Simple ph down doser

Innov8tr · Jun 8, 2011

I've used these ph controllers for aquariums and aquarium dosing pumps to dose ph down in my UC. This system works really well together and is pretty affordable. I have the ph controller mounted to the wall near my system and the ph probe in my first bucket. The dosing pump plugs in to the ph controller and activates when the ph level drops below the setpoint. It feeds ph down in to my epicenter. For everything was less than $200....my ph never moves unless I want it to. For those wanting to swing ph you just adjust the ph to 6.5 after a water change and change the setpoint to 6.5. Every day you can simply turn the dial to lower the ph at the rate you want it to. Also the dosing pump add ph down very slowly so there is no shock to the system. I even have one of these on my clone machine but I dilute the ph down because its a small body of water and even one drop makes a big difference.

Milwuakee sm-122 controller
Small Aquamedic dosing pump

canaguy27 · Jun 8, 2011

you should switch to food grade phosphoric acid and you will never buy a bottle of ph down again. an ounce of that stuff took 5 gallons of 8ph down to 2.5ph.

Innov8tr · Jun 8, 2011

Is it free? cause ph down is pretty cheap lol

Prole63 · Jun 11, 2011

Very clever

Innov8tr · Jun 11, 2011

Thanks!

BTW sunlight supply sells the sm 122 for the aquarium market so any hydro store that has sunlight supply products can order it.

GanjaAL · Jun 11, 2011

Hey brother... how many gallon system do you use this small rig for?

I have a small RDWC for mommas coming up soon... mayby 25-30 gallons. Also I will have a UC system of about 100-200 gallons?

Bad ass... thanks for sharing.

Innov8tr · Jun 11, 2011

GanjaAL said:
Hey brother... how many gallon system do you use this small rig for?

I have a small RDWC for mommas coming up soon... mayby 25-30 gallons. Also I will have a UC system of about 100-200 gallons?

Bad ass... thanks for sharing.

No problem. I use one for a 6 site xl, (2) 9 sites xl's, and my clone machine. I think that this setup should be able to control at least 500 gallons of water or more for anyone wanting to use it for larger systems. For a smaller body of water just dilute the ph down so that as it drips it doesn't make quite as much impact on the ph level. In a small body of water like my clone machine (10 gallons) the ph dropped too fast before the meter shut it off. You can even dilute it for the larger systems, the little pump will just run more to keep it at setpoint.

GanjaAL · Jun 11, 2011

Thanks... and again... very nice.

Billygoat · Jun 11, 2011

WOW! This is why I love this site. Thanks for sharing the info. Was looking at buying a mini doser, but this will do the trick and save some cash. Thanks for sharing
Take care,
BG

RMCG · Jun 11, 2011

I do the same thing (SM-122), but I use a 5g bucket w/lid and diluted down (Advanced) pH down and a 'reptile' pump.

Billygoat · Jun 11, 2011

RMCG said:
I do the same thing (SM-122), but I use a 5g bucket w/lid and diluted down (Advanced) pH down and a 'reptile' pump.

If you don't mind me asking. How much of the 5 gallon bucket. Do you fill with water and how much PH down do you add? Just getting a general idea here. I'm going to be setting up one of those new Sun System Flo-N-Gro System and want to add one of these for the 55 gallon barrel.
Thanks,
BG

Innov8tr · Jun 11, 2011

RMCG said:
I do the same thing (SM-122), but I use a 5g bucket w/lid and diluted down (Advanced) pH down and a 'reptile' pump.

For me the sm 122 has been a great meter, all of mine stay real close to calibration even after months of being submerged. I looked up reptile pumps and all I could find was really small water pumps, I'm assuming that is what you meant. This makes sense of why you have so much top off solution, if its a small pump it can move quite a bit of solution in a short amount of time.

In case anyone out there isn't familiar with a dosing pump it works completely different than a regular pump. It has a rubber tube inside that a wheel rubs on slowly moving the solution. Normally ph down in concentrated form would destroy a regular pump but dosing pumps are made for stuff like this. The pump that I use is only capable of .5 ml per minute so using concentrated solution is not a problem. Also priming them is not necessary.

Whenever I dilute if for my clone machine I do 50/50 water and GH PH down.

