Official: Masterflex Calcium Reactor Setup Thread

Aqualund said:
I'm quite surprised you were able to get a decent dual stage setup for $200 all in when the burkert valve alone is $100 shipped (with the power cord, and new), and a worthwhile needle valve is anywhere from $75 to $200 used. That is nearly your total, and thats without the rest of the apparatus.

The only thing I wouldnt buy used in these setups is the burkert valve. That's $100 right there, maybe $80 if you're lucky. Getting the rest together with decent used equipment that will last longer than the carbondoser, for less than the remaining $100, is very rare indeed.
Click to expand...

This is my breakdown.

Victor VTS-253B regulator - $90
Fabco NV55-18 needle valve - $35 brand new
Burkert solenoid - $50 brand new aquarium plants
Misc fittings - $25 mcmaster carr

I did luck out on the regulator but deals like that can be found. I know of people who have scored on pretty much brand new Matheson SS ones on ebay for not much more. You do not need a $100 needle valve. The Fabco is more than good enough for our needs.

If I wanted to save a little more I could have gone with Clippard mouse solenoid but those are harder to find.
 
Meh - id rather buy something for 300 and have it be plug and play then sourcing all these parts and pieces on eBay. Maybe a worthwhile project when I'm retired, but as a parent of 2 young kids and owner of a small business, I'll take plug and play any day vs the alternative. Especially when the plug and play is so solid and reliable. If I have to replace it once or twice in my reefing career, I'm ok with that.
 
gus6464 said:
This is my breakdown.

Victor VTS-253B regulator - $90
Fabco NV55-18 needle valve - $35 brand new
Burkert solenoid - $50 brand new aquarium plants
Misc fittings - $25 mcmaster carr

I did luck out on the regulator but deals like that can be found. I know of people who have scored on pretty much brand new Matheson SS ones on ebay for not much more. You do not need a $100 needle valve. The Fabco is more than good enough for our needs.

If I wanted to save a little more I could have gone with Clippard mouse solenoid but those are harder to find.
Click to expand...


Ah okay so you were lucky. And you knew what you were doing. Also, I disagree on the needle valve...but that's fine.

Additionally, you went with the brass burkert instead of the SS. Here is where I will point out that the aquariumplants.com clippard valve is SS. So right there, in one of the major areas of failure (the solenoid), the aquariumplants.com is already going to last longer against corrosion than the brass burkert.

My point is here, when we are offering guidance to less experienced, new people within the hobby, we should not be so quick to outright dismiss some products because of personal opinion.

The aquariumplants.com regulator is not 100X less as good as the lucky deal you got on ebay. In fact, I would say it either the same, or a little better (for an entry level user), and it comes with a warranty and easy repair/replacement options if something goes wrong.

Wanna dismiss the milwaukee regulators? Be my guest =P But the aquariumplants.com is a damn good regulator, especially for those like SWK that just want it to work for their time in the hobby, and not build it themselves.
 
How on earth is the carbon doser which is not even a dual stage regulator the same or better than a Victor VTS? They're nowhere close to the same league.

I have had this regulator for 3 years now. It was until now on numerous planted tank systems with no controller of any kind. That kind of environment requires an even more foolproof unit as if something goes wrong it will kill all livestock on the tank in an instant. The fabco valve never strayed even once from my initial setting.

The only needle valve I would trade my fabco for would be an ideal 52 series with vernier dial and that's only $90. No swagelok or hoke or whatever can even come close to the ideal.
 
gus6464 said:
How on earth is the carbon doser which is not even a dual stage regulator the same or better than a Victor VTS? They're nowhere close to the same league.

I have had this regulator for 3 years now. It was until now on numerous planted tank systems with no controller of any kind. That kind of environment requires an even more foolproof unit as if something goes wrong it will kill all livestock on the tank in an instant. The fabco valve never strayed even once from my initial setting.

The only needle valve I would trade my fabco for would be an ideal 52 series with vernier dial and that's only $90. No swagelok or hoke or whatever can even come close to the ideal.
Click to expand...

Right, and I'm telling you have have 6 of these carbon dosers installed for 7 years with the same amount of reliability. They are good for like up to 10 billion cycles or something crazy like that. They have simply never failed. None of them.

So first off, your premise that you can get something better for the same price is based on ebay "luck" and building it yourself.

Secondly, it seems you've never used a carbondoser for an extended period of time, so you have no frame of reference to know whether it works better or worse than your setup.

Lastly, it's cool that you are using your setup for a planted tank. However, since this is a reef forum, most of the people here looking for advice are building these for their reefs. Therefore, considerations need to be taken so that these can be used in conjunction with a ph controller to inject into a calcium reactor...like corrosion, and specific ph metering.

Taking all of this into consideration the carbondoser is still not 100X less as good as your lucky buy on ebay, and you shouldn't say it is.
 
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Hopping on the bandwagon. I was immediately turned off by the prices of the new pumps, but after a little more research was able to score a used pump (listed below) on ebay for $399 after making an offer. I've had too many issues with instability with dosing pumps/manual dosing. Will be feeding a GEO 618. I too am going the AP carbon doser route. Have a newborn in the house so truly need a set and forget.

