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[APD] Re: Fertilizer Dosing Pump



(Adam wrote)
> David,
>
> Exactly which model(s) did you purchase and why? I have been considering
the
> same.
>
> Adam

Adam,
I believe I bought two of the 3 cycles per minute model SP100FO, 115VAC,
norprene tubing, one with
0.8mm ID (1/16") and one with 1.6mm ID (1/32") tubing, enclosure and a two
prong plug.

The problem with most of the hobby marketed peristaltic pumps is the minumum
volume they deliver is WAY too much for a smaller volume planted tank in the
10-75 gallon range. These APT pumps are perfect for the smaller tank
application.

I based my choice on the amount of TMG I would need to deliver to each tank,
in this case a 240 gallon and a 30 gallon. Look at the volume/minute of the
various tubing diameters and the cycles/minute of the pumps. the wider the
ID of the tube the more volume delivered. The more cycles/minute of the pump
the more volume delivered.

In the case of the 30 gallon the daily dose of TMG was about 3 ml, so it
made sense to go with the slowest cyle rate and the narrowest ID of the
tubing. This way I could deliver 3 ml of TMG over a 15 minute or so period,
spaced out to 4 doses daily using a programmable digital timer. The 240
required about 20 ml of TMG, so I went with a slightly wider ID for the
tubing and spaced out the delivery over 4 doses daily with a digital timer.

Determine how much fert (ml) you need to deliver, and divide by the various
volume delivery rates from the APT SP100 web page and you can get a rough
idea how many minutes you can space it out with. Use this as a rough
guesstimate. You can always fine tune it.

When I got my pumps up and running I ran each and timed how long it actually
took to deliver the volume of ferts I needed, divided that time by 4, and
then set the digi timer to run for that length 4 times daily. It probably
doesn't matter, but I thought it might be better for the plants to space it
out to give them some during the entire day, instead of pumping it all in at
one sitting in the morning.

Regards,
Dave


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