ARID E18 reactor (Phosphate Control!!!)

Any updates on this? I just bought a used 18" one and would love some tips and to see how they've been doing over the long haul. Thanks.
 
petemichelle said:
what kind of test kid are you guys using to test for boron? what is your target for boron and how do you supplement it if low?

how do you guys clean your arid reactor? vinegar? muriatic acid, what percentage and what method, soak, run solution through with pump? how often?

i just set mines up 4 days ago, need advice, don't want to screw this up...

I switched from a sump system with chaeto because I was getting a lot of long hair algae and it was choking the chaeto. I put a emperor aquatic uv sterilizer in front of the arid hoping to kill any water born algae before it gets into the reactor. will post outcome...
Click to expand...

I use the Salfert Boron test kit. It's been awhile since I checked it and it was at approximately 4.5 ppm which is within parameters.Borax (The detergent additive) is what you use to raise boron levels. I was surprised when Tristan (Pax Bellum CEO) suggested that...but I've used it once before to raise it up a little with no issues. I've only had to clean out my reactor twice in the soon to be three years I've had it, and I soaked it vineager (run through the feed pump into a bucket to recirculate through the reactor). I have had hair algea start growing inside the reactor before, which killed off the cheato, required shutting down, scrubbing with a tooth brush, and restarting. And I've had cyano start up inside the reactor which will kill off chaeto, so I just go lights out on the reactor for 3 days to kill off the cyano. No issues.

How is the UV working?

Maximus said:
Any updates on this? I just bought a used 18" one and would love some tips and to see how they've been doing over the long haul. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'm the OP of this thread, and in April, I will have had my reactor running for 3 years. It works great, and as mentioned before, has had to be shut down due to either hair algae growth or cyano growth inside the reactor.

My reactor has been trouble free for the most part. I'm seeing some heat/stress cracks in the light tunnel of my reactor where the light core sits. Havent contacted Pax Bellum about it yet because I work a rotating shift and I'm on midnights right now and I keep forgetting to speak to them about it to see what (if anything) should be done about it. It's still water tight, no leaks and no issues, just aesthetically not very pretty, but it sits inside the reactor I use to grow algae....so I dont know how pretty it should be and I dont really see it anyway...

JBNY has had his reactor longer than mine, but I'm still happy with it over all, and feel it was a good purchase.
 
maxxII said:
I use the Salfert Boron test kit. It's been awhile since I checked it and it was at approximately 4.5 ppm which is within parameters.Borax (The detergent additive) is what you use to raise boron levels. I was surprised when Tristan (Pax Bellum CEO) suggested that...but I've used it once before to raise it up a little with no issues. I've only had to clean out my reactor twice in the soon to be three years I've had it, and I soaked it vineager (run through the feed pump into a bucket to recirculate through the reactor). I have had hair algea start growing inside the reactor before, which killed off the cheato, required shutting down, scrubbing with a tooth brush, and restarting. And I've had cyano start up inside the reactor which will kill off chaeto, so I just go lights out on the reactor for 3 days to kill off the cyano. No issues.



How is the UV working?







I'm the OP of this thread, and in April, I will have had my reactor running for 3 years. It works great, and as mentioned before, has had to be shut down due to either hair algae growth or cyano growth inside the reactor.



My reactor has been trouble free for the most part. I'm seeing some heat/stress cracks in the light tunnel of my reactor where the light core sits. Havent contacted Pax Bellum about it yet because I work a rotating shift and I'm on midnights right now and I keep forgetting to speak to them about it to see what (if anything) should be done about it. It's still water tight, no leaks and no issues, just aesthetically not very pretty, but it sits inside the reactor I use to grow algae....so I dont know how pretty it should be and I dont really see it anyway...



JBNY has had his reactor longer than mine, but I'm still happy with it over all, and feel it was a good purchase.
Click to expand...



Do you happen to know up to what max size system they make reactors for?


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They are being used on Joe Yaiullo's 20K gallon system at the Long Island Aquarium...

I believe there are several of the larger ones daisy chained together for the Atlantis Aquarium.

Contact Pax Bellum directly for confirmation...But I got the above information directly from Tristan, who stated he used to work for Joe prior to starting Pax-B.

IIRC, JBNY went with his reactor on Joe Yiaullo's reccomendation.
 
maxxII said:
I use the Salfert Boron test kit. It's been awhile since I checked it and it was at approximately 4.5 ppm which is within parameters.Borax (The detergent additive) is what you use to raise boron levels. I was surprised when Tristan (Pax Bellum CEO) suggested that...but I've used it once before to raise it up a little with no issues. I've only had to clean out my reactor twice in the soon to be three years I've had it, and I soaked it vineager (run through the feed pump into a bucket to recirculate through the reactor). I have had hair algea start growing inside the reactor before, which killed off the cheato, required shutting down, scrubbing with a tooth brush, and restarting. And I've had cyano start up inside the reactor which will kill off chaeto, so I just go lights out on the reactor for 3 days to kill off the cyano. No issues.

How is the UV working?



I'm the OP of this thread, and in April, I will have had my reactor running for 3 years. It works great, and as mentioned before, has had to be shut down due to either hair algae growth or cyano growth inside the reactor.

