

[cool guy]

Pm me too bro... Thanx...