Bad Neptune DOS experience. Need other dosing pump info

[Johnseye]

I've been using the DOS for about 3 months now without issue. I came home the other day to one of the pumps on my DOS continuously running. Luckily there was only a small amount of calcium in my reservoir. Checked Ca parameters and sighed in relief. The right pump light is permanently "blue" which means it's on. Left pump is fine. Sent Neptune a help request on Saturday. Today they tell me today there's nothing wrong with the software, then left me hanging. I'm sure they'll help out and get this resolved in time, but they usually take a while.

Now my confidence in the DOS is shaken. Had my reservoir been full I could have had a tank crash. I've started looking at other pumps. Right now GHL and Kamoer are standing out. Hopefully GHL has resolved their screen issues. I currently use Spectrapure pumps for auto changes and ato. I may just buy two more Litermeters. They have been very reliable. However, replacing my Spectrapure pumps with one 4 pump GHL for auto changes, ato, Ca and Alk dosing is appealing. Anyone doing this today? Or anyone using the GHL for auto changes and ato?

Any other recommendations are welcome. Not interested in BRS, Jaebo, Vertex or BM pumps. I want something rock solid and I'm not concerned about cost.

[ghostman]

I have the Pacific Sun Kore 5th doser, and have had a great experience with it. It has been solid for me, but others have reported issues. Those may have been solved with software updates. I would recommend it and am happy with mine.

[ca1ore]

I'm using the standalone GHL Doser 2 witha single slave unit. Like the build quality a lot, though after only about six months I cannot say much about potential longevity.

[Member No. 1]

10 year old Litermeter never missed a beat.

I started using a DOS for AWC, as you stated, I don't have a warm and fuzzy feeling yet. There are reports of the head units cracking. When mine runs I can hear it clicking, I checked and one of the heads is cracked. This unit is about 3 months old. The unit I have is a newer one and by the serial number was made after the earlier problem units.

[Breadman03]

Originally Posted by Member No. 1

10 year old Litermeter never missed a beat.

I started using a DOS for AWC, as you stated, I don't have a warm and fuzzy feeling yet. There are reports of the head units cracking. When mine runs I can hear it clicking, I checked and one of the heads is cracked. This unit is about 3 months old. The unit I have is a newer one and by the serial number was made after the earlier problem units.

My early unit cracked and Neptune took care of me within days. Now a second unit is clicking away and I'll be checking it over today.

[Johnseye]

Neptune's sending out a new DOS (cross shipped with my deposit) and they'll test mine in house. I knew they'd get to it. I am still nervous about the DOS however, and will be moving it to my frag tank as well as setting up an alert whenever it doses more than it should, if that's even possible.

Just bought a new 4 pump GHL Doser 2 for my main tank. Hopefully it's reliable and can handle my dosing as well as ato, awc. Thanks to those who provided input. Michael at GHL was very helpful in getting me what I need quickly.

[Member No. 1]

Originally Posted by Breadman03

My early unit cracked and Neptune took care of me within days. Now a second unit is clicking away and I'll be checking it over today.

Breadman, did you by chase get to inspect your DOS? I'm interested in your findings.

[Reefvet]

After 40 years in the hobby I've used just about every quality doser out there. I have a couple of vintage GHLs that just keep working. 3 Litre Meters of various generations that sit idle because I want more control than they offer. 3 old Aquamedics continue to work just fine.

I have a DOS and it's OK. I just swapped out the pump heads because mine was one of the first few hundred that had the recall. It's working but no longer is silent. It kind of creaks and groans when it doses.

The new GHL 2 looks very promising but I think I'll hold and see if they've got the bugs out of it.

I've had my eye on this Kamoer and will try one soon. I've never heard a bad word about their pumps and they've been in the business for a long time. A little tour of their web site reveals a few very familiar looking peristaltic pumps.

[Breadman03]

Originally Posted by Member No. 1

Breadman, did you by chase get to inspect your DOS? I'm interested in your findings.

Yep. They appear perfect. I guess I'm finding the same thing as ReefVet. I think that the pump heads must be shifting slightly on the drive unit as the unit runs. This won't cause dosing/calibration issues, but could be a noise issue for those who have them in a living area. Mine are in the basement.

[Member No. 1]

Thanks for the updated info. I need to contact Neptune to see if I can get replacements. Maybe I'll bring the defective heads to MACNA to see what they say.
Just stinks that only after 2-3 months running I need to replace them.

[Johnseye]

*start rant* After 3 days of determining the problem was not software, but hardware and a replacement was needed Neptune took 2 days to ship the replacement. Then they shipped it 7 day ground. That's after I paid $250 in a deposit to have them cross ship. Essentially 12 days in total which would have been more if I hadn't ponied up for the cross ship.