My reactor has been trouble free for the most part. I'm seeing some heat/stress cracks in the light tunnel of my reactor where the light core sits. Havent contacted Pax Bellum about it yet because I work a rotating shift and I'm on midnights right now and I keep forgetting to speak to them about it to see what (if anything) should be done about it. It's still water tight, no leaks and no issues, just aesthetically not very pretty, but it sits inside the reactor I use to grow algae....so I dont know how pretty it should be and I dont really see it anyway...

JBNY has had his reactor longer than mine, but I'm still happy with it over all, and feel it was a good purchase.
Click to expand...

Thanks Maax. I just ordered a MJ 900 to go with the reactor. I think I will run it for 6-8 hrs, reverse cycle at first. Wish me luck!
 
Your tank is approximately 90 gallons. My system is currently approximately 170 gallons.
We have the same reactor.
I dont know what your fish load is, but mine is heavier than I've ever had before. I'm running the reactor on a reverse light cycle for 12 hours at a stretch. According to Tristan, you dont want to go more than 18 hours since that causes issues for the chaeto.

Start short time frames and bounce up from there to see what your levels are.

I used a Maxi jet 900 initially, but then went up to a Maxi jet 1200. It appears to be enough, but I havent done the math to figure out the flow through rate of the reactor.

Maybe next waterchange...
 
Good points. My bio load is low now as I only have 6 small fish. I will definitely start slow and ramp it up as my bioload increases. Are you still dosing nitrates? If so, what brand? Thanks again.
 
Sorry I'm late to reply, busy day. My current parameters are Ca: 440, Alk: 9.5dkh, Mg: 1500, and I have no idea what my nitrate levels are. I'm guessing nitrate is under 5 for sure.
 
maxxII said:
My reactor has been trouble free for the most part. I'm seeing some heat/stress cracks in the light tunnel of my reactor where the light core sits. Havent contacted Pax Bellum about it yet because I work a rotating shift and I'm on midnights right now and I keep forgetting to speak to them about it to see what (if anything) should be done about it. It's still water tight, no leaks and no issues, just aesthetically not very pretty, but it sits inside the reactor I use to grow algae....so I dont know how pretty it should be and I dont really see it anyway...
Click to expand...

I've spoken to Tristan about the light tubes and crazing stress cracks, he explained this as normal wear and tear and occurs due to thermal cycling especially at the cold hot gradient found at the lid and that the polycarbonate tube should be replaced every 8 months. :eek2:
Also stated that he has not seen a polycarbonate tube fail in 2+ years due to these crazing stress cracks.
Tristan states that the polycarbonate used is the best alternative with a 220F working temperature. The only down side is it has a limited service life.
I was not comfortable with the cracks so I had mine replaced and threw the old tube in the attic as an emergency spare.

I've also had a power supply fail on an E24 after 14 months and have had to replace that also. New PS was a MeanWell, much better then the China branded OEM.
My C30 that was bought on the same day but had a MeanWell PS so don't know why the E24 came with a cheaper PS. :hammer:
 
Maxll I'm thinking swiching my lightly stocked reefer 250 with some soft corals to having a lionfish, one or two dwarf eels and other larger but compatible fish but I'm not sure my current set up handle the heavy bioload. Do you think one of these could help with this issue. Also, can you see having the arid in replacement of a skimmer working. Mine probably will require an upgrade soon so I would rather only purchase one expensive piece of equipment.


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I run both an ATS (algae turf scrubber) and a chaeto reactor. The ONLY reason why I run both, is because my ATS's are slightly undersized, and it allows me to clean the ATS's once every two weeks. If I shut down my chaeto reactor, I have to clean the ATS's weekly. The hair algae always grows faster than the chaeto. In fact, I can hardly get my chaeto to grow due to this. I run Turbo Aquatics L2 scrubbers. It is the same cost as the ARID N18.
 
With enough scrubbing, then you don't need anything else, even in a high bioload system.

And yes, attached green hair algae will always out-perform chaeto, because chaeto has low illumination, and no attachment or air/water interface turbulence.
 
extendedmango said:
^^^^anyone else that has experience with the arid feel free to reply


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Click to expand...

I have a similar sized tank (CadLight Artisan 70) and is IMO heavily stocked with 11 wrasses and 2 Watanabei angels, mix of LPS and softies. I started this tank last June and put an Arid E24 online at the same time during cycling without any skimmer.
Nitrates were easily handled and stayed between 0 to .02 (Salifert) but Phosphates needed to be controlled via GFO due to the fact that I do not dose Nitrates. My P04 got up to 2.75 ppm in 4 months and now I have it down to .27 ppm via GFO.
So in essence, Yes an Arid can zero out N03 from a heavy bio-load of feeding but cannot handle the resulting P04 unless you tinker and either dose N03 or what I do and use GFO.

 
pecan2phat said:
I have a similar sized tank (CadLight Artisan 70) and is IMO heavily stocked with 11 wrasses and 2 Watanabei angels, mix of LPS and softies. I started this tank last June and put an Arid E24 online at the same time during cycling without any skimmer.

Nitrates were easily handled and stayed between 0 to .02 (Salifert) but Phosphates needed to be controlled via GFO due to the fact that I do not dose Nitrates. My P04 got up to 2.75 ppm in 4 months and now I have it down to .27 ppm via GFO.

So in essence, Yes an Arid can zero out N03 from a heavy bio-load of feeding but cannot handle the resulting P04 unless you tinker and either dose N03 or what I do and use GFO.



Click to expand...


Is the arid nano probably enough or should I stick to the e3? Oh and nice reef btw.


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