Cole-Parmer Masterflex L/S 7523-60 Digital Pump Drive EasyLoad Pump Head 7518-10
 
MikeTR said:
Hopping on the bandwagon. I was immediately turned off by the prices of the new pumps, but after a little more research was able to score a used pump (listed below) on ebay for $399 after making an offer. I've had too many issues with instability with dosing pumps/manual dosing. Will be feeding a GEO 618. I too am going the AP carbon doser route. Have a newborn in the house so truly need a set and forget.

Cole-Parmer Masterflex L/S 7523-60 Digital Pump Drive EasyLoad Pump Head 7518-10
Click to expand...

That pump will work just fine. LS17 tubing is what you want to use like the stuff in your link. You can find by the foot online but if you look in the beginning of this thread, there is also some generic stuff listed from US Plastics if I am not mistaken.
 
Aqualund said:
Right, and I'm telling you have have 6 of these carbon dosers installed for 7 years with the same amount of reliability. They are good for like up to 10 billion cycles or something crazy like that. They have simply never failed. None of them.

So first off, your premise that you can get something better for the same price is based on ebay "luck" and building it yourself.

Secondly, it seems you've never used a carbondoser for an extended period of time, so you have no frame of reference to know whether it works better or worse than your setup.

Lastly, it's cool that you are using your setup for a planted tank. However, since this is a reef forum, most of the people here looking for advice are building these for their reefs. Therefore, considerations need to be taken so that these can be used in conjunction with a ph controller to inject into a calcium reactor...like corrosion, and specific ph metering.

Taking all of this into consideration the carbondoser is still not 100X less as good as your lucky buy on ebay, and you shouldn't say it is.
Click to expand...

Like you, I too use the Carbon Doser and love it. I've had all kinds of regulators over the years including expensive dual stage ones and I really like the carbon doser for it's simplicity and set it and forget it nature. It works and it works very well. I haven't had to touch the regulator in over 7 months since dialing in my CaRx and my 30 point Co2 tank is still nearly completely full. Between the consistency of the Co2 rate and the consistency that my Masterflex provides, my reactors pH is always consitent and never varies more than my tanks pH variance from day to night. It's always spot on and my Apex never has to intervene with the regulator. Best of all is that I don't have to look at a bubble counter to adjust the reg. Just turn the dial and it does it's think very accurately. That said, having the Carbon Doser connected to a dual stage regulator would certainly be nice but I haven't seen a need for the dual stage with this regulator. Even as my pressure drops in my Co2 tank. With the output side set to 3 PSI, the bubble rate has changed in several months as evidenced by my reactors pH consistency.
 
I've ran my half full 5lb tank down to maybe 100 psi, I mean, down to one or 2 hash marks on the tanks volume gauge and my calrx PH has remained at the set point without any fluctuation, or gas dump of any sort. It's really been a perfect regulator.
 
I am currently dosing Randy's 2 part with the BRS dosing pumps and Apex controller. I am dosing 37ml per day a little every hour.

At what level of consumption should I consider a using a CA reactor. I have a reactor and was using it on my 90 gallon before switched over to a 180 and lost all my corals. My consumption is low as my corals are still small. (SPS).
 
hkgar said:
I am currently dosing Randy's 2 part with the BRS dosing pumps and Apex controller. I am dosing 37ml per day a little every hour.

At what level of consumption should I consider a using a CA reactor. I have a reactor and was using it on my 90 gallon before switched over to a 180 and lost all my corals. My consumption is low as my corals are still small. (SPS).
Click to expand...

Having used both, and seen the results of both methods, I personally believe that for SPS corals there is no substitute for a CA reactor with limewater dosing. I think I even read somewhere that although upfront cost for the CA is higher, you get a return on that investment vs dosing within a year or two.
 
You can run the reactor PH around 7.2 and keep the flow low in the reactor. With this setup the calrx in almost infinitely adjustable.

My 75 gal has approx 2 dkh consumption per day. My reactor PH is 6.7 at 33ml/min effluent. This is on a geo 612.
 
jimmy007 said:
Can I use this model with a calcium reactor?

Masterflex Microprocessor Pump Drive Model 7524-10
Click to expand...

Yes. That would work but its a low RPM unit. It maxes out at 60 RPM which means you will be working that motor pretty hard. 17 RPM is equivalent to 25 ml/min with LS17 tubing which is what I run through my reactor but I have a pump that runs up to 600 rpm which results in much lower wear and tear on the motor. This is due to the fact that the higher RPM motors are typically gear driven. With a 600 RPM motor, that is equivalent to less than 3 RPM on the motor itself. The gears increase the RPM at the head. In your case, you will be running that pump pretty hard so I am not sure how long it will last.
Ideally you want a pump that is capable of 600 RPM but even a 100 RPM motor would be better than a 60 RPM one in terns of wear and tear and longevity.
 
jimmy007 said:
Would this model work better?

Masterflex Pump Console Drive 7521-40

Thanks Jimmy
Click to expand...

Yes. It would be less wear and tear on the motor due to the higher RPM capability. Just be sure to get an Easy Load head for it. Ideally one that supports LS17 tubing.
 
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