The use of dosing pumps for aquariums is on the rise and German company ARKA wants in on the action. Their new ARKA Vida GT doser is one of the few German-made dosing pump systems made specifically for aquarium use and as such, it is loaded with a feature set that will be particularly appealing to reefers.
The ARKA Vida GT is a four channel dosing unit with programming to dose up to 2 liters per day in increments of 1ml. The ARKA Vida GT doser can also be coupled with a slave unit to expand dosing channels to four more for a total of 8 solutions being added to the aquarium.
Where the ARKA Vida GT really shines is the inclusions of magnetic stirrers, four of them for each channel of fluid to be dosed from the master unit. No other aquarium doser on the market has any kind of magnetic stirring, and since ARKA is friendly with Microbe Lift products the magnetic stirring ability was designed to help keep probiotic cultures homogenized through frequent stirring.
If you’ve ever dosed aquarium “fuel” and bacterial cultures to your aquarium, then you know that proper shaking of the solution is required to dislodged the heavier elements of the fluid into suspension. With its four built-in magnetic stirrers, the ARKA Vida GT doser is the only product for aquarists which can automate this process.
Despite all these advanced features, the ARKA Vida is quite affordably priced compared to similar units on the market, although magnetic stirring is an exclusive feature to the Vida GT, for now. Some German marine aquarium dealers are listing the ARKA Vida GT master unit for as little as €299 (~$411) and slave units for €100 less. So for about €499 ($687) you can get a total of 8, eight, channels of automated dosing, plus magnetic stirring, and who knows what kinds of fancy dosing footwork this device is capable of.
The actual market price of the ARKA Vida GT doser is likely to be quite less than the exact currency exchange rate, but we will anxiously await official release in North America for the full feature set and retail pricing to be revealed. [ARKA]