The new dosing pump Versa by Ecotech Marine uses a long lasting pumping system. Wonderful!
This article is also available in: italiano
The pump is really more than this. In fact, as Ecotech Marine itself, the Versa is the queen of versatility. If you touch the pump you can understand its weight and quality. The materials used are designed to last and and the pipes are internally covered in silicon, like the ones used in labs, which assures a very small maintenance.
The Ecotech Marine Versa is available in a single version, like the one we have for our article, or in a 4 pumps version. It also exists a “base version” to which you can connect the pumps. Even if the system with the template included is very simple: in the back of the pump you can extract a sort of triangle assured to the forniture with some screws in dotation. At that point you insert the pump from above, with no possibility that it moves. A very practical and well done system.
Technical characteristics of the dosing pump Ecotech Marine Versa
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 80 mm |
| Width | 59,4 mm |
| Height | 106,9 mm |
| Electrics | |
| Power consumption | 12 watt |
| Functioning range | 100-240VAC, 50/60Hz |
| Peak current | 1,3 A |
| Dosage volumes | |
| Minimum dosage | 0.5 ul per minute |
| Maximum continuous dosage | 200 ml per minute |
| Maximum volumetric dosage | 300 ml per minute |
The incredible thing is that it can work continuously… dosing 0,5 per minute at minimum!
The video is in italian language, but you can choose subtitles and than translating to english.
How is the pump controlled?
The pump is controlled by the mobius system. That is, you create an aquarium on the app mobius, you add the pump and start to set it. We’ve already used this mobius system with the AquaIllumination Hydra and Radion ceiling lights, also with the Vortech and we like it very much. Easy and intuitive. You can follow the intallation step by step as we did in our video. It’s in Italian, but you can add the English subs.
Which are the available modes?
The pump can work through different modes. Ecotech Marine suggests to use all of them to dose calcium, trace elements and for the change of water.
There are 3 available modes: Automatic, Continuous and Manual.
Automatic: the Versa can program the specific dosage for each additive and solution. This mode uses standard practicals of dosage and usual and well-known changes of the water parameters in a reef aquarium, that are based on the light ciycle and the biological activity. The pump doesn’t determine the dosage volume, but it requires tests and the set up. Then it will program the dosage based on the salt and the selected additive.
Continuous: the pump sets a dosage speed (volum/min) that’s done when the pump is powered. The continuous mode is always active and is controlled by external devices (controller, timer, floating switch, etc…).
Manual: you can create a program with specific dosage volumes and/or timings. The pump allows to do the dosage at a specific speed or for a specific period of time. You can create until 30 events of dosage per pump every 24 hours. With the Catch-Up feature you can correct the difference of dosage if the pump is switched off or interruped during its daily program.
We calibrated and measured with a precision balance
It’s difficult to test a dosometric pump. We did the only thing we could think about: we took an extremely precise balance, then we calibrated the pump with 30 ml and we chose to dose 30 ml to see how much it would have actually dosed.
The precision of the balance is about +-0,01 g, then the precision is, considering the errors, 1 cent per gram or, in other terms, a one-tenth of a milliliter. In our test we measured 29,95 cl instead of 30, a difference of 5 cents per gram! Considering the lacks in the system, we’re extremely satisfied. You can see the whole test and the calibration sped up in our video.
And the price?
We are amazed by this pump, it’s well done and easy to program. The cost isn’t among the most affordable, seen that a single sample, like the one in the picture below, costs 175 euro. The version with 4 costs 700 euro. But the quality, the performance and the ease of programming are the best you can find on the market.
We thank ReefLine, exclusive distributor in Italy of Ecotech Marine, for providing us this pump for our tests.
