Who makes the best CA reactors?

[aquadoc]

Was curioius to read the feed back on this topic, I am in the market to buy one, butt want one that's NOT cheap, keeps a constant efluent rate, and also maintains parameters extremely well. Not to mention looks as well. Cannot be a sight for sore eyes.

[Richard]

I have a Precision Marine Ca reactor. It was not cheap...LOL...but PM builds quality stuff. The only thing I would do different is buy one of the reverse flow ones from PM. They cost more but the reverse flow does not allow the media to compact or channel. You can check them out on his website, the link is on the maast sponsors list.

Mark(TheOtherGuy) just got a RF coralvue reactor so you might check with him and see how he likes it, if he's hooked it up yet. I didn't get a chance to look at it. I know they are cheaper than the PM ones but probably not the same quality materials.

[aquadoc]

Thanks for the input. Also it is not that I am trying to spend alot of money on a ca reactor, just I want one that will last a good while, and function properly. I do not want to spend money on something that I have to constantly adjust and monitor. I had a Tunze ca reactor, butt it never kept it effluent rate always was changing. I will check on the Precision Marine. I was also told by someone else that RK2 made some of t he best equipment. Was going to check on this as well.

[TheOtherGuy]

Mark(TheOtherGuy) just got a RF coralvue reactor so you might check with him and see how he likes it, if he's hooked it up yet. I didn't get a chance to look at it. I know they are cheaper than the PM ones but probably not the same quality materials.

I have all the parts (except the CO2 canister) to get it setup. I have to replumb my pump and move some stuff around under the tank to get it all to fit. Not to worry though, I will take pictures of the process/rework and post some pics when I am done. I will even post my mistakes (which should be 0 as this never ever happens. LOL).

[matt]

Hey Mike, I might be able to help you out. You're the guy with the CNC router, right? I need to make a few templates for large diameter tubing, and I'd be happy to work out a deal for a calcium reactor. Here are a couple of photos of older reactors I made; the newer ones are little nicer looking but very similar in design. They work great and will last forever. (famous last words!) Send me a PM if you want to talk about it.

[matt]

Oh yeah, one other thing. Getting a good steady CO2 flow is more about the regulator set up than the reactor itself. You definitely want the dwyer flowmeter, model RMA151 I believe; it's the one that has a range from 0-50 cc/min. This regulates gas flow much more consistently than the typical needle valves that come on CO2 regulators. With regards to the function of the reactor, you want to make sure you get one that's big enough and uses the right circulation pump. I've had the best luck with pressure pumps; the pan world is the best I've used, little giant next, although the little giant that has the right flow is REALLY hard to find. I had to order several from champion last time. They work great but they're a little noisy.

The eheim that you see in one of these photos is a bigger eheim than most reactors have, and it works fine, but not as well as the pressure rated pan world. Using a mag pump in a reactor is a mistake IMHO.

[Richard]

Here's the link for the Dwyer flowmeter, make sure you get one with the metering valve which I think is RMA-151-SSV...

http://www.dwyer-inst.com/htdocs/flow/SeriesRMPrice.cfm#CRA

[fiji2000]

Matt and Richard,
where can i find fittings to connect tubing to the dwyer flowmeter?

Thanks for your help,
Russell
fiji2000

[aquadoc]

Thanks guys I appreciate it, and Matt, Yes I am the guy with the CNC equipment. I will have some free time comeing up soon, so maybe we can get together and I can CAD out the part that you need, so I can use that to program the CNC machines for your jig.

[matt]

I believe the fittings on the flowmeter are 1/4" female pipe threads. What I did was get brass 1/4" thread by hose nipple fittings at HD, then put it in line between the regulator and the bubble counter. Then I just left the needle valve on the regulator open and used the flowmeter to control the CO2 flow. Some regulators have 1/4" threaded fittings on the output, in which case you can get a 1/4" brass close nipple and install the flowmeter right on the regulator, then use a brass hose nipple to connect PE tubing to run to the reactor.

[Richard]

I got my fittings at home depot. If you need to extend the length of the co2 tubing you need to get special tubing for co2. I think I saw it on marinedepot. Regular airline tubing will leak co2 they say.

Again, be sure to get the dwyer flowmeter with the regulator valve. I didn't pay attention and got the one with that does not have it. So I still use the needle valve on the co2 regulator to adjust co2. It keeps the bubble rate MUCH steadier than it was without it but still I wish I would have paid attention before I clicked the buy button. I'm too lazy to send stuff back LOL!

[fiji2000]

Quick reply.
home depot should be easy enough. I thought that I was going on a scavenger hunt.
Did yall discontinue use of your bubble counter? Whats a good flow rate to start with, prior to checking efluent rate?
Thanks again,

Russell
fiji2000

[matt]

No, you still use the bubble counter as a visual reference; typically you're flowing less than 5CCs/min so the guage on the flowmeter is not much help. As far as the rate of flow, you really have to measure your effluent ph and dkh to get the right CO2 flow. I suppose you could start with around a bubble every second and maybe an effluent drip of a couple of drops a second, but it totally depends on the reactor size, bubble counter size, (the bubbles in the counters for the reactors I made were very small) tank size, calcium demand, etc.. Once it's been running for a couple of hours, check the ph and alk of your effluent and I guess you know the rest.