The only reason this really grinds me is the laissez faire attitude they took. Not to mention we plunk down a significant amount of cash to purchase these products in order to keep our systems stable. I tried manual dosing of ca and alk for a while and it sucked. The doser is important for consistency and maintaining stability. Hopefully the GHL is a solid product and at least I've diversified my risk by having 2 dosers in house. It only cost $1000. *end rant*

[unze]

Just bought a new 4 pump GHL Doser 2

all equipment can fail,

i had a GHl dosing pump that did not stop and dosed a whole bottle of supplements

[Logzor]

Litermeter folks, running strong 8 years now, no mishaps. Dump the Chinese rebranded garbage pumps.

www.spectrapure.com

[Johnseye]

Originally Posted by unze

all equipment can fail,

i had a GHl dosing pump that did not stop and dosed a whole bottle of supplements

Good to know about the GHL. Are you able to setup alerts with the GHL to let you know when a dosing threshold has been exceeded?

I agree all equipment can fail. I'm more bothered about the lazy attitude to help and replace the failed equipment in a timely manner.

I have Spectrupure devices for my ato and awc. Simple and effective. Most reliable devices I have right now. No controller integration however.

[ghostman]

Johneye-sorry to hear about your troubles, and I completely agree with you. New equipment should be sent out ASAP when the failure is mechanical or hardware related. Our tanks depend on equipment to survive and a 12 day hiatus isn't taking customer service seriously. I hope you get everything in order soon.

[swk]

Originally Posted by Logzor

Litermeter folks, running strong 8 years now, no mishaps. Dump the Chinese rebranded garbage pumps.

www.spectrapure.com

Best Doser out there without a doubt

After hearing so many tank destroying 2 part stories, I bit the bullet and setup a calrx with masterflex peri pump. Have yet to hear of a calrx nuking a tank and the acros are soooo happy

But yes, before this I went with lm3 systems. Had more than a few reefing buddies with them in service 5-10 years without issue. Impressive track record to say the least.

[Johnseye]

Originally Posted by swk

Best Doser out there without a doubt

After hearing so many tank destroying 2 part stories, I bit the bullet and setup a calrx with masterflex peri pump. Have yet to hear of a calrx nuking a tank and the acros are soooo happy

But yes, before this I went with lm3 systems. Had more than a few reefing buddies with them in service 5-10 years without issue. Impressive track record to say the least.

Does the calcium reactor provide the alk needed or just the calcium? Sorry for what sounds like a simple question, I haven't researched cal reactors at all.

[swk]

Complete dosing. Adds calcium and alk in a balanced ratio, similar to kalkwasser. Some also put mag media in them as well.

[Johnseye]

Originally Posted by swk

Complete dosing. Adds calcium and alk in a balanced ratio, similar to kalkwasser. Some also put mag media in them as well.

Wish I could do this, just don't have the space where my tank is at.

[swk]

I put mine in the sump. Also, with a proper peristaltic pump you can place the reactor on a different floor entirely.

[Johnseye]

Originally Posted by swk

I put mine in the sump. Also, with a proper peristaltic pump you can place the reactor on a different floor entirely.

If placed on a different floor would you feed fresh water through it from your ato, salt from awc or would it be a separate line all together?

[swk]

You draw water from the sump and feed it into the reactor and then a line from the reactor back to the sump. That make sense?

[Johnseye]

Originally Posted by swk

You draw water from the sump and feed it into the reactor and then a line from the reactor back to the sump. That make sense?

Yup sure does. Thanks.

[Reefvet]

Originally Posted by Logzor

Litermeter folks, running strong 8 years now, no mishaps. Dump the Chinese rebranded garbage pumps.

I have 3 LMs. They are consistent but also very limited in configuration.

Nobody here is referring to cheap Chinese pumps. Those would be the Bubble Magnus and other look alikes. Some of the best pumps are Chinese. Like everything else in this hobby you get what you pay for but the Kamoer will become a standard as they are more widely adopted. I've used them in a research lab for years and they're as good as it gets.

[Johnseye]

Originally Posted by Reefvet

I have 3 LMs. They are consistent but also very limited in configuration.

Nobody here is referring to cheap Chinese pumps. Those would be the Bubble Magnus and other look alikes. Some of the best pumps are Chinese. Like everything else in this hobby you get what you pay for but the Kamoer will become a standard as they are more widely adopted. I've used them in a research lab for years and they're as good as it gets.

Kamoer was mentioned by me in the op and by another. I would have bought one but the new 5 pump model is not ready for the public. Still buggy. I had a good conversation with Salty Supply, who is Deepwater. They would have sold me one but as beta. I didn't want to risk it.