*Johnseye's New 260g Build*

[Johnseye]

I learned a critical step in setting up my Calcfeeder which I'm helping lionfish300 out with now. This may be common knowledge for setting up any calcium reactor, but it's my first. There can be no air in the reactor or in the co2 chamber when starting up the unit. All air must be flushed by filling all chambers with water. Then when you start up the controller, have the co2 turned up enough to fill the co2 chamber quickly enough or the controller will throw an error. The co2 must have filled the chamber down to the sensor or you will get an error.

If you have any air in the chambers then the PH will not get low enough to break down the media. My alkalinity had progressively dropped indicating an issue. I had increased my output to 4L per hour and alk kept dropping so I knew something was wrong.I tested the PH of the effluent coming out of the Reactor chamber (before degassing chamber) and found it was at 8.06, very close to my aquarium's PH. This is obviously too high to break down the media and showed I didn't have enough co2 in the chamber. Once I flushed all air out of the reactor the co2 went to work. I am using Two Little Fishies Reborn media and can confirm that the reactor does break this media down. I decreased my output to 1L per hour and my aquarium alk dkh increased from about 6 to 7.5 in just over a day. I have yet to test the PH of effluent out of the reactor chamber but will post it when I do.

 

[Johnseye]

Beginning in late January I started having a problem with my Clacfeeder Pro. The PH was rising and DKH falling. I began troubleshooting with PacificSun on the issue. I would flush all gas from the chambers filling them to the top with water, and letting the CO2 fill the gas chamber appropriately. The PH and DKH would be fine to start then over the course of a week to two slowly change. I changed out my tubing, checked for cracks, refitted the silicone gaskets but still had the issue. Under PacificSun's guidance I closed the exit tubing and turned on the pump to build up pressure so I could try and determine where the leak might be. Water came out the reactor chamber but nothing leaked from the gas chamber. There was no opening for air to get in the chamber. That's what we believed to be the issue. Air was getting into the gas chamber decreasing the amount of CO2.

I am using Reborn media and PacificSun hadn't tested with that so they thought it might have been the media. I almost spent $200 on Dastaco media, but instead went with what PacificSun recommended, ARM. ARM has the highest solubility of any reactor media, metastable at 8.2 or so they say. I have read it is highly soluble which has also been reported as too soluble. Regardless, I needlessly spent another $80 thinking that may be the issue.

I found out what the problem was when I came home from work last night. There was water under the controller and in the pump. The pump tubing had formed a leak allowing air in and ultimately widened enough to let water out. PacificSun is sending new tube and grease. I asked for a new controller just in case mine has an issue from becoming wet. In fairness it does turn on and appears to work. My request was denied. I'll have to swap out the tubing. Hopefully it's not too hard, and hopefully I don't have any controller issues.

This troubleshooting process took way too long. The rising and falling DKH has caused stress on my coral and I have lost a few. Hopefully if anyone else starts having this problem they can look to the pump tubing right away.

 

[Johnseye]

I received my replacement tubing from Pacific Sun yesterday. It was shipped FedEx on Friday and arrived here on Tues. Considering a weekend was involved that's not too bad for an overseas delivery, but it's something to keep in mind when determining what your downtime might be due to a failure. They did send me an extra tube in the event this were to happen again.

The tube was easy to replace. Just remove a screw and lift. Below is a YouTube link from Pacific Sun showing how to replace it that I received after I did it. This is apparently a new problem for Pacific Sun so there's a lack of instructions. The tubing was split down the edge of where the roller squeezes it. The question is what caused the tubing to split? Was it a poor fit so that the tube was continuously pinched too hard by the roller causing the tube to break down or get cut? Was it poor quality tube? Does the tube need to be greased up regularly to keep it from pinching open? Grease was provided with the replacement tubing which I used to coat the tubing and rollers.

https://youtu.be/rsO45WASsEI

Tell tale signs that your tubing has a leak.

What I found when opening the controller.

The tubing after I pulled it out.

 

[this is me]

Interesting. I've been using peristaltic pump from GFL to spectrapure to Masterflex and have not experience with the tube splitting. The masterflex runs 24/7 and every 3 months or so, I reposition the tube. No grease or anything needed.

 

[Johnseye]

Interesting. I've been using peristaltic pump from GFL to spectrapure to Masterflex and have not experience with the tube splitting. The masterflex runs 24/7 and every 3 months or so, I reposition the tube. No grease or anything needed.

I have Spectrapure, GFL and Neptune DOS pumps running non stop for years, no grease, no tube splitting. In fact GFL said clean off any grease on the tubing when I was troubleshooting an issue with them. Not sure what's right or wrong. The Pacific Sun controller had only been running a couple months.

