This weekend at Reefapalooza Orlando I met with the owner of GHL Matthias. While there he brought me the very first physical model of the NEW GHL Doser 3. I was the first to see it in person and I got the chance to interview him about the products features.
The GHL Doser 3 is slated to release May of 2025 and will retail for $500-550 USD. There will also be an extension unit which will cost about half the price. The extension unit which will be about $50 cheaper. The unit will come with black or white detailing.
The black version of the unit.
The Doser 3 can be utilized as a brain/controller for other GHL devices such as extension dosers, Kh director or Ion director.
This new model has done away with the compression heads of the past which have been replaced with high quality peristaltic heads complete with stepper motors and planetary geas that allow for continuous run. This is the largest change of the unit from older models.
The doser is able to displace from 0.1 to 80 mL of volume a minute. GHL conducted production test where they were ran 12,000 liters through the heads with no issues. Additionally all of the parts are available through the GHL store allowing for easy maintenance and replacement.
The new heads were designed and manufactured in Germany with high grade components which helps to ensure there will be no supply chain issues in the years to come.
In terms of other features the doser can also be linked to GHL’s float valves for automation water changes, ATO etc. and each head can sync to a stir bar with smart programming. This means if I have a stir plate synched with dose head 4 and I want to dose 5 mL at 9:00 am the stir plate will kick on at 8:59 to ensure my 5 mL solution is mixed and ready.
The back of the typical doser unit.
Additionally, the Doser 3 has faster WiFi as well as a LAN cable – the unit is able to be updated via WiFi and LAN.
On top of this there’s 4 layers of redundancy when it comes to getting into your doser 3. You can use WiFi, Bluetooth, the cloud or a physical connection and a computer. Additionally this unit can be physically connected to other GHL devices adding a layer of redundancy with the entire system in case of any emergency.
GHL’s primary argument is that controllers that rely on wireless communication between units are at risk of catastrophe during an emergency due to communication failure during the devices. A wire solves this problem. Mattias told me something akin to
“cars use physical wired connections – imagine if you hit the gas pedal and five different components have to wirelessly communicate with each other before you go – the doser three simply allows you to hit the gas”
The back of the extension unit.
All in all, the hardware seems superior on this product, and the multiple layers of redundancy that have been included with the engineering are a breath of fresh air compared to other units on the market. I am excited to get my hands on a Doser 3 to evaluate how the software side of things has evolved.
If you’d like to read more about the GHL Doser 3 you can do so here.
