Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper Setup Manual

Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper Setup Guide (for Shlobster dosing pumps
dosing 2 part)

Physical Connection:

The DA Reef Keeper – Power Controller 4 has two mechanical relays and two solid state relays.
Channel #1 and Channel #4 on the powerbar are the mechanical relays, pictured in the red
squares here:
Mechanical relays perform better when switching low power devices such as the Shlobster
dosing pumps, so it's important to use them for best performance.

A word about 2 part dosing:

Before we proceed to programming, a word about what we are trying to accomplish. When using 2-part
in most cases our goal is to add the same amount of part A as part B. Part A is typically Calcium, and Part
B is typically Carbonate (alkalinity). The amount of each that a given aquarium needs will depend on
many factors, and you must make a decision about how much you want to add to your specific
aquarium before you continue. Each brand has a different recommendation of where to start printed on
the bottle. Also, it must be decided how we want to dose these amounts to the aquarium. Generally, we
add Alkalinity starting at the beginning of our photoperiod ("lights on") and Calcium starting at the end
of our photoperiod. We dose in this way primarily to avoid an interaction between the two, and to avoid
the creation of a very high pH condition resulting from adding carbonate alkalinity near the end of the
photoperiod, a time when pH is generally highest in the aquarium. While in some cases we could dump
in the entire allotment of part B right at the beginning of the photoperiod, and Part A right at the end, it
is best to spread the additions out. Doing so is needed to ensure the life of the dosing pump, and it's
better for the chemistry in the aquarium.
- Summary of relevant points:
o Goal 1: We want to dose the same amount of A as B.
o Goal 2: We need to figure out how much of A & B our system needs. (see bottle)
o Goal 3: We want to dose A & B separately from each other.
o Goal 4: We want to dose A & B in many small increments.