 

[this is me]

You would think the grease would cause the roller to slip and not catching the tube and that would prevent the pumping action.:strange:

 

[Johnseye]

You would think the grease would cause the roller to slip and not catching the tube and that would prevent the pumping action.:strange:

Some helpful information for anyone with an AC2, although this could apply to the other models as well. I have been in communication with PacSun and provided a video of what I was experiencing. Even after removing more than 50% of my media flow still appeared low. After viewing my video Prezmek pointed out a few things.

First, my diffusion plate (that's what I'm calling it for lack of a better term) wasn't below the water output or reflow tube. The reason is that there is nothing to keep it in place and the bio balls which tend to float, would push it up. My solution was to use a zip tie to keep it in place. So far it's holding.

Second, because the diffusion plate was above the output tube, some pieces of media had fallen into the co2 chamber. One of those pieces made its way to the opening of the Aquabee pump and this significantly reduced the flow. I thought the flow was low and so removed over 50% of my media to see if it increased. When it didn't I knew something was wrong. The pump also started making a clicking noise for a couple hours which was in my video. With Prezmek's advice I had to empty the chambers of water and disconnect the Aquabee pump. There's no easy way to do this. Worth noting, when you are removing the Aquabee from the base you will need to unscrew the union connector from the pump itself, not just unscrew the union. The reason for this is that the side mounting of the pump onto the mount will catch at the pump's cover. There are no instructions on how to do this, so once they are made this would be helpful to include. When I opened the pump I found that one piece of media stuck in the inlet to the pump.

After removing that media, and the other piece from the gas chamber, and removing 5 bio balls so I could zip tie the diffusion plate to the center tube inside the gas chamber, and adding back the ARM media I removed a couple days ago, I was back in business. The flow is much, much faster and is hitting the diffusion plate creating a good amount of bubbles. Now I wonder whether the Reborn media will actually be ok, and it was just the other issues raising the PH.

There is only one diffusion plate in the AC2 and that's used at the top. If that plate is moved and allows media into the gas chamber and down to the pump you could experience the trouble I had. Clear instructions need to be made for this line of reactors as well as something provided to hold the diffusion plate in place. I'll now find out how much of an impact this has had on the element output of my reactor. I've been battling a slow PH increase combined with Alk decrease for months. With this issue out of the way I can now better determine if there is an air leak, which is the line of troubleshooting I had been following with the controller tube issue.

At this point I think the controller pump tubing is the wrong size or there's an issue with the rollers. What looks to be happening is the rollers are wearing away at the tubing. The new tubing I recently swapped out showed signs of wearing away in the same place within about a week. It doesn't appear to be worn all the way through to allow air to enter, but it's hard to tell and it's close. No water had leaked out so that tells me it probably didn't wear all the way through yet.

I greased up the second newly provided tube and put that in line. I don't know if the grease has any impact, perhaps causing the tube to slide around on the rollers and rub the wrong way. My controller is also sitting on its back as opposed to being attached to a backboard. This could cause the tube to slide toward one side if it's not properly sized. If in fact this controller must be mounted to a wall in order to avoid this issue, it's something that needs to be communicated. I'm not sure if the others experiencing this issue have their controller mounted or sitting on its back but would appreciate the feedback.

 

[lionfish300]

My broke after 2 plus months of used. And I have my controller mounted on a board like I suppose to be

 

[chrises08]

Pacsun Ca Reactor

Pacsun Ca Reactor

Any update to how the reactor is running/issues with it?

i am looking at getting an CR1 of the pacsun reactor for my 215 gallon tank.

Thanks,

Chris

Some helpful information for anyone with an AC2, although this could apply to the other models as well. I have been in communication with PacSun and provided a video of what I was experiencing. Even after removing more than 50% of my media flow still appeared low. After viewing my video Prezmek pointed out a few things.

First, my diffusion plate (that's what I'm calling it for lack of a better term) wasn't below the water output or reflow tube. The reason is that there is nothing to keep it in place and the bio balls which tend to float, would push it up. My solution was to use a zip tie to keep it in place. So far it's holding.

Second, because the diffusion plate was above the output tube, some pieces of media had fallen into the co2 chamber. One of those pieces made its way to the opening of the Aquabee pump and this significantly reduced the flow. I thought the flow was low and so removed over 50% of my media to see if it increased. When it didn't I knew something was wrong. The pump also started making a clicking noise for a couple hours which was in my video. With Prezmek's advice I had to empty the chambers of water and disconnect the Aquabee pump. There's no easy way to do this. Worth noting, when you are removing the Aquabee from the base you will need to unscrew the union connector from the pump itself, not just unscrew the union. The reason for this is that the side mounting of the pump onto the mount will catch at the pump's cover. There are no instructions on how to do this, so once they are made this would be helpful to include. When I opened the pump I found that one piece of media stuck in the inlet to the pump.

