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Product Review Coral box WiFi dosing Pump

Chubbs

Member
Joined
25 Oct 2017
Messages
146
Location
UK
so I’ve been using a DP2 Jebao Pump to dose my heavily planted tank with Macro and Trace ferts on alternate days. I found it incredibly inaccurate and a right nightmare to control and alter settings as the plants grew in.

The same company now make a WiFi enabled version under the Coral Box brand. With it being WiFi controllable via an iPhone, I was instantly interested.

the Coral box comes with four pumps, so is more comparable with the Jebao DP4. Unlike the latter it’s cased in metal and much smaller. And the costs are not that different.

The overall quality feels much better and with the initial cost being not much more, it’s a no brainier.

Initial setup was easy but the iOS app is a bit buggy at the moment.

Calibration is simple and incredibly accurate and can be recalibrated within minutes. Had it installed and scheduled within 10 minutes. As you calibrate it, it becomes more and more accurate, so for example I have no return valves on my pipes, so this affected the timinings and therefore the output. The first run at calibration delivered 8ml instead of 10, but you can enter this into the app and recalibrate it. The second run was 9.5ml, again you enter this in and then recalibrate and then it was 10ml spot on.

Each pump can be triggered once per hour, per day at set minute intervals, so you really can’t get more flexibility than that. Again, all controllable from the app, rather than the silly LCD screen on the Jebao. In fact the coral box doesn’t have a screen at all, it’s completely operated via a nice UI on the iPhone app. This means if you want to dose 30ml of Trace throughout the day, you can divide it up between as many hours as you wish. So for example, i have mine set to spread the dose during my lighting period.

The pumps are louder than the Jebao but other than that it’s a much better dosing Pump. I’ve only had it for a little while now, so can’t comment on it’s reliability but so far really happy with it.

The Jebao was dumping both Macro and Trace on the same days despite being set on alternative days. One of the most useful screens on the coral box app is the schedule. It updates daily to show you which pump is scheduled to run that day and which are not. So quickly you can see, what’s running and when. A really helpful feature.

Manual override is also an option, for example you can have it run until you turn it off, or you can get it to dose a specific amount on command, I doubt I’d use this feature, but it’s nice to know I can and certainly made priming the tubes easy.

A little tip, although you should do this with any pump, add a non return valve on the out going line. I add mine right before it reaches the tank. This helps prevent air bubbles but also helps keep the fertiliser from going mouldy or drying out in the air line.

Pros:
+ Solid construction
+ WiFi controllable
+ Easy to setup through the app
+ The app whilst not perfect is still pretty good
Incredible amount of flexibility and control over dosing.

Cons:
- Customer support is in China, sometimes they’re helpful and sometimes they’re not. It seems to depend on who answers the email.
It’s not uncommon to get less than a sentence. So I’ve learnt to keep my emails as simple as possible. Sometimes support is also non exsistent.
- The app is still a bit buggy at the moment on IOS.
- The pumps are quite loud in operation, I have this screwed into my cabinet but can clearly hear the pumps operating if near the living room (where the tank sits).
- WiFi security is non exsistent. You can’t stop it broadcasting, you can’t change the device name and you can’t change the password. So do not connect it to your home network!

Edit:
I’ve discovered that there is a second app that works for this pump. It’s near identical UI but the icon is a bit more stylish and is less buggy. Search for ‘dosing pump’ Rather than ‘aqua dosing’. There are still ‘Engrish’ Errors, for example; number is namber and confirmation pop ups simply state ‘work’... it’s more comical than an issue and it’s still a good app. Button labels now work properly though, so actually it’s a bit easier to use.

Overall I see this as a great alternative to Jebao dosing pumps and still within the budget range of devices at around £140.

Just thought I’d share my feedback as I’ve really struggled to find a dosing Pump that I was happy with. As mentioned I’ve not had it for very long, so as the months go on, I’ll update with any issues.

Edit: Photo added so you can see size comparison. Despite being 4 pumps it’s smaller than the DP2 Jebao.
 

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Nice write up.

Jaboer gets mixed reviews and has been known to dump contents from a container into a sump.

Paul


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Nice write up.

Jaboer gets mixed reviews and has been known to dump contents from a container into a sump.

Paul


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Mine worked well for the first few months but then just decided to ignore the schedules. So mixed bothTrace and Macro together. I also found that changing the settings was also a pain, if I changed pump 1 settings to increase it as my plants grew, I’d have to wait a day before changing pump 2, because if I set a 1 day interval for each pump, rather than work on separate days, they’d follow the exact same schedule. I guess the device isn’t as smart as we’d like it to be and once you figure that out, you can work around the quirks. I sent mine back in the end and bought the Coral box. Same company in China that makes both, but this appears to be much better quality.
 
From what I have experienced and read you get what you pay for with a doser.

They are great and take away a lot of manual dosing but they then become critical and can be a liability.

Paul


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
From what I have experienced and read you get what you pay for with a doser.

They are great and take away a lot of manual dosing but they then become critical and can be a liability.

Paul


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes that has been true in my experience. I paid £40 for the DP2, it broke and then £140 for the CoralBox. GHL was around £300 and Kamoer around £400. The latter two being at the mid to high range of the market.

I think for my purposes sticking to the budget coral box has been a perfect match. It’s one of those devices you can fit and forget. My fert mix lasts about 2-3 months at a time, so I rarely need to interact with it. Which suits me perfectly. I like my high tech tank to be low maintainance, so where I can I automate.
 
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