Kangaroo 324 Feed pump.

reeferaddict · #1 10-13-2005, 09:47 PM

Dosing accurately can be tricky sometimes but I just made things a lot simpler and more reliable by picking on of these up used off an Ontario reefing board.

I've always favoured 24/7 dosing to avoid fluctuations and promote stability, but could never justify the expense of even a cheap peristaltic pump, and the Aquadose by Kent just isn't easy to get a good, consistent drip with. When I saw this one for sale for $100 I thought it was a typo... they retail new for anywhere between $600 - $800 US. You can imagine my excitement when I contacted the seller and he told me it was still available.

Jaws · #2 10-13-2005, 11:23 PM

Can you elaborate on what it does a bit more for me Jim?

Ruth · #3 10-13-2005, 11:52 PM

My son was seriously injured on a drilling rig a year and a half ago and could not use his stomach for 3 months so had to have a feeding tube fed via a kangaroo pump. They work great and I always thought it would work good in a reef. The only PITA is the alarm that goes off when the bag is empty and trying to reset the pump - or if the line gets a bit of a clog in it the alarm goes off.
I have also seen these for sale on Ebay.

christyf5 · #4 10-14-2005, 12:05 AM

A peristaltic pump is a dosing pump. You can dose a certain volume per minute or per hour. The pump works using peristalsis, in which it provides pressure against the tubing and draws the liquid through the tube much the same way the muscles in your throat allow you to swallow.

So the rollers work to provide constant pressure against the tubing and draws it through. You set the speed of the rollers so that it provides you with the drip rate you require. One end of the tubing is set in the liquid you want dosed, the other where you want it dosed to. These are great for providing a constant drip and don't clog much like IV lines in the Kent aquadoser (mine continually clogged while I was dripping kalk).

Sheesh, reviewing that I hope I didn't overdo it

Good score Jim!

reeferaddict · #5 10-14-2005, 02:08 AM

I think Christy pretty much covered it there Jason... I will add that it's digital controls allow for precise delivery of kalk, food, or whatever else you may want to dose... Ruth, there is a way to disable the alarm, though I don't have the manual, but I will figure it out.

You can dose from 1 - 300 ml per hour to a maximum of a 5000 ml dose. As I dose kalk, iodine and strontium all with my auto top-off, I am leaning towards using this unit to dose magnesium and food... keeping everything constant. IE, I could mix a slurry of CoralVite, Phytoplex and Coral Accel and Tech-M to be constantly dripped instead of dumping once or twice a week... though I would have to somehow make a stirring device in the resevoir to keep everything suspended. I'm thinking that no matter how I choose to use it, it will be a very useful tool as I advance in the hobby.

Jaws · #6 10-14-2005, 03:09 AM

How would you run multiple devices off one unit?

reeferaddict · #7 10-14-2005, 07:11 AM

I wouldn't run multiple devices. Just a type of stirring device in whatever I choose to use for a resevoir to feed it. I'd mix whatever I wanted to dose and deliver it over the period of days or even a week at a constant accurate rate, hopefully getting things just that little bit more stable...

Ruth · #8 10-14-2005, 12:32 PM

Jim I am pretty sure that I have a couple of the plastic bags that they use on these hanging around. My son's case was a WCB so they supplied us with a whack of the stuff he would need when he finally came home from the hospital. PM me your address if you want and I will look for them over the weekend and mail them down. They usually hang from an IV pole but I am sure you could hang them from anything.