dandy7200

I bet you could find a little 5" carbide blade that would fit that tile saw though. My money say's it has a 5/8" arbor blade so it should cost you about $3 at harbor freight.

Sounds like a plan. What brand of union is on it? Threaded or slip?

I am planning on feeding the reactor from the main pump, I like the idea of smaller media in the second chamber. Crushed coral maybe? Honestly I think that the dome lid with the co2 recirculation loop will be so much more effective than the current standard that I will probably not have to worry too much about the effluent ph. I am betting that the amount of co2 required to maintain a consistent ph inside the reactor will be about half of what it is with a traditional lid. I think the biggest reason for me putting the second chamber in is to produce more calcium/alk. No since in wasting it. I think I am going to play around in illustrator a bit and see if I can make a nice GSA sticker that looks something like this to put on it when I'm done: I actually played around with it today a bit and cut some more parts, figured out a nice way to get the 3rd chamber in there and have it look nice. Trying to visualize the 1/4" plumbing so I can design some tube routing into it and keep it neat looking. I also found a 6" piece of 2.5"diameter tube to make a nice big bubble counter with. This thing is going to need some bracing as well, all the chambers are going to need to be tied together somehow so the base doesn't flex at all when it has 50# of water and media in it. Maybe I should just put casters on it too :P

Turned out nice. I like the internal pump design as it really cuts down on footprint. I doubt the UL would approve your spliced pump cord though :p Are you glad I talked you into 3/8" acrylic for both pieces?

Would actually be quite easy. Probably a good market for upgrade parts for that particular reactor. It is without a doubt the most popular calcium reactor in the US. I would need to borrow someones reactor for a hour or so to match the keyhole dimensions, but once that was done it would be easy machining. The installation would be simple too since the geo uses that bit of soft tubing on the input of the pump. I would just need to match the union he uses on the lid. Hmmm, I like that idea a lot

Sikryd, I don't really have plans to sell these. Even if I ever decided to it would be a long time from now. I do plan to have a calcium reactor kit available in the next few months and if this reactor comes together well I will definitely offer the domed lid as an option. Chip, the "new" thoughts on second media chamber are the same as the "old" ones. Water drain or co2 drain/bleed like Dave is talking about? I drilled holes for guest fittings in the base plate so I could drain it for maintenance. If I go with the pressurized injection (which I m leaning away from) effluent would go into the top of the second chamber and the effluent flow would come out the bottom. The feed for the drip would need to be below the top of the second chamber and there would be a small hole drilled to let out the pressure in that second chamber as well. That combo would keep the water level in the second chamber even with where I placed the effluent drip on my system and it would create a air free gravity feed effluent so there would be no spray issues. In order to add air to the second chamber via pump or venturi, it is necissary for the second chamber to be "open" or not pressurized, the co2 needs a place to "escape". So that is the only "new" idea on my second chamber, I don't think the "old" style second chamber gives the co2 any place to vent to it relys solely on a additional contact time soak it up. What I m concerned about with pressurizing that chamber is that since the main chamber recirculation is essentially a closed loop, the valve restriction wont actually work since it will be valving the input as well as the output. Some of that additional pressure needed to actually make it work will come from the water input and co2 input but I am not sure it will be enough..... Dave, the entire purpose of the conical lid is to eliminate the need for a bleed off. It will instead recycle the co2 rather than cause a pressure build up or "slurp" it into the recirc pump or worse release it into the effluent. This system should be less maintenance and more efficient than than the geo. I don't want any co2 bubbles to build up at all on the intake of the pump, that is the reason for the preinjection chamber, if it is 100% full of water and the bubbles have a chance to mix inside the biobale media then it will create (hopefully) a saturated water mixture before being sent to the pump, so yes, the purpose of the injection chamber is to eliminate bubbles. The pump actually draws from the top of the chamber, the output is under the main chamber. All the injection, mixing, recirculating of co2 happens on the input side of the plumbing. I have no idea how GFO will react to dkh 30 and 800ppm calcium Maybe you could put a little in a cup and drip your calcium reactor effluent over it for a bit and see what happens. I don't predict anything odd happening but you never know. Jon, a big town Medford is not. 3 connections both ways and rubberbands might be driving the props of the last one I took to get here.

