Beware of dosing pump tubing rupturing!!

[gmdcdvm]

Hello Everyone,
Just a quick public service announcement. This was a new experience for me. I recently noticed my Alk had tanked and the corals were looking stressed. Wasn't sure why but I figured I would up the dosing on my Red Sea Dose pump. Next 3 days, no change. I went to trouble shoot and found a large dried puddle of additives on the cabinet floor. I dosed manually and the tubing had ruptured just below where it attaches to the pump itself. Started squirting additives everywhere. When I looked into it further the tubing had formed some concretions at the outlet which obstructed the flow. So, I suspect the tank missed at least 3 to 5 days of dosing.
I figured out the tubing was clogged because when I went to prime the pump after cutting out the ruptured section I noticed the tubing blowing up like a water balloon. So, FYI, keep an eye on the tubing and outlet ports. Make sure to check them periodically.


Gerry

 

[newfly]

I am always nervous if the dosing pump/tube is clog. every once a while ( once or twice a month) i will do a 1ml manual dose on every pump, and ensure something comes out on the other end.
I didn;t really measure the actual ml on the other end. Maybe i should.

 

[gmdcdvm]

I am always nervous if the dosing pump/tube is clog. every once a while ( once or twice a month) i will do a 1ml manual dose on every pump, and ensure something comes out on the other end.
I didn;t really measure the actual ml on the other end. Maybe i should.

Wish I had the presence of mind to take a pic. Set it all up. Hit manual dose and nothing. Looked under the cabinet. The tubing looked like a ballon animal balloon and ready to pop again

 

[gmdcdvm]

Well, it happened again. The plastic nozzle got some build up again and clogged. Had the presence of mind to take a pic this time

I think I just need to remove the plastic nozzles that have such a small opening and prone to clogging.

 

[Darkxerox]

Always good to invest in leak sensors too. They're super cheap and can save you a headache.

 

[RandyC]

I prefer to use hard tubing (RO tubing) and this problem hasn’t ever occurred. Maybe an option for you?

 

[JVU]

I just have the tubing itself go through the holder and point down at the water so there’s nothing smaller at the end to clog. Also that ballooned out tubing looks like it‘s too soft for the job maybe. I use the firmer tubing that Neptune sells to use with their DOS and I can’t imagine it would ever balloon out like that.