Calcium Reactor Question

[mega]

Can someone please give me a full list of what is exactly needed for a complete setup. Every time i see one for sale i feel like its missing something if i were to purchase it.

I know the basics include

Reactor
CO2
PH Probe

What else??

 

[Willz]

pH controller, feed pump, recirculation pump, the regulator and solenoid to control CO2 flow.

I had really good luck calling Premium Aquatics and letting them help me pick one out with all the "fixins".

 

[gus6464]

CaRx can be as fancy or as simple as you want it to be.

The only thing I will say is don't skimp on the regulator. A good regulator will outlast every equipment you will own in the hobby by a mile. And yes a carbon doser is cheap crap. With a tiny bit of know how and some ebay searching you can have a dual stage regulator for less than the carbon doser.

 

[Breadman03]

Here is my setup:

• old K2 reactor
• Circulation pump-circulates water within the reactor
• pH probe
• pH controller-I use my Apex, which switches the CO2 solenoid on and off based on the reactor pH
• Feed pump-some use a manifold or a small powerhead. I use a Watson Marlow peristaltic pump for precise control. This allows me to not need to use a pinch valve to control effluent rate.
• Media
• CO2 tank-I got a couple with the reactor and just swap them at the local welding supply house when needed.
• Regulator for the CO2

I think I have it all listed there. The two areas where quality are most important are the CO2 regulator and the feed pump as they are the heart and lungs of the system.

 

[A13X]

pH controller, feed pump, recirculation pump, the regulator and solenoid to control CO2 flow.

I had really good luck calling Premium Aquatics and letting them help me pick one out with all the "fixins".

Don't forget the C02 tank, which you can get at your local gas supply house.
I paid $80 a 5lb aluminum tank.
But from now on
I can just take it and swap it out with another for $18. I like that because i know I'll be getting an inspected tank every time.

 

[gus6464]

The absolute cheapest way to do co2 tank is getting an old 20lb tank with expired hydro on craigslist. Airgas will do a swap for $30 and they don't care about hydro date.

 

[A13X]

And yes a carbon doser is cheap crap. With a tiny bit of know how and some ebay searching you can have a dual stage regulator for less than the carbon doser.

[emoji33]
What?
I thought it was as good as it got. What makes them cheap?
I'd hate for my co2 tank to leak.

 

[gus6464]

[emoji33]
What?
I thought it was as good as it got. What makes them cheap?
I'd hate for my co2 tank to leak.

The carbon doser is a $20 regulator wrapped in $280 worth of electronics. The problem with single stage regulators is that when co2 tank pressure gets low they can dump the rest of co2 in the tank. This is called an end of tank dump. I have had this happen before on my planted tank with a cheap regulator and needless to say lost all my fish in about 5 minutes.

Dual stage regulators do not have this issue and you can run until the co2 tank reads 0 psi if you wish. Then there's the whole electronics thing. Electronics can and will fail whereas a good quality mechanical valve not so much.

As for regulator setup there are lots of great regulators on ebay which can be had for cheap. I am talking $600+ units when brand new for ~$50-100. I have 3 regulators. My main production unit right now is a Victor VTS-253B with a burkert solenoid and fabco needle valve. I pieced that unit together for $200 all in. I have had it for years first on my planted tank and now on my carx. Bubble count stays constant even as the pressure on the co2 tank drops quite low.

This is my setup.

And my backups/2nd tank. I actually paid less than $50 for each of these.

I helped @Rob's Reef with a regulator build with that same Airgas Y12-215d. Maybe he can chime in on how it went. I think all in it cost him less than $200.

 

[jda]

You don't have to get crazy. I use Korallin, feed it with a tee off my return line, bottle and regulator. Reverse flow and ehiem pumps are good - the ehiem can run dry if they get full of CO2 while you are tuning.

If you can count up to fifty and work a watch, you can tune them without using a regulator. About 10 bubbles to forty drips is about right. I have never used a CO2 regulator.

 

[Robert Scott]

I actually don't use a Ph probe in my reactor. I concentrate on tank parameters, using a timer (Apex in my case), to manage the CO2 solenoid. I initially set up bubble counter and flow to give an affluent dKh of over 30. I've found it stays pretty stable, I check every once in awhile or when I suspect an issue. I've got a large SPS dominate system and have been running CO2 ON about 14 hrs/day which allows for coral growth flexibility. I also use a kalkwasser reactor to handle topoff which supplements Calcium reactor and helps maintain tank Ph.

