lime addition

[pipefish]

Hi Randy,

In your article on the Degredation of Limewater you mention that you add your limewater with a bulk system. What diameter tubing do you use from the container to the sump?

I dose by dripping from a plastic bottle via airline tubing but am concerned that when I go on holiday for 10 days the tube will become blocked as I cannot expect anyone to come in to mix limewater twice a day and clean the tube.

Regards,
Keith

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The tubing that I use is, I think, 5/8" ID that was sold with the Reffiller pump. So it is much bigger than usual airline tubing, and only gets clogged very slowly on the drip end.

I can see solids settling out in the tubing, and I flush the lines with acid once every 12-18 months to get rid of that.

[pipefish]

Many thanks.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You're welcome.

:)

[capman]

The mention of a Reeffiller pump in the post above makes me feel compelled to contribute that these pumps are really impressive in terms of their performance in dosing limewater. I've been using a Reeffiller pump for at least 5 years to dose limewater from a reservoir. I have had this pump operate for intervals of a year or more with no maintenance whatsoever. Eventually, calcium carbonate deposits build up in various places that interfere with the operation of the ball valves or that can clog the inlet screen or the outflow opening (where I slowly have miniature stalagtites form), so every so often it needs to be taken apart and cleaned out with vinegar, but in general it has been very reliable.

The big thing you need to be careful of is that you don't allow the pump to suck in air at any time. This causes lots of calcium carbonate to precipitate in the lines and in the pump itself, which can lead to premature failure requiring a cleaning.

[pipefish]

Capman,

Many thanks for your reply.

Randy and Capman I live in the UK and have never heard of these pumps can you tell me where I can get them so maybe I can order online and have one sent over here.

[capman]

pipefish,

First, take a look at the following article and the other articles linked to from this one: http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1999/july/product/default.asp
The Reeffiller pump is a little noisy, so you very well might prefer a quieter peristaltic pump if you are going to have it set up in a part of your home where you spend a lot of time (though if you have a basement or something like that, you could actually locate the Reeffiller pump and reservoir there, since it will pump a fairly large distance).

I bought my three Reeffiller pumps from Champion Lighting. See: http://www.championlighting.com/e/env/0001IReSU6oFl2Ympg2e9J3/index.html?link=/index.html

and also see: http://www.championlighting.com/e/env/0001IReSU6oFl2Ympg3i0a9/Products/Wavemakers/scwd.html?link=/Products/Dosing_Systems/dosing_systems.html

"Reeffiller pump" is a name coined by Champion I believe, and actually this is a pump that is normally used in industrial/water-treatment applications. I had a pump I needed to send back for repair a few years ago (it was under warranty), and when it came back it was mailed directly from the manufacturer, which, as I recall, was a company called Pulsafeeder. I just did a search for "Pulsafeeder" in Google, and indeed, this company markets a pump that looks identical to the Reeffiller (I'm not certain exactly which of the differnt pump models Pulsafeeder sells are the models distributed by Champion, but I'm quite certain the Reeffiller pump is manufacutured by Pulsafeeder).

Take a look at:
http://www.pulsa.com/products/chem_tech/Default.asp?Q=cti001
I think the "Reeffiller" pump is one of the pumps in the "Chem-tech" series. These pumps are availble from Pulsafeeder in different versions (e.g. with pump heads made of different materials for specialized chemical resistance needs)...I'm not certian offhand what the specs are for the ones sold bu Champion as "Reeffillers"

If Champion can't ship to Englan, or if the shipping would be really expensive, you can probably get one of these pumps locally (from a non-aquarium-related company that sells the pumps for industrial or water treatment uses), since it appears that there are distributors pretty much worldwide. For example, see: http://www.pulsa.com/contact/Default.asp?Q=local&country=EN&action=Search&zipcode=&market=IN

I hope this helps.

Bill

[pipefish]

Bill,

Many thanks for your full and very helpful reply.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks, Bill. I'll just add that I bought mine from Champion years ago.