I asked for thoughts on the Eheim Liquidoser back before Christmas... I didn't get much feeback that I recall but it was mentioned that if I get one I should post my thoughts. Well "santa" was good to me so here goes... I don't have any pictures so a couple things might be hard to explain, I'll try and get some if anyone would like clarification.
The unit can be programmed to dose up to eight times per day. You are able to set 4 different times during the day for either one or two doses. If you do two doses for one set time it spaces the doses 1 minute apart. The doses seem to be in the 1-2 ml range.
The dose is metered by a small slit in the reservoir. The slit is fairly narrow; this can be a problem for thicker or more viscous liquids. I started testing with tap water to check how much would be dosed and if it would be consistent. The viscosity of the water prevented it from flowing freely from the reservoir to the "dosing chamber" (the part the dumps liquid when it spins around to dose). I was frustrated at first but tried it with Flourish Excel and some other Seachem and Tetra ferts. These flowed much more freely between the reservoir and the dosing area allowing for more consistent doses especially if doses are only a minute apart.
The unit needs to sit above the tank or a sump where it can dump into the water. It would probably work over a HOB filter with a little modification to the lid. It is a tight fit for my tank, I have it on a 37g (30" long) with a 24" light box. With the tubes for my canister filter, this didn't leave much room. The unit is sitting on top of my lights positioned so it dumps into a small gap between the back of the tank, the filter intake tube, the lid and the light box. Its ugly sitting up there and would be easy to accidentally bump, thus dosing the floor instead of the water. This may be a consideration for some people. I'll find a way to make it work. The other thing that kind of bothers me (but isn't a deal breaker by any means) is that the space required for the doser to rotate is slightly wider than the unit itself. That means it may look like it fits somewhere but when it goes to dose it could get stuck or push itself out of the way.
Lastly, the reservoir is only slightly opaque. This may be a problem for light sensitive ferts. I understand that chelated iron breaks down in light. I may spray paint the reservoir black to block more light.
That about does it. I guess that got kind of long for something pretty simple. Overall, I like the unit. I won't forget to dose now but it means that if I miss a water change, fertilizers could build up to higher levels than if I were manually dosing (I know to stop dosing if I get lazy on water changes).
The unit can be programmed to dose up to eight times per day. You are able to set 4 different times during the day for either one or two doses. If you do two doses for one set time it spaces the doses 1 minute apart. The doses seem to be in the 1-2 ml range.
The dose is metered by a small slit in the reservoir. The slit is fairly narrow; this can be a problem for thicker or more viscous liquids. I started testing with tap water to check how much would be dosed and if it would be consistent. The viscosity of the water prevented it from flowing freely from the reservoir to the "dosing chamber" (the part the dumps liquid when it spins around to dose). I was frustrated at first but tried it with Flourish Excel and some other Seachem and Tetra ferts. These flowed much more freely between the reservoir and the dosing area allowing for more consistent doses especially if doses are only a minute apart.
The unit needs to sit above the tank or a sump where it can dump into the water. It would probably work over a HOB filter with a little modification to the lid. It is a tight fit for my tank, I have it on a 37g (30" long) with a 24" light box. With the tubes for my canister filter, this didn't leave much room. The unit is sitting on top of my lights positioned so it dumps into a small gap between the back of the tank, the filter intake tube, the lid and the light box. Its ugly sitting up there and would be easy to accidentally bump, thus dosing the floor instead of the water. This may be a consideration for some people. I'll find a way to make it work. The other thing that kind of bothers me (but isn't a deal breaker by any means) is that the space required for the doser to rotate is slightly wider than the unit itself. That means it may look like it fits somewhere but when it goes to dose it could get stuck or push itself out of the way.
Lastly, the reservoir is only slightly opaque. This may be a problem for light sensitive ferts. I understand that chelated iron breaks down in light. I may spray paint the reservoir black to block more light.
That about does it. I guess that got kind of long for something pretty simple. Overall, I like the unit. I won't forget to dose now but it means that if I miss a water change, fertilizers could build up to higher levels than if I were manually dosing (I know to stop dosing if I get lazy on water changes).
