# Is auto dosing worth it?



## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Yes and no. I did a fairly crude system as at the time quality dosing pumps were really expensive. I did a fountain pump setup which worked great for my tank that was already on autopilot mode, I had it balanced and it continued to grow well. That is the yes, on a perfect setup, it works great. It also works great if you want to experiment for an exact period of time, mine had solutions for a week so if I wanted to alter things, it was pretty exact timing wise. The "no" is I started to rely on it way too much and on new setups, kept struggling to get things right. Something about manually dosing makes you really consider what is going on with the tank, what is wrong, etc, even if it isn't necessarily dosing related. I basically feel like my setup probably kept me from a successful tank for some time, I recently ditched it and my tank went from a disaster to something very more manageable in a short period of time. Now, that's me, if I put something on auto pilot, then everything goes well, right? I don't miss it, only because I have to spend 5-10 minutes with my tank per day, no excuses. Doesn't sound hard but it's easy to say I will get to something later when it does your every day chores for you. I am sure many will disagree and say it was a huge time saver, it was for me as well when things were going smoothly.

I would be suspicious if that unit works great given it's price and brand but I have had some Jebao stuff that exceeded my expectations. I will let someone else chime in on the unit.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

As someone who owns an Apex I would also be interested to hear success/failure stories with their DOS pump that works with the controller.

Right now I just mix dry ferts every morning in like 2 minutes. Works great and I can switch up how much I dose every day. Like the above poster I feel like I would screw up auto-dosing and not be able to solve issues when they popped up. Don't want to rely on it too much - you never know when you'll have to change stuff up to maintain tank health.


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## heel4you (Mar 8, 2015)

I love my Jebao Programmable Auto Dosing Pump DP-4.
I am really very new to dosing ferts, so this was perfect solution for me.
I was able to mix my ferts (purchased from niclog) and he directed me on how to mix for EI method.
I then, carefully watched my plants and tested my water. I found that I did not need KNo3. So, we substituted with K2So4.
Now, my nutrients are great. My plants are growing beautifully and I could not be happier with my purchase.
I do not find myself getting lazy because I have this doser. I watch my fish and plants carefully and test my water weekly with my water changes.
I would also love to know how this pump works with an Apex. An Apex will likely be my next purchase


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## FishinGator (Feb 19, 2014)

I dose PPS-Pro with two Bulk Reef Supply 1.1ml pumps controlled by an Apex. I love having it automated, because I would simply forget to dose some mornings before the automation. My 500ml bottles last about 4 weeks with my current dosing schedule, so I mix up the micros & macros and add in the glutaraldehyde to my Micro bottle. I can easily adjust the duration of the dosing through the Apex as I need to make changes. I started at dosing 10 minutes and have increased to 16 minutes as my plants started increasing their growth rates. To make individual changes to each fertilizer amount, I would have to change that when mixing up the bottles every 4 weeks or so. Now that it's automated, I don't plan on going back to the old way.


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## Liplant (Oct 7, 2015)

Got mine hooked up and love it


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## flowerfishs (May 6, 2009)

100% worth it. I have 2 bubble magus.


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## fishophile (Feb 6, 2012)

Thanks to everyone for the feed back. I'm not getting one yet, but it's on my wish list.


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## ironroot (Dec 18, 2015)

FishinGator said:


> I dose PPS-Pro with two Bulk Reef Supply 1.1ml pumps controlled by an Apex. I love having it automated, because I would simply forget to dose some mornings before the automation. My 500ml bottles last about 4 weeks with my current dosing schedule, so I mix up the micros & macros and add in the glutaraldehyde to my Micro bottle. I can easily adjust the duration of the dosing through the Apex as I need to make changes. I started at dosing 10 minutes and have increased to 16 minutes as my plants started increasing their growth rates. To make individual changes to each fertilizer amount, I would have to change that when mixing up the bottles every 4 weeks or so. Now that it's automated, I don't plan on going back to the old way.


FishinGator can you post your apex program I am thinking of doing the same thing to a new 125 gal aquarium I am setting up.


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## FishinGator (Feb 19, 2014)

My program is very simple, but it works. I dose macro on monday, wednesday & friday and micro on tuesday, thursday, & saturday. Sundays are water change days, so I do not dose any ferts. I'm using a modified version of PPS-Pro. I do not dose micro & macro everyday like the instructions say. I get my ferts from Green Leaf Aquariums. I checked the flow of my BRS pumps and they both are actually dead on the 1.1ml per minute, so I started dosing 10 minutes per day and have upped it to 18 minutes per day as my plants start growing better. I also mix in Metrocide 14 (glutaraldehyde) into my micro bottle instead of distilled water (which I use in the macros). Since going to this automated system, my plant growth has exploded. I would constantly forget to dose ferts everyday, and my plants suffered because of my forgetfulness. 
Here's the code:
Macro
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Time 12:00 to 12:18 Then ON
If DoW S-T-T-S Then OFF

Micro
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Time 12:00 to 12:18 Then ON
If DoW SM-W-F- Then OFF

Remember that in Apex code, the last true statement overrides the others, which is why DOW (day of the week) is commanding the pumps off. My light comes on at noon and slowly ramps into sunrise from 12:00 to 12:30, which is why I dose just before sunrise. My pumps dose directly into my sump just above the return pump.


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## Straight shooter (Nov 26, 2015)

Before I dose fert solutions I always give the bottles a good shake to mix the contents. You can't do that with an auto doser. Is this a problem?


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## FishinGator (Feb 19, 2014)

I use the two plastic bottles that came with my Green Leaf Ferts, so I just mix the ferts into the bottles and shake them. I took the plastic caps from the bottles and drilled a small hole into it, which my BRS pump hose goes through. That way I'm able to mix and shake them then hook them back up to the pumps. I'll post a picture later so you can see what I'm talking about. With an auto doser that has it's own reservoir, I would think you would want to mix & shake the ferts in a separate container, then fill the doser reservoir. Because, yes you need to shake the ferts to mix them properly.


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