RMCG · Jun 12, 2011

Billygoat said:
If you don't mind me asking. How much of the 5 gallon bucket. Do you fill with water and how much PH down do you add? Just getting a general idea here. I'm going to be setting up one of those new Sun System Flo-N-Gro System and want to add one of these for the 55 gallon barrel.
Thanks,
BG

5g full, then I add 50 - 100ml of AN's down (Strong Stuff!)

The reptile pump is not very powerful (not much head) so it barely clears the 5 gallon bucket enough to 'spurt' the solution into my UC epicenter.

The mix doesn't matter much, as it will put in enough, I just needed it to go 'slow' and be dilute enough as it was going into the epicenter.

If you are trying to go up to a 55g barrel, you might need to upsize the pump or put the bucket on a shelf over the top of it.

RMCG · Jun 12, 2011

Innov8tr said:
For me the sm 122 has been a great meter, all of mine stay real close to calibration even after months of being submerged. I looked up reptile pumps and all I could find was really small water pumps, I'm assuming that is what you meant. This makes sense of why you have so much top off solution, if its a small pump it can move quite a bit of solution in a short amount of time.

In case anyone out there isn't familiar with a dosing pump it works completely different than a regular pump. It has a rubber tube inside that a wheel rubs on slowly moving the solution. Normally ph down in concentrated form would destroy a regular pump but dosing pumps are made for stuff like this. The pump that I use is only capable of .5 ml per minute so using concentrated solution is not a problem. Also priming them is not necessary.

Whenever I dilute if for my clone machine I do 50/50 water and GH PH down.

Check out my DIY doser in my sig. :)

Yes, its a tiny water pump. I am also dosing directly into the epicenter of my UC and don't want pure acid going directly in to fry roots. AN Down is WAY stronger than GH down.

Innov8tr · Jun 12, 2011

RMCG said:
Check out my DIY doser in my sig. :)

Yes, its a tiny water pump. I am also dosing directly into the epicenter of my UC and don't want pure acid going directly in to fry roots. AN Down is WAY stronger than GH down.

That actually brings me to a question I've been meaning to ask. I can understand the point of view of putting ph down in the epicenter being a problem. But the way I see it, and I could be wrong :), is that if you add it slowly and the ph never drops below an acceptable level, it shouldn't do any harm to the plants...unless it doesn't disspapate right away. When my sm 122gets above the setpoint by .1 the dosing pump comes on. Since my meter is in my first plant bucket it is reading where it matters most it turns off immediately after lowering the .1 and never drops below that. So basically what I'm saying is that my plants never vary more than .1 with dosing directly in the epi so shouldn't this be fine? I haven't noticed any problems from this so far and its been months.

I'm not knocking AN products or people using them but I hate AN as a company from my own personal experiences with them, long story but there are some really shady folks high up in the company.

RMCG · Jun 13, 2011

Yeah, I use Mad Farmer down too. Both are way STRONGER than than anything I've used, esp. GH.

Mine 'spurts' it in there, pH drops about a full point, then gives it a few to circulate around so I don't overshoot too much. In a UC full of roots, it definitely takes a bit to 'balance'.

The peristaltic pumps work great, like I said, check my doser DIY,. use them in lots of places. But for a quicky pH doser, these things are great. If I were to do it again, I would maybe switch it up to the Pinpoint units (~160$) for up and down dosing.

Bandit · Jun 25, 2011

where do i find the food grade acid?

:cool0041:

canaguy27 said:
you should switch to food grade phosphoric acid and you will never buy a bottle of ph down again. an ounce of that stuff took 5 gallons of 8ph down to 2.5ph.

RMCG · Jun 25, 2011

You can use car battery acid from autozone too.

canaguy27 · Jun 26, 2011

Bandit said:
:cool0041:

Chemical supply house. I personally would avoid battery acid. $44 for a gallon here in Colorado. Make sure to get food grade.

Billygoat · Jul 5, 2011

I'm going to be building one of these units soon. I'll be sure to take some pictures and list total price of project. I plan on using the American Marine Pinpoint pH Controller. Just so, I don't have to worry about up and down. Build the unit and set it up. Then I should be good to go.

I'll be using this unit on a 55 gallon drum and a 8 site ebb&flo bucket system. Thanks for all the info everyone. Really glad I found this thread. I to use mad farm ph products and like them.
Take care,
BG

Simple ph down doser

Simple ph down doser

Innov8tr

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