Official: Masterflex Calcium Reactor Setup Thread

What can ya'll tell me about...
Cole Parmer Masterflex L/S 7550-30 Drive & 77250-62 Pump?

Also, i see a lot that come without power cords.
Where can i get one of those and how much typically?
 
d2mini said:
What can ya'll tell me about...
Cole Parmer Masterflex L/S 7550-30 Drive & 77250-62 Pump?

Also, i see a lot that come without power cords.
Where can i get one of those and how much typically?
Click to expand...

If it is the one listed on ebay for $250, note that it is listed "for parts, not working".
 
If anyone is looking for a AP Carbondoser CO2 reg, you can get 75.00 in store credit after buying the regulator for Cyber Monday. Bought my reg, got a gift certificate and ordered the rest of my parts.

Sorry late notice.
 
Here's my ph reading over last 24. This is running without any intervention from the controller, everything running as it should so far I think.

7a9096ec49a1a58bad7f095979909f70.jpg
 
^^^ I love the AP reg... It's spot on, and with the peristaltic pump it's just a matter of messing with bubble count and maybe some mL/Min. Predictable Accuracy.
 
what size tubing would you use for auto water changes, figuring you'd want to change out around 5g per day?
 
I use L/S 15 size tubing on my AWC, and change out about 4.6 gallons in 45 minutes, or 1% total net volume daily. If your console is variable speed, you have a lot of control. The wider the tubing ID, the more it will pump per revoluion of the pump head. Main thing is get a measurable flow rate at whatever RPM and tubing ID you choose to use, like run the pump for a half hour, then get as accurate a measurement as you can for the total volume pumped, and divide that by 30, so you have ounces or gallons or quarts or liters or ml per minute, then just divide the total volume per day you want to change by the total water change periods you want to use, and divide that volume by the previously calculated pump rate, and that should give you the number of minutes to run the pump each water change session.

I do mine at the same time every day. Have the pump pull old water from the skimmer section of the sump, and return new water to the return section of the sump. At least that is how I do it.

I would look for a 1/4" to 3/8" ID tubing for an AWC setup, given what I know about your total system volume.
 
Last edited:
AcroporAddict said:
I use L/S 15 size tubing on my AWC, and change out about 4.6 gallons in 45 minutes, or 1% total net volume daily. If your console is variable speed, you have a lot of control. The wider the tubing ID, the more it will pump per revoluion of the pump head. Main thing is get a measurable flow rate at whatever RPM and tubing ID you choose to use, like run the pump for a half hour, then get as accurate a measurement as you can for the total volume pumped, and divide that by 30, so you have ounces or gallons or quarts or liters or ml per minute, then just divide the total volume per day you want to change by the total water change periods you want to use, and divide that volume by the previously calculated pump rate, and that should give you the number of minutes to run the pump each water change session.

I do mine at the same time every day. Have the pump pull old water from the skimmer section of the sump, and return new water to the return section of the sump. At least that is how I do it.

I wold look for a 1/4" to 3/8" ID tubing for an AWC setup, given what I know about your total system volume.
Click to expand...
Thanks. :)

I finally found this chart which helps a bit.
http://www.coleparmer.com/TechLibraryArticle/772
So with 1/4" to 3/8" ID i'm looking more at something like 24-36 tubing.

But even if 15 tubing could change out almost 5g in 45 minutes that would be more than enough and is about spot on with the pumps and 1/4" tubing i'm using now.
 
The smaller tubing will give you a greater head pressure (likely more accurate). How far of a run are you talking? You will want at least one of the heads to have an adjustable occlusion (pinch). That way you can adjust to compensate for the different head pressures if the lengths from fresh to tank and tank to drain are different.

This is the chart you are looking for.
http://www.masterflex.com/TechLibraryArticle/772

I would go with this tubing. It has roughly double the pressure capability of the one I usually recommend for the reactors. It is an LS16 equivalent.
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=25398&catid=864

You will get .8ml per revoltuion. ~Half a gallon would take an hour at 40rpm with LS16 tubing.

These flow rates are based on triple rotor heads.
 
tkeracer619 said:
The smaller tubing will give you a greater head pressure (likely more accurate). How far of a run are you talking? You will want at least one of the heads to have an adjustable occlusion (pinch). That way you can adjust to compensate for the different head pressures if the lengths from fresh to tank and tank to drain are different.

This is the chart you are looking for.
http://www.masterflex.com/TechLibraryArticle/772

I would go with this tubing. It has roughly double the pressure capability of the one I usually recommend for the reactors. It is an LS16 equivalent.
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=25398&catid=864

You will get .8ml per revoltuion. ~Half a gallon would take an hour at 40rpm with LS16 tubing.

These flow rates are based on triple rotor heads.
Click to expand...

And if I wanted to do it faster for any reason I could just up the RPM's?

So basically as long as the head has a variety of tubing diameters listed on it like 15, 24, 35, 36 I should have plenty of options, correct?
 
I think most of us use either the LS 16 or the LS 17 because the id of these tube sizes will fit standard connectors (1/8" and 1/4" id respectively)
 
d2mini said:
And if I wanted to do it faster for any reason I could just up the RPM's?

So basically as long as the head has a variety of tubing diameters listed on it like 15, 24, 35, 36 I should have plenty of options, correct?
Click to expand...

Yup, however it is best to get one that lists 13,14,16,25,17,18 as they are 1/16" wall tubes. The 15,24,35,36 sizes are afaik proprietary wall thicknesses. If you get these sizes you will just need to buy actual masterflex brand ls tubing which can be expensive as I am not sure of anyone who sells it by the foot.

I generally recommend to keep tubing as small as possible while keeping rpms low. Lower RPM gives a longer tube life. Smaller tubing is capable of more head pressure.
 
You're welcome. If you want some help I'll already be going through the search this evening and can shoot you a pm with what I find.
 
Besides brushless, what models have you guys found to be the quietest? I will be placing mine under my stand so it needs to be relatively quiet. We use some pretty old masterflex pumps here at work and they're quite noisy.
 
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