After removing that media, and the other piece from the gas chamber, and removing 5 bio balls so I could zip tie the diffusion plate to the center tube inside the gas chamber, and adding back the ARM media I removed a couple days ago, I was back in business. The flow is much, much faster and is hitting the diffusion plate creating a good amount of bubbles. Now I wonder whether the Reborn media will actually be ok, and it was just the other issues raising the PH.

There is only one diffusion plate in the AC2 and that's used at the top. If that plate is moved and allows media into the gas chamber and down to the pump you could experience the trouble I had. Clear instructions need to be made for this line of reactors as well as something provided to hold the diffusion plate in place. I'll now find out how much of an impact this has had on the element output of my reactor. I've been battling a slow PH increase combined with Alk decrease for months. With this issue out of the way I can now better determine if there is an air leak, which is the line of troubleshooting I had been following with the controller tube issue.

At this point I think the controller pump tubing is the wrong size or there's an issue with the rollers. What looks to be happening is the rollers are wearing away at the tubing. The new tubing I recently swapped out showed signs of wearing away in the same place within about a week. It doesn't appear to be worn all the way through to allow air to enter, but it's hard to tell and it's close. No water had leaked out so that tells me it probably didn't wear all the way through yet.

I greased up the second newly provided tube and put that in line. I don't know if the grease has any impact, perhaps causing the tube to slide around on the rollers and rub the wrong way. My controller is also sitting on its back as opposed to being attached to a backboard. This could cause the tube to slide toward one side if it's not properly sized. If in fact this controller must be mounted to a wall in order to avoid this issue, it's something that needs to be communicated. I'm not sure if the others experiencing this issue have their controller mounted or sitting on its back but would appreciate the feedback.

 

[Johnseye]

Any update to how the reactor is running/issues with it?

i am looking at getting an CR1 of the pacsun reactor for my 215 gallon tank.

Thanks,

Chris

If you mean the AC1, I would definitely get one. It's rock solid steady. No issues anymore. I had to tune it and the reactor had been just released when I got it. All good.

This reminds me that I need to post some updated pictures. It's been a while.

 

[BZOFIQ]

As Advanced Acrylics made my sump I reached out to them for a solution. Looks like I wasn't the only one with this issue as they had already designed something they call the Diamond Filter Sock Silencer.

http://advancedacrylics.com/collections/other-products/products/filter-sock-silencer

Great build, very nice setup.

Do you have a picture of this device out of sump. I'd like to see what it looks like.

 

[Johnseye]

Great build, very nice setup.

Do you have a picture of this device out of sump. I'd like to see what it looks like.

You mean the sock hole silencers? Sure, I can take some pictures. Very simple device you could probably make at home.

 

[BZOFIQ]

You mean the sock hole silencers? Sure, I can take some pictures. Very simple device you could probably make at home.

Yes, these are exactly what'd I'd like to see; would help me improve my sump design. Many thanks in advance.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I think I found them, pricey little suckers for what it really is.

https://advancedacrylics.com/collections/other-products/products/filter-sock-silencer

 

[Johnseye]

I think I found them, pricey little suckers for what it really is.

https://advancedacrylics.com/collections/other-products/products/filter-sock-silencer

That's them. Apologies for not providing pictures yet. I've been working on some other projects. They are pricey and you can probably make them yourself fairly easily. If sound reduction is a concern, they make a big difference.

 

[Johnseye]

It's been a while since I've posted any pictures of coral growth. If you refer back to post 54 you can see my last photos and compare to where things are now. It was time for some major trimming as I found certain corals restricting flow and others restricting light. I thought it would be a good time for some pictures before the trimming was done. I ended up pulling out a few colonies as I am planning on adding some new coral.

Overall growth has been good. Polyp extension is hit or miss. Some colonies are better than others and some days are better than others. This is something I need to work on.

I've had a couple colonies that were doing great, completely die within a matter of a day or two.

Some challenges have been keeping the CaRx completely stable. This is mostly due to not being as diligent in monitoring alk, calc and mag since a CaRx doesn't need constant maintenance like dosing. I've also run into minor issues with the PacSun reactor. One of which I've been dealing with over the past couple days. Sediment can build up as the media breaks down, clouding the water, creating a film and causing issue with the sensor.

In the fish realm I added a beautiful Regal Angel only to have my PBT kill it. It took a couple attempts to get a Regal that made it through QT. Acclimating it in the new tank was a problem because of the PBT. I tried many different methods. Ultimately the PBT was relentless. I've been prepping another tank to pull the PBT out so I can begin introducing other fish. Provided I can catch him, I should finally be able to introduce new fish in the next month or two.

 

[Johnseye]

BC Secale

Tyree Blue Matrix

Jason Fox Bitter Sweet

Shawn Bennett Yellow Tort and ORA Red Planet

 

[Johnseye]

Coolers Turaki

 

[psturg66]

Very nice!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[saf1]

Very nice.