Calcium Automate 3171 a few early user experiences

[NorwayEagle]

I have been using this now for a few weeks, and would like to share some of my views on this.

First I run a almost 2 year old 165 gallon sps tank which is equipped with a Eco Dreambox from Royal Exclusive and a BK Deluxe 200 internal skimmer.
I have for almost 10 years used a Deltec 501 calciumreactor, on existing tank, and before that on my old 100 gallon tank. I also use a KW mixer and a Phosban reactor both from Two little Fishies and a KZ Zeovitreactor.

I exchanged the 501 with the Tunze unit because of available place issues, and the goal of getting as much as possible equipment within the sump. Especially be able to put lids on the sump is a preferred focus.

Since I use a zeovit reactor, which is planned to be removed soon, I installed the 3171 outside the sump temporarilly.

When picked up from my LFS about 3 weeks ago, I installed the 3171 on a bench in my laundry room with recirculating RO water and CO2 connected.

It filled up nicely and everything seemed to work as expected, but I almost immediatly found a severe leakage from the electrode port. I will not use any electrode, so I had only tightened the port as receive with the small plastic piece which is supposed to plug this critical port.
I discovered that this small plastic piece formed as a small cup had to be turned 180 degrees. That reduced the leakage, but not before using a bit of "fingerspitsgefühle" and somewhat extra force, I succeeded to get it tight/leak free.

The unit was thereafter installed in my system and put into production using a combo of 90 % ARM fine aragonite and 10 % Grotech Magnesium media.

The following is my observations:

1. Dependent of flow you must expect some small "noise" as the pump sucks both water and gas. Does not matter for me since the cabinet doors usually are closed.
2. The gas collects as small pockets below the lid, when inspecting I usually tilt the reactor so excessive gas are led back the return channel and pump.
The bubble counter has a somewhat dark plastic, making it a bit difficult to inspect in my not to well lit cabinet.
3. The included hoseclip placed on the water suction tubing is somewhat difficult to precisely adjust. This leads to running a bit higher flow than I have been used to from the Deltec. I may install a small valve instead.

4. The effect seems OK, I have a pH of 6,8 to 7,0 out of the reactor With 1-2 drop/CO2 pr sec and a waterflow close to, but not dropwise.

Finally I have to inform that I, when at work got a call from my wife telling me about a leakage in my cabinet....
I went home straight away to find the pH port leaking again.
As of now I must force my plan of removing the zeoreactor, and place the reactor in sump for security reasons.

Summarized; the reactor gives expected results, it is compact and easy to Place and install. It is very convenient to not be forced to use a separate feed punmp.
Materialwise there are some room for improvement:

The obvious; the pH connection port must be equipped with another and much better solution to be kept leak free!
An improved possibility to regulate water inlet seems to be another tips.

Any other experiences with this unit is appreciated

 

[rvitko]

Thank you very much for this thorough review.

For the pH probe fitting, I would contact Tunze for replacement, this should not be, we use really the same port I have seen typically used and I don't know of another, it seems all use the same port, I have to assume it is bad or maybe needs some teflon tape at the thread.

I have 2 3170 running in tandem in my tank, this product was never actually made for the public because they decided a better design could be made with some time. I am happy with them but I notice the same as you regarding drip rate. My observation is that their is a delay, so make the settings slowly and wait a minute at least before more adjustment, and the adjustment changes a very little with the pressure of the CO2 being added so it is less when CO2 is off. In either case I have not found it to be a big problem and I generally find the drip is more stable than the conventional drip setting on output.

I have been told to avoid the medias which are not like ours only because the medias made of coral skeletons tend to dissolve incompletely leaving a mushy residue which clogs the pump and inside so the limestone or marble type media is cleaner. The draw back of course is less Mg and Sr and a lower pH is needed to dissolve it, closer to 6.5. I am using our Calcium Carbonate media and it has given good results, paired with kalkwasser I very consistently keep a KH of 10-12 degrees, almost always 10.5-11.5 and Calcium is always 420-450.

 

[NorwayEagle]

Sorry for late reply.

The leakage from the pH port is really from the black plastic insert (protecting cap) in the center.
The water collects on top of this, meaning in the center of the outer screw for the pH port.
The insert, as mentioned formed as a cup, and is placed upside down. The outer screw is tightened as hard as I dare by hand.

It may be I can ask Tunze for a replacement, but do not see how this would help.

My thought for a functional solution should be to replace the outer screw of the pH seal and the protecting cap with a kind of one-piece hoo to be screwed on, if necessary with a kind of rubber o-ring on the inside.
This should as far as I think be a leakage-free tightening which may increase safety when reactor is outside a sump.

The drip rate obviously gets better after some time tuning in, and I do not see this as any large issue, until further I will stick with the original hose clip.

Concerning the choice of material the ARM is used since I have in stock. I think I will change to a Tunze material combined with a clean magnesium material next time.

Anyway the reactor is now placed inside my sump, so security is taken care of

 

[BubbleMyTip]

My pH port is also leaking on my 3171, from the base where it connects to the lid's acrylic. Is there anything I can do to fix that that would be recommended? It's not a major concern as it is placed in my sump, but obviously slightly worried about its efficiency etc

Thanks

 

[rvitko]

This piece on screws, teflon tape or possibly just tightening it slightly should fix the leak.

 

[NorwayEagle]

Roger: Just for curiosity and to hear about any updates of the product.

Has Tunze acknowledged the weakness in the electrode port. and made any improvements on this small, but critical part?

 

[rvitko]

I have heard nothing since your initial complaint and I accept the answer that this is the one type of port available, it is a standard commercial part for waterproof entries and I can say from my own observations of other products, I haven't seen anyone using a different one so I believe it is the only option for this part. I have not had any other complaints about the seal.

