Precipitation Seizing Return Pump

[ChouDawg]

Alright guys, looking for a little advice/suggestions here, I apologize in advanced for this "essay"

So I came home today and my return pump had stopped working again. I've had my tank setup for almost a year now and started dosing two part Alk/Ca recently. I started testing/dosing because my corals were melting away with weekly water changes that couldn't keep the levels in check (Red Sea Coral Pro Salt).

I monitored my consumption then began dosing daily. I'm using 48 mL of BRS Soda Ash for Alk and 15 mL of B-Ionic (switching over to BRS Calcium Chloride once I run out) My issue is I seem to be getting a lot of precipitate/build up in my sump even though I dose in the main display in front of my MP10. For the past few weeks I've dosed the Alk part first 30 mL in front of the MP10, waited awhile then dosed the Ca part into the overflow. After letting it all mix for awhile I'll then add the remaining 28 mL of Alk in front of the MP10 again. I was planning to get a doser to automate this process but would I still have the same issues?

A month or two ago my return pump and skimmer pump both seized, resulting in spilled water, headaches and a deep cleaning which I know I should've done sooner. I soaked all the components in vinegar and then scrubbed them with a toothbrush. After a bit of reading it seems any internal pump with a magnetic impeller will inherently get buildup due to the small volume and higher localized temperatures. I'm running a Jebao DC-6000 and before anyone jumps to say "get a better, name brand, more expensive etc pump" I can't really see any reason a different brand pump of the same design would be immune to this issue. I've read external pumps seem to not be affected by this issue but most post seem to point towards bi-monthly pump maintenance/soaking which I just simply don't want to do. Feel free to call me lazy or etc but I'm sure I'm not alone in this view.

That being said, this issue in addition to various others have in a sense crushed my love for this hobby. I love my fish/coral and hate to part with them but the stress from my tank is killing me. I know our hobby is labor and time intensive but it seems like every few weeks a new headache arrives.

I was planning to setup a smaller nano tank and am glad I haven't yet because with all the issues on one tank I don't think I could give enough attention to both to have them thrive. So...am I going or am I just doing this all wrong?

SDR and it's members have been infinitely helpful in this hobby and I thank you all past/present but all this negativity is driving me towards calling it quits...

[h20poloman]

Hey Paul, I would definitely look to add the BRS dosers, the 1.1ml ones as you possibly may be adding too much all at once and with those dosers you can spread it out much more over the day. I had great success with those using their 2 part kit and then just adding their mag about once a week. I've never had that issue with precipitation from either of those additives to cause a pump to seize. Once I added those dosers being controlled by a reefkeeper I about kicked myself for not doing it earlier. I would stay away from the nano tank if this one is causing you enough headaches...smaller amounts of water volume can take dramatic swings faster.

[Bogg]

Agreed it's just too much added at one time
I personally chose the ca rxtr approach and also kicked myself for not doing it years and years of dosing testing dosing testing

[ChouDawg]

Hey guys, thanks for the input, I will separate out my manual dosing for now to minimize precipitation. I haven't been dosing Mg because my levels stay between 1250-1350 with weekly water changes. I have read though that not dosing Mg causes the Calcium to precipitate but I think that's only if your Mg levels are low though. Anyways, I've been thinking about it all day and I'm going to stick with it...i think...the only reason I was considering a nano is because I won't need to dose and can just do weekly water changes. On my old 8.5G cube I had great growth and didn't have to dose.

Another thing I'm curious if you guys might know, so my Jebao is like all the other DC pumps out there in terms of design. It has what I believe is a sealed impeller shaft? I'm not sure if it is 100% sealed though but when I reassemble my pump I never bother to totally dry out the inside of the impeller shaft nor the impeller itself although it is pretty much dry upon reassembly. If it is supposed to be sealed then preceipitation on the shaft causing it to seize wouldn't be an issue, is it possible mine isn't sealing properly and a better seal/different pump would be immune to this problem since the impeller wheel itself is the only thing in contact with the water.