Reef Angel, the open source controller producing company, recently got their new twin pump dosing system on the market. With a price tag of just $109, these may be the cheapest to date. I got ahold of mine this week, and after some testing, I’m ready to come to some short-term conclusions.
First of all, it has to be noted that these cannot be used as a stand-alone dosing system. The Reef Angel pumps do not have built-in controls, so a precise timer or controller must be used to run them. With that said, they are quality peristaltic pumps, and after running some tests, I can confirm that they are very precise and consistent.
For testing I set up the pumps with input lines run into a gallon jug of water and output lines into a measuring cup. I started by finding the exact amount of time needed to pump one ounce of fluid using my Reef Keeper Lite to control the dosers. I found that it took about 35 seconds to do just that, which may vary depending on the hose used and the lift height. With this benchmark done, I ran a series of tests pumping for 35 seconds to see how consistently they would reproduce the same results. The Reef Angel pumps produced the exact same amount of output every time even when water level got low in the source reservoir. Due to the way peristaltic pumps work, these are instantly-on instantly-off pumps. Flow starts as soon as power kicks on and ends as soon as it’s off.
Reef Angel already cornered the market for open source controllers, and with their new dosing pumps at rock bottom prices, I expect them to do the same with affordable dosing pumps. All that’s left to do now is get it set up dosing my two part solution and see how it does long-term.
To order these pumps or check out their other products, visit them on the web at: Reef Angel
0 Comments