- Hey Thomas here,
and today we're going to be checking out
The Neptune System's DOS,
whether you're looking for a dosing pump
to handle your 2-part
or perhaps to do some automatic water changes,
or maybe even to fully automate the testing
and dosing of the major elements in your reef tank,
so that you can have super stable parameters
without doing a whole heck of a lot,
then arguably the dose is the best dosing pump
that you can use with your Neptune Systems Apex.
Dosing pumps are versatile tools
and reefers have been using peristaltic dosing pumps
for decades to dose additives automatically,
and more consistently than we could possibly dose by hand.
But most dosing pumps are designed
to either be used for dosing small volumes or large volumes,
either in individual doses or rated for continuous duty.
So you typically have to pick the correct pump
that matches up exactly to your particular needs.
They also generally have their own built-in controls
or app control and need to be operated separately
from your aquarium controller ecosystem,
unless of course they're compatible
and then they can become a seamless part of it.
For reefers with a Neptune Systems Apex,
the dose is a very practical and flexible option
that not only covers a variety of dosing applications
from tiny amounts of trace elements or liquid coral foods
to performing automated water changes,
but it will also give you information
on its dosing performance at a glance
and even record and store historical data
for you to go back and review
or compare with data from your probes
and other monitoring tools.
Plus when paired with the Trident,
it is capable of automating both the testing
and dosing of major elements,
namely calcium and alkalinity for your reef tank.
And although that all sounds a bit complicated,
setting up your dosing schedule
or water changes is a cakewalk,
thanks to the tasks infusion
that walk you through it step by step.
I mean, you can also pull off
some pretty impressive custom coding with it as well
for something like dosing the effluent
from your calcium reactor.
But before I get ahead of myself,
let's get it out of the box.
In the box you'll find the DOS dosing pump,
four meters of tubing,
a graduated cylinder for calibration,
the power supply,
an Aquabus cable,
a quick start guide and a snazzy sticker
for wrapping your Neptune system's pride.
The DOS is a dual dosing pump with a pair
of variable speed stepper motors
and large dosing heads capable of dosing rates
as slow as a 0.1 milliliters per minute,
which is a minuscule amount
all the way up to 250 milliliters per minute,
which after some quick math
is roughly four gallons per hour,
ultimately making it able to tackle
just about any fluid delivery task,
a reefer could come off with,
without requiring multiple types of dosing pumps.
So even if down the line,
you decided you want to switch from dosing 2-part
to using a calcium reactor,
you don't have to go out and get a new dosing pump
built for continuous duty
because the DOS can handle that job too.
And yes, that even includes dosing the effluent
from a calcium reactor to your tank,
all be it with some creative coding infusion.
The whole unit measures roughly nine and a half inches
by five inches by five inches,
including the heads and has a flat base,
so it can sit comfortably on a shelf
for a similar flat surface
and also has a pair of knockout key holes
for mounting to the inside of a stand
or controller board using a pair of screws.
At a quick glance,
you'll notice that the dosing heads
have clear markings for the input
and the output on each head,
as well as locking nuts to hold the tubing firmly
onto the nipples, which is great,
and a small layer of redundancy
that I can certainly appreciate.
There are also a pair of buttons on the front of the pump
that allow you to activate either pump individually
for priming the lines or for some on the fly dosing,
setting up the DOS is really easy,
thanks to those tasks functions infusion.
You can calibrate each head,
set up a dosing schedule for additives,
set up automatic water changes,
or even a manual water change
all using the tasks infusion
that will walk you through each task step by step
with simple instructions and visuals,
making it a very easy process
that just about any reefer can do confidently.
For example, in six steps per head,
I can set up a 2-part dosing schedule,
including renaming the dosing heads
to reflect what additive I'm using on each head,
what time I want them to dose
and how long to spread that dose out for,
which means I can make sure my calcium and alkalinity
are not dosed at the same time,
and I can spread out that dose amount over hours
instead of dosing the daily volume, all in one go.
You can also go back and modify the dosing schedule
at any time or even set up a new schedule manually
by clicking on the gear icon
beside the dose tile on the fusion dashboard.
Fusion also gives you the ability
to track, chart and review the dosing history of your dose,
which can be useful when you want to see
how the dosing times or volumes of what your dosing
affects any other parameters in the system
like pH, ORP or temperature
and potentially solve any issues or conflicts
or even optimize dosing times to horn in
on any benefits that you're seeing in the data.
I also really dig that the tile for the DOS
on the fusion dashboard gives you a quick look
at how much each head has recently dosed.
Like I was mentioning earlier,
if you have a Trident as well,
you can also have the data from your Trident
control, adjust and optimize the volumes of your dose
and the Trident control dosing task
will allow you to set that up.
I do highly recommend staying
on top of frequent calibration,
both for the Trident and the DOS itself,
since their respective accuracies
are going to be very important,
when they're relying on one another to monitor
and maintain the alkalinity and calcium levels
in your reef tank.
Now with that said automatic hands-free testing
and dosing for the major parameters
is definitely a dream come true
for many reefers out there,
which makes this functionality super exciting.
For those out there who like to dive
into the custom coding side of things.
The DOS is going to be very appealing
with the ability to have your dosing system
react to a variety of other parameters,
being monitored by your Apex,
even without a Trident.
For example, if your pH spikes,
you could have your dose automatically react
and prevent it from dosing your alkalinity supplement,
or if it is currently dosing it,
to stop dosing it while also sending you an alert
to let you know that there's an issue,
which adds a layer of redundancy to your system
to prevent the simple kinds of mistakes
that could otherwise cause coral losses
or a full tank rush.
I don't always mix up 2-part
while also being distracted by my keens,
but when I do,
I'd like to know that I covered my butt.
Like all dosing pumps,
The DOS will need maintenance at one point or another,
and Neptune Systems did a pretty good job of making it
as simple as possible rather than tackling worn rollers
or peristaltic tubing separately,
each dosing head is able to be swapped
with a brand new one,
solving both worn parts at the same time,
no tools required,
remove your dosing tubes,
pinch and pull out the old head
and snap the new one in place,
throw the tubing back on and you're all done.
The DOS also has a number
of really cool accessories as well.
One of which is the DDR or dual dose reservoir.
It is a slick pair of acrylic dosing containers
rocking the sporty orange and gray colors,
Neptune systems is known for
and incorporates a pair of optical sensors,
one in each container,
so you can be notified when it's time to top them back up.
For those reefers out there who love controller boards
and cabinets for keeping their reefing gear organized
and looking super slick,
adaptive reef offers a faceplate
for their controller cabinets
that gives your DOS a home
right by the rest of your Apex gear,
providing a nicely fitting shroud with a shelf
to rest of your dose on
and a pair of slots to neatly sneak the tubing through
keeping all of the cords and tubing
neatly out of sight.
So if you've been looking for the perfect dosing pump
for your Neptune System's ecosystem
and the DOS matches your reefing mantra,
you can pick one up for yourself by clicking right here.
(upbeat music)