Easy Guide to Using a PH Controller with Dosing Pump (Top Tips for Beginners)

Okay, so, I’ve been messing around with this pH controller and dosing pump setup for my, uh, fish tank. I wanted to keep the pH levels stable, you know? It’s been a bit of a journey, let me tell you.

First, I got this pH controller and a separate dosing pump. The idea was to have the controller monitor the pH and tell the pump when to add some solution to adjust it. Sounds simple enough, right? It was not as simple as I thought.

I started by setting up the pH controller. I had to calibrate the probe thingy first, which involved dipping it in different solutions. Honestly, it felt a little like a science experiment. I read the manual which said that the pump would shut off if the pH goes beyond certain set values.

Then came the dosing pump. I had to make sure the chemicals I was using were diluted. It said somewhere that if using automatic dosing equipment, all chemicals must be in dilute form. I don’t want to mess up and kill all my fish, right?

I positioned the dosing pump according to some diagrams I found. It’s supposed to measure the pH using a probe in the filtration system. This pump I bought can measure pH between 0 and 14. Pretty wide range, huh?

Now, the tricky part was getting them to work together. I wanted the pump to add a little bit of something every hour to keep the pH above 8, but also be controlled by the pH probe. I messed around with the settings for a while. I enable the pump. I remember that I saw “enabled” on the pump’s screen so I think I did it right.

Here’s what I ended up doing:

• I set the desired pH range on the controller.
• I connected the pump to the controller, hoping they’d talk to each other.
• I filled the pump’s container with the diluted solution.
• I turned everything on and prayed.

At first, nothing happened. I was starting to feel defeated. Then, I realized I forgot to set the dosing schedule on the pump itself! Duh. So, I fixed that, and… it started working! I could see the pump adding tiny amounts of the solution, and the pH started to stabilize.

The Result

It’s been a few days now, and it seems to be working pretty well. The pH is staying within the range I set. I still check it manually every now and then, just to be sure. I’m pretty stoked that I got this thing working. It’s a bit of a DIY setup, but it gets the job done. My fish seem happy, and that’s what matters, right?