Medford. Grandma's 80th birthday party/ family reunion.

I think I may run the water through the top of the mix chamber straight out the bottom and eliminate the valve bypass. The more I think about it, I think that the co2 and water mix should be done in a non pressurized reaction chamber. The goal would be to have a very low ph water solution that didn't have and large co2 bubbles mixed inot it, and thus prevent the slurping sound of the paddle impeller trying to mix the full size bubbles from the co2 that would normally be present. That might free up a little space for me to work in a phosphate media chamber too.

So I haven't built anything for myself in the last two years and I have been feeling a little left out I have been using two part for the last year after selling the calcium reactor that I had previously built for my system. I have been happy with the results up to a point but honestly feel that the calcium reactor route was less work and a little more reliable. So, here it goes..... I pretty much want to design the best possible reactor in the world, yes the whole world. I don't care how much it cost, I am not trying to sell them, I just want to push the limits of efficiency and design something a little different. I know there are a ton of you here that understand the inner workings of calcium reactors so I thought I would post here and hopefully it will lead to good discussions like the ozone reactor build did. Design goals: 1. Recirculating water flow in main chamber 2. Recirculating co2 that is simple and reliable 3. Integrated self filling bubble counter that never requires maintenance 4. Co2 premixing chamber that actually works 5. Internal ph probe 6. Second full size media chamber for effluent 7. Post effluent media chamber for phosphate removal media 8. ??? 9. ?? 10. ? I built the lid and top keyhole flange earlier this week to fit 6" diameter acrylic tube since I have a ton of it right now, I thought it was a good choice. To make the domed lid, I baked the 3/8" thick cast acrylic sheet at 285 for 1 hour. Then I put it in a form I made, pressed it in and let it cool. I screwed that part to the work table and did the keyholes and the holes for plumbing on the CNC. It could be done by hand but just be sure to do the machining after the part has been molded since it will shrink a bit in the heating/cooling process. The picture is of the first one I did, I didn't have the clearance high enough on the router and I nicked the left side of the dome, by the third attempt though, I got it right The top center is drilled and tapped for 1/8" NPT John Guest fitting and will be for the co2 recirculation, there are other holes in the lid for 3/4" plumbing and a ph probe holder. I took the day off today and got some time to play around with a mock up of my first thoughts for the design. Actually, these are probably my 30th thoughts on the design but I feel like I am finally making some progress. The main chamber and second chamber are both 22" tall and should hold about 20# of media each. I am using a panworld px40 pressure rated pump mounted below the reactor. The footprint is 17"x12" and 30" overall height. It's big. The co2 intake is connected to the top of the bubble counter which is connected to the plumbing by a double tee. This is the self filling bubble counter feature that I have used in the past and the same as koralin, geo, etc. Also attached to the doubble tee is another John guest fitting for the water intake. I have several 1/4" tube valves on my main pump manifold so that is how I plan on getting water to the reactor. The co2 mixing chamber is stealing heavily from the ozone reactor build, it is a 3.5" diameter chamber that is 12" tall. I filled it with bio-bale and the internal plumbing is pretty much exactly like the ozone reactor. The "pressure relief valve" on this reactor is actually going to be the effluent out of main chamber to the second chamber then to a phosphate chamber and then drip to tank. There is a gate valve after the mixing chamber that should allow me to throttle back the flow and dial in the pressure so that the chamber mixes just like the ozone reactor did. All of that is on the intake plumbing of the recirculating pump. The output of the pump comes up through the main chamber of the reactor. I am thinking about adding a small air pump to the bottom of the second media chamber to help blow off any remaining co2. I am also giving some serious thought to just adding a skimmer pump to the second chamber and using it to recirculate as well as draw air into it via an aspirating venturi. I haven't figured out where I want to put the phospahe removal media chamber, I may leave it as a separate reactor all together. I'm headed to Oregon for a few days so I should have about 20 hours on a airplane to figure it out......

Howdy Mike How is your son doing? You know I still have that stand I built for you years ago, it has served as a fantastic router table. I use it almost every day, so you can't have it now...lol Dan

Try noalox. It is pretty much designed for this application.