 

[NorwayEagle]

OK
I just a few days ago dismounted and cleaned the complete reactor after one year use. Actually the first maintenance I do...
Reason was I discovered the pump had stopped, and i thought maybe there were any residues of the ARM media that could have locked it.
However even if the rotator was very hard to get out, there were no visible rests of media inside.
i rinsed everything and cleaned the pump parts with some diluted acetic acid.
Filled the reactor now with Tunze's recommended calciumcarbonate 0880.901 plus a small part Grotech magnesium carbonate.

When mounting the top I fastened the screws by hand, and used a screwdriver a half circle just to tigthen, with the result that I suddenly had the reactorhousing in one part and the lid with top ring below in a second part. The glue that fastened the top ring to the housing had actually gone apart.

After some swearing I cleaned the parts and glued it together with cyanoacrylate glue.

I tested it on the bench before placing it in my system again, and it was tight, also the pH port shows no leakage even if I had not done anything about it.

My experience after a year:

I sleep more well with the automate inside the sump than outside....
The unit is stable, it is easy to control gas and water flow and keeps my Mg/Ca/KH values at reasonably stable levels.
The ARM media has been OK to use, but I now change to a Ca/Mg combo.
In sump the unit is quiet and I really like that I only use one power outlet instead of two.

Within some months I plan to buy an Alkatronic for control and stabilizing KH, and will see if and how the pH measurements from this can have any effects on how the 3171 performs.

 

[rvitko]

For the lid problem, if you contact Tunze Germany they will replace the housing for you. This was a problem on some of the first units and the gluing was changed. Be careful with muriatic acid, even very dilute it causes the plastic to swell, it may not be noticeable but the dimension change means in the future calcium builds up even faster from less cooling, the ceramic parts are OK with muriatic acid but the plastic is affected and the silicon can also be deformed.

 

[rvitko]

Also, the main reason we recommend our media, but it can be any pure calcium carbonate media instead of coral skeleton media, is it is cleaner, less sediment to jam the pump and tubing. Knop media is also almost the same material as ours and some others, the coral skeletons become a mush in time and can cause channelling and jamming.

 

[NorwayEagle]

For the lid problem, if you contact Tunze Germany they will replace the housing for you. This was a problem on some of the first units and the gluing was changed. Be careful with muriatic acid, even very dilute it causes the plastic to swell, it may not be noticeable but the dimension change means in the future calcium builds up even faster from less cooling, the ceramic parts are OK with muriatic acid but the plastic is affected and the silicon can also be deformed.

So you think I can contact Tunze in Germany directly and ask for an exchange housing?
The unit is tight now with my gluing

As I wrote I used diluted acetic acid not muriatic, and I only used it on the pump and rotator.

Also, the main reason we recommend our media, but it can be any pure calcium carbonate media instead of coral skeleton media, is it is cleaner, less sediment to jam the pump and tubing. Knop media is also almost the same material as ours and some others, the coral skeletons become a mush in time and can cause channelling and jamming.

I see the point of using cleaner medias, so will use it from now on, but there were no visible residues I could see of the ARM media

 

[rvitko]

I don't think it will be an issue, I would just email them and explain, any photos will help.

Sorry for the misunderstanding on the acid.

 

[NorwayEagle]

I have made a claim to Tunze Germany now and await their answer, in the meantime thanks for Your advices Roger

 

[rvitko]

Thank you!

 

[NorwayEagle]

Today I received a confirmation from Matthias at Tunze that he will send me a new housing.
I am very happy with that and it shows again Tunzes excellent service

 

[rvitko]

Thank you!

 

[adtravels]

I have just bought the 3171 and plan to switch over from two part.
Any recommendations on the regulator and solenoid to use?
Also I plan to use a 2nd pH probe connected to my apex, do people use the probe to control the solenoid?

I am new to calcium reactors and I cannot find a good guide to setting this unit up anywhere.

 

[rvitko]

You can use whatever regulator and solenoid you prefer, you would use the pH probe to control the solenoid and you would want the pH in the reactor to be around 6.5, this varies somewhat with media, up to 6.7 can work with coral fragment type media, and for the marble/limestone based medias you generally need 6.5 or below. We do have a package of solenoid and regulator that BRS will be launching soon, it was a custom product we designed for them and that might be worth looking at, they should have them this week, 7077.400. Typically you want double the number of bubbles as you have drips, the rate will depend on growth rate of the corals and tank size, the best way to get a general idea of how it is working is to measure the KH of the dripped effluent, it should be at least 18 dKH, if it is lower, raise the bubble count and or lower the drip rate. From there it is a matter of getting enough drips that the KH and Ca levels stay constant. I generally find that the pairing of a Calcium Reactor and dosing Kalkwasser is the ideal and within 3 months you can get very stable levels on KH, Ca and pH but it does take some time to get everything balanced and tuned in.

 

[adtravels]

I don't wish to Hijack but sometimes its good to get all the info on a product on one thread!

I really don't want to be dosing Kalk as the idea behind the switch was to simplify things.
I plan on using the tunze media (lower) as I have it available and a homemade degassing tower.

I could use my apex dos to dose a fixed amount of Kalkwasser but it means having a new container for Kalkwasser.

 

[rvitko]

I find Kalkwasser is so easy to add through your ATO system that their is no real complexity in using it and it counters the drawbacks of a calcium reactor, namely depressing the pH and free CO2 in the water, degassing the water might help, though I would be somewhat concerned that it could precipitate in the degassing chamber as the effluent leaves at the saturation point for the lower pH, as the pH increases it might settle out unless it is dissolved into the aquarium first.