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DIY Ca Reactor lets make it happen


ctreptow

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Guest Ruh Roh

If it is the bottom another beed of glue would fix it fine.

 

Outside might even be sufficient, try to mark where it is coming from. and glue the inside in that area as well for added strength.

 

If it is the seal at the top I think Chip may have one or two extras of the thick softer material I scavanged atround the shop here.

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It's definitely at the bottom. I have it sitting in a plastic bin & see where it is leaking. I'll try to add glue to the outside soon. I can't add glue from the inside because of the plastic dividers that hold the CPVC tube in the middle of the reactor.
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It looks like I'm on the road the for Jan 13-14, but after that would be fine.

 

Looking forward to it, but I am also not in a great rush. Mostly because I have so many other things to do in setting up this new tank.  Any "tank time" I find has loads of ways I can fill it

 

Phil

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During my evening run thru DC this past week, I had mindless drive time to think about the CA reactor.

I plan to use a mag5 for my reactor and be as tall 24", 25" with base and lid. 7x10x24 with a foot print of 9x12.

This will mean it's clearly a 3/8" job which increases the expense. Not a problem since I won't need to do it again and it will be excatly what I want to to be and do.

The neat thing is it will look like the square cousin of the kalk reactor. I see only a "F" in, an out, and a power cord sticking out of it. No other external plumbing. Since I plan to put the draw at the top and put the intake over the draw, the pull should be strong enough act as a venturi and remove the need for a pump to feed the reactor itself. It could/SHOULD draw the water in from the tank all by it self. At the very least, we wont have any excess CO2 given the placement of the intake.

Happy Holidays!

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I would like to find a mutual time to log onto the chat forum and have a meeting of the minds.

If you have not logged onto the forum, please do so and move around a bit. Look for the Wamas Chat and make sure you can get there. Look for the  "ca reactor" room.

This worked very well during the Kalk Reactor party planning and we were able to get a lot accomplished during the chat.

I can do it most evenings after 9-10.

Chip

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I'm making my reactor over the next couple of days out of cut off's I have. (scrap)

To do this as a group, we need to have a several people secure parts and material.

Please look here and pick one or several.---

 

Pumps - I'm using a mag5 I already have floating around.

Plumbing - 1/2" unions, 90s, T's and pipe.

Gasket material - soft orange or black.

Nylon thumb screws and wang nuts.  (MSC - McMaster Carr)

Plastic/plexi for the box. clear and black.

Glue - both #3 and #16 to seal.

Egg crate for the plate or similar for the media to sit on.

Media - here's a job for someone to find a good deal on bulk. I would like 3x what I need to fill it once, my rough guess is 2 gallons of media +/- per unit. Don't know the # conversion.

Fittings - fittings, fittings and more fittings. I'll know more after I make the first one.

Bottles - 5#-10#-15# bottles of CO2 - I have mine.

CO2 Regulators - one that has a bubble counter built into it but is not the el cheapo model-  I have mine

Dates that work for all. I can do Sundays, but I work on Saturdays.

This is not a one meeting job but more like several.

If you are still "IN" please let Chris know by posting here which item(s) you are in charge of. first come first serve

Also, please "track" this topic so you stay informed of the goings on.

I may be the only one left since I'm the only one posting lately.

Chip

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Nope not the only one... I can meet almost any night at 9 except Thursdays. Please let me know who is still in. If we build and glue at Chips we need to make it a small group. With the cold weather we can't glue outside like we did last time. We had 7 at last count it you are all still in please let me know.

 

Look at chips list and see what you can supply the group. I have some scrap acrylic and will need to see what we need.

 

Chris

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I'm in and I can probably get:

 

Gasket material - soft orange or black

Nylon thumb screws and wing nuts

 

How do I know how much of each I need to get?  I assume I can get this stuff at a Home Depot or comparable hardware store...?

 

Also, most Sundays are good for me after the weekend of the 8th.

 

Cheers

Mike

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Guest Ruh Roh

If you can't find ready made gasket stuff i can order and cut it again.

I also work right near acme plastics but only have a small car.. If we figure out how much of what we need and can get someone to truck the big pieces for me I'd be happy to try to cut most of the itesm here using laser/bandsaw. (bigger items I can bandsaw and we can clean up edges with router or sander.)