I don't think a aqualifter will give the precision to use for two part dosing, they are fantastic for top off applications though. It would be nice if there was an affordable true peristaltic pump out there.......hmmm....

basser, we are talking about the same device. Burp or pressure relief is kinda the same thing when you think about it There is a pretty good picture of it in post #59 of this thread.

Eheims new pricing sucks, they have pretty much eliminated themselves from the US market unless the exchange rates drastically change any time soon. The OR2700 is a good pump, the 8" body of the 8-3 could handle the OR3700 though. Ocean runners are a tad loud but they are a reliable pump.

Thanks for the feedback guys If your the DIY type pay close attention to GSA this coming year! If your more of the plug and play reefer we will have some fun surprises coming your way as well.

Nice! I didn't even glue that bottom drip plate on, looks like you did. Doubt it makes a difference either way. I don't see your pressure valve tube stem though, is it in there?

The phosbgone should just dance in the reactor. When you have the flow dialed in it will "roll" in the bottom of the reactor. You shouldn't even need that nylon top filter pad on the reactor, I include 2 but I have honestly never used the top pad for phosbgone. Give your carbon reactor a jiggle and it will settle, it is the air trapped inside the pours of the carbon that causes it to float. After it has been in the water for an hour and you shake it, it will fall to the bottom and begin to fluidize. Other than that, looks good. Time to update your signature though

They were 1/8" NPT to 3/16 barb nipples.

Well a follow up to this. I had been racking my brain for the last few weeks trying to figure out why 2000w of heat was not enough for my tank. I know the sump room is not totally insulated but my sump is 2" thick styro insulated and the sump room is never colder than 50 even when it has been 10 outside. Today I finally had time to break out the killowatt meter to check to see if all my heaters were firing.....6 of them were not. All 6 of those we plugged into a Neptune socket expansion which had failed. Bypassed the socket and voila, tank temp started to climb back to normal. Go figure. I sense a DIY socket expansion module brewing now......

I turn off all my pumps and pour 6-8 cups of kent down a 1" pvc pipe onto a patch of green and in 6-8 hours it is gone. I can confirm that kent is the only mag that works to control this evil weed. I have used up to a gallon in a single treatment and never had a problem. I have also used as much as 3 gallons in a month. Divide this by 4 and you will have a closer dosage that will likely solve your problem. It will still probably take monthly doses over the course of 8-12 months if it is as bad as you say.

OK, here is my best guess. Adding carbon cleared water up a little so light could penetrate more easily. Since they were new lights, they penetrated even better. You added a carbon source and fueled bacteria growth, the diatoms started to feed off both the nutrients and the added light and "bloomed". They will go away when you take away the food source (you already noticed it by shutting down the lights). Again, it is just a "best guess" based off the little bit I know about your system. But, it should be noted that adding UV will make your water even clearer and the light will penetrate even more, so you may still have a little way to go with your battle. Or you could choose not to fight it, let it eat and then naturally go away on its own.

Looking pretty good. So, back up a little though. Did you change spectrum on the bulbs when you changed them? How old were your previous bulbs before they were replaced? Are you using a filter sock on the drain when you scrub? Do you use carbon? I know, I ask a lot of questions, it's ok, you can say it.... :p

aquariumplants.com

I think starting at 10mg would be safe. Do you have a controller for orp? The pump doesn't care how big the reactor is, only the pressure inside matters. It's no different than calculating head pressure really, gravity = psi

Dave, welcome to WAMAS I don't think the minijet will cut it. I tested the unit with a mj1200 and it was not a problem, you just need enough pump to push through that 2psi of back pressure. The pressure relief will have a slight mist out of it at all times, check out the video that was posted for a real good look at it in operation. Also note the solution to quiet it down 3" diameter is a smaller than the one I tested so I can't tell you where to dial in the air pump, I think the best thing to do is to aim for 2psi internal reactor pressure and plug your tank volume into the formulas I posted earlier in the thread to determine flow through the reactor. If you are at 2psi with the right flow rate and 50% air pump then your good to go. Definitely post pics and details of your build here. I am hoping sailfintang documents his build here as well.