 

[Pepcrylic]

Here is my setup:

• old K2 reactor
• Circulation pump-circulates water within the reactor
• pH probe
• pH controller-I use my Apex, which switches the CO2 solenoid on and off based on the reactor pH
• Feed pump-some use a manifold or a small powerhead. I use a Watson Marlow peristaltic pump for precise control. This allows me to not need to use a pinch valve to control effluent rate.
• Media
• CO2 tank-I got a couple with the reactor and just swap them at the local welding supply house when needed.
• Regulator for the CO2

I think I have it all listed there. The two areas where quality are most important are the CO2 regulator and the feed pump as they are the heart and lungs of the system.

Could you please give up some more info on the Watson Marlow pump you are using? I am having a heck of a time with my effluent out control. TY

 

[Breadman03]

Could you please give up some more info on the Watson Marlow pump you are using? I am having a heck of a time with my effluent out control. TY

It's a Watson-Marlow 505u off of Ebay. It's an industrial/medical peristaltic pump that is very quiet and durable. I don't know how many ml I'm currently running, but probably like 10ml/minute. I set it up with an initial head speed of 3 RPM, but am now at 5 RPM as my alk consumption has increased.

 

[Rob's Reef]

The carbon doser is a $20 regulator wrapped in $280 worth of electronics. The problem with single stage regulators is that when co2 tank pressure gets low they can dump the rest of co2 in the tank. This is called an end of tank dump. I have had this happen before on my planted tank with a cheap regulator and needless to say lost all my fish in about 5 minutes.

Dual stage regulators do not have this issue and you can run until the co2 tank reads 0 psi if you wish. Then there's the whole electronics thing. Electronics can and will fail whereas a good quality mechanical valve not so much.

As for regulator setup there are lots of great regulators on ebay which can be had for cheap. I am talking $600+ units when brand new for ~$50-100. I have 3 regulators. My main production unit right now is a Victor VTS-253B with a burkert solenoid and fabco needle valve. I pieced that unit together for $200 all in. I have had it for years first on my planted tank and now on my carx. Bubble count stays constant even as the pressure on the co2 tank drops quite low.

This is my setup.

And my backups/2nd tank. I actually paid less than $50 for each of these.

I helped @Rob's Reef with a regulator build with that same Airgas Y12-215d. Maybe he can chime in on how it went. I think all in it cost him less than $200.

Gus helped me out a Ton! he actually searched everything out for me! sent me links and I just bought them... now I have this beast!

 

[billwill]

Smaller details to include, that I think are critical. Good solenoid valve. Burkert mentioned above is good. Co2 check valve. Get one with low crack pressure, but not the $1 one. Quality co2 needle valve. Fabco good. Quality micro needle valve for effluent if not running high end peristaltic pump. I run a Dwyer flowmeter on my effluent. It's a $25 investment that allows quick review of effluent rate. I highly recommend it

 

[Bpb]

My setup, price itemized. On a 90 gallon tank

New old stock (as in brand new in box but discontinued) GEO 618 with eheim pump from premium aquatics - $300

Masterflex feed pump (purchased on classifieds on here - $200 shipped

Custom air products dual stage regulator with Burkert solenoid and fabco needle valve - $200 local pickup from a member on here, classifieds

One bag or reborn media and ph probe $70

Hanna alk checker with several bottles of reagent $70

 

[BantyRooster97]

Been searching for info on a calcium reactor and so far this is the best info I have found. Thanks!

 

[Epicreefster]

The above seems to cover everything but if your looking to save a few bucks on the peristaltic feed pump and have an apex then look into buying a Honlite peristaltic pump, I think they are on amazon. A rugged little pump that runs at 60ML/min, a little noisy, I run the oscillate program on my apex, 1 minute on out of every 10 right now, and I just adjust this time with my alkalinity demand. Best part of this setup is making alkalinity corrections which is tricky to do with a standard calcium reactor setup. If I just override the timer on the apex and run for 1 hour straight then it brings my alk up .25DKH, then I just switch back to auto. Knowing this if my alk drops by .5 DKH over a week first I manually run 2 hours to correct then I take 2 hours divide by 144 cycles a day divide by 7 days and end up at 7.14 seconds. I would add 7 seconds to the on time of the oscillate timer, and remove 7 seconds from the off time so I'm still at 10 min total, to prevent a drop the following week. Not perfect but fairly easy compared to adjusting a needle valve and counting drops. It makes it more like dosing Kalk or very weak 2 part rather than fussing with a needle valve and counting drips. And while your at it buy a second pump and power supply and run another oscillate program to dose kalk hourly. You could also just get the DOS for apex and run the same functions but its a little pricier. After looking at pumps for days its easier to buy a decent cheap pump and use an exterior control than trying to find an adjustable flow continuous pump at 10x the price.