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Guest Ruh Roh
Does anyone know the granual size of media? Curious for finding an appropriate hole size. Take a measurement of the smallest side of the smallest piece you see for me. If you have a set of calipers or the like around the house :)
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I'm seeing a few more fittings incorporated into the lid than I previously imagined.

Still, a really clean look more like the kalk reactor and equally as or more efficient for a one tube (box)  CA reactor.

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Like I stated before my little bro works at Lowes so he gets a 10% discount. If I buy all this stuff all together we might get a great discount. Which parts can I get there?

 

Oh and on a side note if you don't have a regulator yet.

www.glass-gardens.com has awesome prices on them.

 

 

 

 

Byron

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I would make a single big box with a spray bar and be done.

Chip

I have basically completed the mock up reactor and learned a few things.

 

Mines done. I like the mock up so much I can't see making it again. While it ended up bigger than it needs to be because of a mid stream design change, it fit's exactly where I wanted it to, the way I wanted it to, and still manages to look better than the way I had hoped.

Get a price for the plastic pre cut to size.

Turn the cutting party into several glueing/drilling/routing parties only. That's the fun part anyways.

I used scrap from ACME. Scrap is a "luck thing" They have what you're looking for or they don't! They just happened to have several dupilcate pieces that were really close to what I was looking for so I just cut them all to the same length. I jointed the edges and glued it up. The scraps were straight and  true so imagine if they were cutting for a job. Point being is to cut one out is nothing, to cut loads from big sheets or irregular scraps is a very time consuming PITA. Let them do it, it's way worth it!! We'll get a piece list and put it out for bid.

These things if they work are going be sweet!

Since the mock up was justed glued I haven't had a chance to test it out yet. I'm going to be loading the corners w/#16 before I do. The only thing I question is the ability of the reactor to pull the tank water into itself instead of having to pump it in like all other reactors I've looked at. I hope to have an out flow valve only which controls the inflow.

Fittings.

You need lots! The bright side is you can find most if not all easily. Since I had everything I needed and thought it out so I didn't have to drive all over the place for some stupid perfect fitting that nobody carries or never heard of or some guy was going to stand there and show you several different ways you could do it with a series of 35 different pieces all glued together and still not doing what you wanted it to do since he had no idea you were doing this for a fish tank or with the intention of it working all of the time and not just some of the time. He's got all the time in the world and you just want one darn piece. Have you been there?

 

All in all, I had a blast designing and making this thing.

 

Get the pieces pre cut, trust me! These guys will set up some jigs and professionally cut them out for pick up. If it adds $10  to the box price it's worth it even at $20.

 

Thanks to Howard for lending both hands, I covered him up with plastic shavings several times and even let him leave with several shavings still clearly visible in his hair and on his head. Man that was a hoot!

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Hey Chip

 

Thanks for the input,,, I can't wait to see it and work with this design. I agree about the precut. I have some sources I can talk to to once we get the list.. And please post pics..

 

Thanks Chris

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I've heard that the ARM media dissolves faster than regular crushed coral, so I plan to put a 1" layer of crushed coral on bottom & fill remainder of reactor w/ ARM. This way as the ARM disolves to sand it doesn't go to the bottom as fast.
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So maybe the window screen idea instead of the pad idea needs to be rethunk?

I need media, has anyone found a bulk price or have about 2.5 gallons worth I can buy to test this thing out?

My 12 year old Jesse suggested I use pond liner for the top gasket. It's similar to the new Kalk reactor gasket material and needs to be 12x10. Got any better ideas?

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[tr]

Thanks Chip for the day, was fun, even if I walked around all day with Aquarium Decorations ALLDAY!

 

BTW, I knew they where there, just thought they looked cool!  tng

Howard

 

Never got the rest of the parts I needed to finish Sunday. My buddy showed up at 11am and we cut through block and brick walls with grinders, chippers, etc until finished 2 window installs around 6pm. As best as we could, we put up curtains and tarps to keep the dust down. WRONG! I was up until 3am this morning cleaning everything I could from all the black dust just to get to sleep! Awful!

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I tested the plate with air to see if the holes I drilled dispursed it pretty evenly.

It seems to do fine and the flow is about what I expected.

The cord for the internal powerhead was epoxied today and I'm ready to start drilling holes for the fittings.

123cabubble-med.jpg

The picture doesn't show them that well but the water leaves the holes pretty evenly.

Those are bubbles you see and that's a bag of salt in the background to try and show the bubbles. I'm going to drill a few more holes in the back part to get better flow to that area.

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