Options on feeding calcium reactor??

[pizzaguy]

What are options for feeding a calcium reactor that are cost effective? Can they be fed off a manifold from return pump?

[Jon Lazar]

What kind of reactor do you have?  The only experience I have is a Korallin 1502, which doesn't use a feed pump at all.

[pizzaguy]

Korallin 3002

[sethsolomon]

Cole parmer off ebay.   they will be about $150 used.  You can use a manifold but it will feed too much water through the reactor and eat up your co2.  and has a high tendency to get clogged.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cole-Parmer-Peristaltic-Pump-Console-Easy-Load-drive-with-Easy-Load-Pump-Head-/302317810385?hash=item46638bb2d1:g:REoAAOSwcgNZGcH5

 

 

Don't be afraid to post an offer on ebay on this stuff.  They are mostly just sitting in medical supply warehouses of old units.

[Origami]

Cole parmer off ebay.   they will be about $150 used.  You can use a manifold but it will feed too much water through the reactor and eat up your co2.  and has a high tendency to get clogged.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cole-Parmer-Peristaltic-Pump-Console-Easy-Load-drive-with-Easy-Load-Pump-Head-/302317810385?hash=item46638bb2d1:g:REoAAOSwcgNZGcH5

 

 

Don't be afraid to post an offer on ebay on this stuff.  They are mostly just sitting in medical supply warehouses of old units.

 

+1. This is what I do. I have a Korallin C4002. In concert with a lid-mounted pH probe (which I use to hold the pH inside the reactor steady), I use a lab-grade Masterflex peristaltic pump, controlled by my Apex, to push a specific amount of effluent through the reactor every hour of the day and night. This spreads out the dosage but, more importantly, allows me to quickly dial in the amount of effluent that the tank needs. You'll have three parameters that you can play with: Pump rate (ml/min); pump on-time (via controller); reactor pH. By modulating these three, you quickly close in on a stable dose. 

[mogurnda]

I use a manifold from the return with a needle valve to regulate flow into the reactor. With the valve set for a slow drip, and the internal pH between 6.45 and 6.7, it has done the job for 10+ years without issues.  Valve needs to be opened wide occasionally to flush it, but is otherwise trouble free and avoids having to tend another pump.  

[pizzaguy]

So riddle me here because i dont know. I have extra bubble magus dosers. Will that work?

If not, how do i know what kind of masterflex pump to look for? Theres so many im not sure what im lookimg at...

[Origami]

So riddle me here because i dont know. I have extra bubble magus dosers. Will that work?

If not, how do i know what kind of masterflex pump to look for? Theres so many im not sure what im lookimg at...

It depends on how much the BM pump can put out. My reactor pH runs between 6.3 and 6.5 (which is lower than most people) and I believe that I'm running at 60 ml per minute for a little over 11 minutes each hour. This results in a little over 660 ml of effluent each hour. With my Masterflex, I can crank the dosing rate up much higher or, with smaller tubing, get down to as little as a few ml per minute. And, with the Apex, I can control dosing time down to the second, so I have a lot of flexibility to dial in my dosing.

[Der ABT]

I used a manifold feed and a maxijet 1200 feed for many years, biggest issue was the micro ball valve that controls flow clogging from buildup, then having to reset the drip rate....wasnt that often but always just before a trip, used to put the drips in the sump easily visible to make it easier to notice,

Was planning on doing a peristaltic but moved before I tried

 

If also check out avast peristalics, they have been rock solid for my auto water changes

[pizzaguy]

Origami, i did also order the optional lid for ph port. On the pump does it have to be the fancy digital stuff or just the basic old school style

[Origami]

I used a manifold feed and a maxijet 1200 feed for many years, biggest issue was the micro ball valve that controls flow clogging from buildup, then having to reset the drip rate....wasnt that often but always just before a trip, used to put the drips in the sump easily visible to make it easier to notice,

Was planning on doing a peristaltic but moved before I tried

 

If also check out avast peristalics, they have been rock solid for my auto water changes

 

I used to do pretty much the same thing and, with a slow drip rate, suffered the same clogging problem. A stream works to keep it clear better, but I could never really dial things in to where the dosage was stable and predictable over the long haul. Having found a great deal years ago on EBay for a bunch of high-end Masterflex pumps (we did a WAMAS group buy of them for about $100 each as I recall), I've found that I can calculate the appropriate (time) adjustment to make just by observing the increase or decrease in alkalinity over short periods of time (a day or two).

 

Origami, i did also order the optional lid for ph port. On the pump does it have to be the fancy digital stuff or just the basic old school style

The old style kind will work, too. As long as the dosing rate will stay where you set it, it should work fine. Even though I have a fancy digital one, I have it set up to start running at a fixed rate when it sees power. That way, I can just tie it to my Apex and control dosing from there. So Power_On ==>> Pump_On. Pretty simple. Mine didn't have a pH probe gland on it when I got it, so I put one in. Very handy to have. Just make sure that you calibrate the probe every few months or twice a year.

 

My CO2 control looks like this:

 

Fallback OFF

If CaRxpH > 6.40 Then ON

If CaRxpH < 6.33 Then OFF

 

Start with your pH a bit higher, say 6.6 or so, and use a cheap alkalinity test kit (like API) and lower the pH in the reactor until the effluent hits around 30 dKH. Go too much lower and you risk your media turning to mush. (Right now, I'm using old coral skeletons collected over the years from my tank. The ultimate in recycling!)

 

My peristaltic pump control (calcium reactor feed) looks like this:

 

Fallback OFF

OSC 000:00/011:13/048:47 Then ON

If FeedD 000 Then ON

 

This turns the pump on for 11 minutes 13 seconds and off for 48 minutes 47 seconds, to set up a 60 minute cycle that starts every hour on the hour.

[pizzaguy]

Lol this is gonna be fun i see.

So the old school one seth recommended above should be fine or something similar to that?

[Origami]

Lol this is gonna be fun i see.

So the old school one seth recommended above should be fine or something similar to that?

Yep.

 

You should always look up the specs on the motor unit (6-300 rpm) and the head (in this case, an Easy Load II accomodating four sizes of tubing LS 15, 24, 36 and 36. The different tubing sizes allow for a wider range of fluid transfer rates: Wider tubing moves more fluid per revolution. It's reversible, but for this application, you'll use it in one direction only. According to the specs, minimum flow is 0.36 ml/minute while max flow is 1700 ml/min. The speed is controlled by a vernier on the upper right of the front panel. But, as long as you set it to a reasonable rate (example: 60 ml/minute), you'll be able to control dosing by turning the unit on for fixed windows of time to dose the desired amount (in this example, you'd be dosing 1 ml every second the unit was powered on).

[sethsolomon]

Here is another one thats cheaper but can only use LS 15 and 23 tubing  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Millipore-XX80-000-00-115v-Peristaltic-Pump-Masterflex-/391855652719?epid=2159194026&hash=item5b3c6abf6f:g:jA4AAOSwlcZZg7xz

[sethsolomon]

I also have a spare one if you want to borrow it and see what they are all about.  I personally prefer buying a few broken ones for like $20-40 each and use them to fix each other. normally buying 3 of them will yield 2 working ones.   This one only needs a fuse cap:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/COLE-PARMER-MASTERFLEX-PERISTALTIC-PUMP-7520-35-AS-IS-F3-/172784115827?hash=item283abc6073:g:9rEAAOSwf~ZZbPnG you could toss an offer for like $30.

[pizzaguy]

Ty seth i will def let you know on that