Official: Masterflex Calcium Reactor Setup Thread
- Thread starter tkeracer619
- Start date
tkeracer619
New member
Graph showing pH of effluent and display for the last 5 days:
I didn't make any adjustments to the CO2 or CP pump in that time :bdaysmile:
Nice!
We'll let you join one of these days
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tkeracer619
New member
Nice! If the impeller was bad or the pump was generating excess heat it is possible it is precipitating inside the hot area. Some pumps like the Red Dragon have a tube that runs cool water from the volute into the back of the motor block and into the magnet area to keep it cool.
Also, in regards to the long gas run from the regulator you can make your run shorter by placing a high quality welding hose between the regulator and the black box. Any welding supply shop can make it for you.
Shucks. I just won an auction (#151388541754) on Ebay for a Masterflex digital drive with head. Same day that you say you lost your bid.
As they say, all's fair in love and reefkeeping.
For stuff I really want, I use a sniping program and bid what I'm really willing to pay for the item, not just a bargain amount. That usually works to get me a bargain, or at most what I'm willing to pay, and I'll never pay more than I think it's worth to me.
watsonj
10 & Over Club
For what its worth I have been running a kamoer KSP-F01 for three weeks and it is great control is fantastic, quiet and the pump was reasonable $260.
http://youtu.be/KIW9ikYA6_4
http://youtu.be/KIW9ikYA6_4
tkeracer619
New member
What's a normal range for effluent pH during a day? How much does it really matter if it fluctuates .1 or .2 pH units? How much is too much? These are my deep questions for the day
As long as alk is maintained it doesn't matter (within reason). Huge shifts would show something isn't working correctly but minor shifts come and go as the tank ph changes and are afaiac are insignificant.
Awesome! That looks like a great alternative. Thanks for posting it. Welcome the the peristaltic reactor club
hkgar
Active member
What's a normal range for effluent pH during a day? How much does it really matter if it fluctuates .1 or .2 pH units? How much is too much? These are my deep questions for the day
I think we pay too much attention to the effluent ph and not enough to the effluent ALK That is what maintains the tanks ALK. The ph shoul be whatever gets the media to melt to maintain the Effluent ALD you would like - between 25 & 45.
I need to get my PH down to 6.3, to get ALK of 25, because of the reactor efficiency and the media size - coarse. Someone else might very well get the same result at 6.5. If I need to adjust my effluent becaus of increased tank demand then I alower the effluent ph to get the results I want Just my thought.
tkeracer619
New member
More the merrier, welcome to the club. :beer:
tkeracer619
New member
Agreed. PH is just much easier to monitor real time and gives a good indication of the reactor. The KH output will be directly tied to the ph if media amount is unchanged. The ratio changes along with the media volume. This is why I suggested tuning to the regulator and not the probe. If you feed a metered amount of water and a metered amount of gas, in theory and from what I have observed it will just dissolve more media (as media volume is reduced) keeping the kh output the same over the life of the reactor.
gregr
New member
The manufacturer of my reactor says the same thing about following alkalinity instead of pH but man- it's effortless to monitor pH and alkalinity requires actual work lol.
Thanks for the feedback folks. I've been testing alk everyday now that the reactor is working efficiently so I'll base future adjustments on that (and Ca readings too I suppose).
Thanks for the feedback folks. I've been testing alk everyday now that the reactor is working efficiently so I'll base future adjustments on that (and Ca readings too I suppose).
tkeracer619
New member
Greg, I think there was 2 boxs of masterflex ls18 on ebay for $50each for 50 feet a week ago.
hkgar
Active member
Does this mean that as tank demand increase you increase flow or increase gas? Tuning the regulator and not the probe sounds like you would increase the gas to get a higher exiting effluent ALK?
Sorry to belabor this, but just trying to understand.
gdemos
New member
thanks Mark. checked ebay and asked seller to clarify what he had listed...
US Plastics carries PHarMed BPT Tubing in smaller (more practical) quantity of 5' minimum
any difference between LS18 and this PharMed BPT which is made by Tygon?
USP carries a 5/16" ID (7.9375 mm ID) x 7/16"OD x 1/16" Wall, takes a 5/16" Barb.
CP carries LS18 which is ID 7.9 mm ID (.31"), and takes a 3/8" Barb
my concern is the 7550-90 which is 1-60 RPM needs the big tubing to get me up to 228 mL/Min which is conceivable I may need the capacity for. I've got enough LS16 tubing to wallpaper my house, but need LS18 or equivalent...
US Plastics carries PHarMed BPT Tubing in smaller (more practical) quantity of 5' minimum
any difference between LS18 and this PharMed BPT which is made by Tygon?
USP carries a 5/16" ID (7.9375 mm ID) x 7/16"OD x 1/16" Wall, takes a 5/16" Barb.
CP carries LS18 which is ID 7.9 mm ID (.31"), and takes a 3/8" Barb
my concern is the 7550-90 which is 1-60 RPM needs the big tubing to get me up to 228 mL/Min which is conceivable I may need the capacity for. I've got enough LS16 tubing to wallpaper my house, but need LS18 or equivalent...
tkeracer619
New member
You would increase gas as demand increases. I usually don't mess with effuent rate unless reactor ph gets too low. I like to operate within a reasonable ph so once it gets down to 6.35 under normal operation i bump the effluent rate to get back to 6.5ish.Does this mean that as tank demand increase you increase flow or increase gas? Tuning the regulator and not the probe sounds like you would increase the gas to get a higher exiting effluent ALK?
Sorry to belabor this, but just trying to understand.
gdemos
New member
massive kudos to Cole Parmer's customer service... a nice phone call and some LS18 'sample' tubing coming my way, probably enough to last me a couple years.
FWIW the US Plastics stuff is 'likely' equivalent although MasterFlex tubing has a "proprietary" OD that is 'something less than 1/2" i'd say thats the same as 7/16" but so be it. I like Cole Parmer.
I also noted that CP was recently acquired by GTCR a private equity group. lets home their customer service stays primo.
FWIW the US Plastics stuff is 'likely' equivalent although MasterFlex tubing has a "proprietary" OD that is 'something less than 1/2" i'd say thats the same as 7/16" but so be it. I like Cole Parmer.
I also noted that CP was recently acquired by GTCR a private equity group. lets home their customer service stays primo.
tkeracer619
New member
Ls is a series, 16 is the size' bpt is the material. The pharmed tygon tube is as good as it gets until you get into the coleparmer platinum stuff.
precision series tube is way easier to get generic tubing for because it has a wall thickness of 1/16th. