View Full Version : Manual dosing more than 8 times a day
Ok, so I have tried using the automatic dosing for a while, and I don't like it. It doses Alk, and calcium way to close together, and I am getting a buildup of calcium carbonate around my dosing area.
I have never had to use the programmable logic. How would I go about setting up my alk solution doser to run off of 3 different timers? I need to spread out this dose 24 different times to keep my PH steady, so I need my alk to run off of timers 1, 2, and 3.
Here is some background info...
Manual dosing will only let me dose 8 times in a 24 hour period. With auto dosing I can go 24 times which is great, but it doses each solution one only 1 minute apart. I am getting a huge buildup of calcium carbonate in my sump because of this, and consequently, am having to dose more than needed.
With the alk solution I am using my PH will jump way to high if I only dose 8 times a day like manual dosing allows, so I need to spread my alk dose out considerably to keep the PH stable.
So, my thought was to use the programmable logic to make my alk dose use 3 timers. this way I can make 24 doses in one 24 hour period, and my PH will keep steady.
So, is there a way to us ethe programmable logic to make 1 doser work on 3 seperate timers?
It´s not very difficult:
program the the tree timer as you need it (further called 1,2,3)
open a gate of programmable logic (further called G1)
select OR as function
select timer 1 for input 1
select timer 2 for input 2
save & close gate G1
open an other gate of programmable logic (further called G2)
select OR as function
select Programmable logic 1 for input 1
select timer 3 for input 2
save & close gate G2
assign the gate G2 to your dosing pump
Thank you soooo much! Got it all taken care of. Now I can finally rest easy knowing my sump isn't going to get calcium build up, and my PH will be stable.
Thanks again.
It´s not very difficult:
program the the tree timer as you need it (further called 1,2,3)
open a gate of programmable logic (further called G1)
select OR as function
select timer 1 for input 1
select timer 2 for input 2
save & close gate G1
open an other gate of programmable logic (further called G2)
select OR as function
select Programmable logic 1 for input 1
select timer 3 for input 2
save & close gate G2
assign the gate G2 to your dosing pump
Now how would you do this for your swcond pump? Because this would work for me on my ALK on pump 1 but I also would need the Cal on pump 2 to run every hour and dose like (use 3 timers) also.
What I did was start with timer 4, and follow the same flow for the second pump. I did the same thing.
What I did was start with timer 4, and follow the same flow for the second pump. I did the same thing.
But did you use G3 and G4 for timer 4,5,6?
And how did you assign it to you pumps S1 for pump #1 and S2 for pump #2? cause when I did it and when it came time to assign S1 there wasnt nothing in the drop down box for G1 or G2.
Yes G3, and G4. I used programmable logic 2 for my first pump, and programmable logic 4 for my second.
To be perfectly honest, I have no clue if it is working corectly. I am not going to sit in front of my tank, and wait to see if it comes on every hour....
lol well if you know what time they are suppose to come on you can get there to see if it works... also you can check your alk and cal and if they are steady then you know ts working.... but thats all up to you....
How did you assign G2 to pump1 and G4 to pump 2?
Here you go...the pumps are on S7, and S8 Hope this helps. I am going to set my alarm tomorrow, and see if it is turning on at specific times.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m36/hondaguru/pumps.png
ok great im going to check it tomorrow and see where my alk and cal levels are and how its holding with the 8 times a day dosing and then ill decide if im going to try it like yours is. I dont remember if i saw pro logic was an option on my drop down to assign it to S1 thats why I think I didnt set it last night.. let me know tomorrow if yours is working right for you..
It's working. My pump just came on at 9 pm like it is programmed to do. This is set on timer 3, so the set-up is definitly working.
ok thats great. Im going to try it tomorrow i will see if I have that option on my drop down when i go to S1 to assign it to pro logic 1 and S2 to pro logic 2. Ill let you know..
thanks
which controller you using? im using profilux 2.
I am using the P3.
When you pull up the window for that socket in profilux control it should look like this.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m36/hondaguru/45G%20Tech%20Tank/pump2.png
yeah thanks I got that far but where i think i went wrong was when i went to sockets and went to s1 the drop down didnt say g2 but what i needed to put there was pro logic 2.. ill let you know tomorrow morning as long as the kids let me work on it...
Ok got it set up lets see if it works every hour... Then I have to test and get the dose right for the day...
YEP its working and I just bumped up to dose of ALK to 40 mis for the 24 hour period and 45 mls of the cal.. Trying to get the water paramiters right now.. Thanks so much for your help!!!
Glad its working. My tank is finally stable now. It's nice!
yeah I cant wait til mine gets stable again!!! I just lost a deepwater probably do to the alk swing and my raspberry lemonade started turning white so I had to frag it and hopfully I saved it....
Have you noticed since your dosing for the 24 hours that you are using more part 1 & 2 ? More then you use to when you dosed only once a day cause I use to dose 34 mls and 38 mls once a day. May be whats why my sps didnt color up so much.. But now Im up to 75 mls and 82 mls for the 24 hours.. What do you use to dose the 2 part?
No, I use the same amount...lol I use BRS two part, and weekly water changes with aquavitro salinity. Maybe your corals actually started using more since they are getting shocked by a huge once daily dose.
I never dosed manually. Just figured it out for a week, and started dosing with the pumps. Manual dosing is way too much work.
yeah thats why I only did it once a day and now I got the pumps cause it started being a pain!!!! yeah maybe everything is waking up cause now the tank is getting the right alk and cal for the whole day not just in one shot.... But I think I am going to have to bump it up some more tonight cause my cal is holding at 380 ppm and I want it some where around 400 to 450... the alk is holding at 9.6 which that is ok but going to shoot for 10.. on the salifurt test kits on both alk and cal..
I would raise it to the levels you want manually over a few days, and see if it holds there with the same dosing schedule. Never raise your levels by increasing your dosing with the pumps. Those are there to maintain your levels, not raise them. If you raise them with the pumps, then you'll continue to raise them, and overdose your tank.
I would be willing to bet that when you get them stable at the levels you want, the daily dose you have will keep it steady.
Also make sure your water changes are not accidentally lowering your levels due to being a bad quality salt.
Well what I did was run it the first few days with it set to dose thru the 24 hours 34 mls of part 1 (alk) & 38 mls of part 2 (cal) which was what I was dosing in one shot every day. But it wouldn't hold both were all over the place so I kept bumping it up. But its alot more then what it was. So now at about 82 mls with in the 24 hours of the dosing its now (cal) 380 ppm everytime I check it. so im thinking I have to bump up the dose per hour and get it to 400 to 450 and it should hold once I figure out the right number to dose.. I think if I manually dose to get it to 450 and not add the right dose per hour I will lose that level. I do water changes every 2 weeks and I use the new brightwell salt. I think thats a good salt.
If your reading is the same each time, that means you have the perfect amount being dosed to your tank. Leave it alone. What you need to do is now manually add enough to get your tank to 450PPM, and then your current dose will keep you there.
So just keep letting the doser do its thing, and add enough manually over the corse of a day or two to bring up your calcium to 450ppm. Then, you'll be good to go.
Ok I put everything back to where it was in the morning I will leave it alone for a day cause I have to work monday. But I did bring my alk up to 9.9 manually and the cal up to 410 ppm. So we will see where the numbers are on tuesday..
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