325 gal set up on a budget!!

Italy Catania here:)

not the sort of thing that would normaly pop up in conversation unless someone's from utah;)

what sort of timeframe are you looking at to have the house/tank finished?
 
Well,
The house should be done in april, they're finishing the main level floor today, then they'll start the main level walls, etc. I'm actually working on my tank plans now, and may start building the DIY stuff this next week. My wife would like to start picking up items now for the tank, a little at a time lessens the shock if you know what I mean. I'm still crunching numbers to estimate the electrical draw, and am a little concerned about humidity issues. I think I'll start with a new calcium reactor. The one I have will probably work fine, but I found that having a dual chamber CA reactor has been not necessary. I get the same outcome with a single chamber. I think I'll just build a 5' tall acrylic tube single chamber reactor. I have an extra 5' section of acrylic tube left over from the last DIY.

100_0311.jpg


Damon
 
hay my buddy went to Italy Catania. been home for about 2 1/2 years now. and your right not everyday conversation here on RC.
Damon1 did you DIY you last calcium reactor?
 
Ryan Hobbson. he was from portland, OR and was going to school up in ricks. he got back in august of 2003.
Damon1 sorry to hijack your thread.
 
No worries mate!
This thread is fine for everything and anything.....yea, I DIY'd the calcium reactor in the above photo. If you ever want to make one, let me know. Cheap and easy----that is....cheaper than buying one. It works so awesome you wouldn't believe it. A can't turn it down anymore, it keeps the calcium at 425, and usually alkalinity at 11. Sometimes the Ph has dropped to 8.0, but this is rare, usually after I've jacked with something else....:D It's a dual chamber design, if you look at the picture, the closest tube to the front of the pic is the secondary chamber, and it appears to be leaving a layer of calcium carbonate on the top from not flowing into the sump. I can only drop 40 drops of effluent a minute into the sump, or my calcium goes through the roof!!! So a single chamber I think would easily handle a 75 gal. tank. If you all are interested, I can take pics when I build the next one and post em' up here.

Damon
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6317544#post6317544 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Damon1
No worries mate!
This thread is fine for everything and anything.....yea, I DIY'd the calcium reactor in the above photo. If you ever want to make one, let me know. Cheap and easy----that is....cheaper than buying one. It works so awesome you wouldn't believe it. A can't turn it down anymore, it keeps the calcium at 425, and usually alkalinity at 11. Sometimes the Ph has dropped to 8.0, but this is rare, usually after I've jacked with something else....:D It's a dual chamber design, if you look at the picture, the closest tube to the front of the pic is the secondary chamber, and it appears to be leaving a layer of calcium carbonate on the top from not flowing into the sump. I can only drop 40 drops of effluent a minute into the sump, or my calcium goes through the roof!!! So a single chamber I think would easily handle a 75 gal. tank. If you all are interested, I can take pics when I build the next one and post em' up here.

Damon
Click to expand...

Damon,

I would totally be interested in pics of you building one as I know I won't be able to buy a calcium reactor, it would never get past the "budget" watchdog :)

Brian
 
Im interested as well since the "budget" watchdog is also keeping me in line. are they really that easy to build?
 
You would be surprised how easy it is......It is even easier if you don't use acrylic for the main tube. The reason it is easier is because you do have to tap a few holes and the acrylic is more brittle, but if you take your time, it works out just fine. You can just use 4" PVC or schedule 40 for it instead of acrylic. It is fun to watch the water flow though. I feel like a DIY this weekend, so maybe I'll go to the depot, pick up some parts, and build it up. At least the main reaction chamber. Shall we do it??

Damon
 
dont remember meeting him off hand but you never know.

the diy calcium reactor sounds interesting, i managed to score a really good combo deal for my new 120g tank that included the skimmer, calcium reactor and two fluidised reactors.

just instaled them last week:)

its neat that you get to plan the tank now as you can allow the space you really need.

i found that no matter how much planning goes into i still left thing out (like the ball vavle when installing a new pump):eek1:

getting things over a period of time also helps to ease the blow, my wife would never have let me spend all that money in one hit.
 
I'll go get the few parts I need tomorrow from the depot. :D
Perhaps we'll build the main chamber first, then we'll add on the recirculation plumbing. Prior to building this CA reactor, I searched the web for about 6 mos. on and off before I settled in on the modified design I'm currently using. I'm real happy with it. One important factor however is in how to tune it. Once set, all you have to do is burp the valve at the top regularly (once a day or every other day) and it will work perfectly. (at least mine does.....or has......) I'll take some pictures of the different connections tomorrow to walk through the water flow.

Damon
 
O.K. guys,
I decided to start a new thread in the DIY section for this build up. I'd love for others to give feedback, and get a wider group of people involved. The Po boy calcium reactor on a budget is here!

CirolanidHunter,
I read parts of your thread on your 75 gal set up, similar to mine in many ways, looking good. You'll be happy to know that I haven't had to dose my tank but maybe once since I started this reactor 1 year ago, and that was after we moved everything over to my brother in laws and the whole thing had to be re-set-up. It can save you a ton of cash in the long run my friend...

enjoy!!

Damon
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6327008#post6327008 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Damon1


CirolanidHunter,
I read parts of your thread on your 75 gal set up, similar to mine in many ways, looking good. You'll be happy to know that I haven't had to dose my tank but maybe once since I started this reactor 1 year ago, and that was after we moved everything over to my brother in laws and the whole thing had to be re-set-up. It can save you a ton of cash in the long run my friend...

enjoy!!

Damon
Click to expand...

Thanks for looking at my thread! Always nice to have visitors. I wish I had room for a calcium reactor. I'm thinking of trying to talk my wife into a bookshelf next to the tank with doors for hiding one and a better refuge :)

I'm definitely going to build one for my BIG tank....2-5 years from now :D

I'm going to do Randy's two part recipe soon to keep my calcium dosing costs lower. I also have some Kalk I'm going to start using as top-off to keep the levels more stable, followed by Mrs Wages when the Kalk is gone.

Brian
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6337475#post6337475 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pyro383
You spoke about humidity, have the builder install a dryer vent leading into that fish room & install a bathroom fan along with a humidity controller from here http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/39_766_376

This is what I am currently doing.
Click to expand...

What size system (how many gallons) do you have? How often does it need to run?

Brian
 
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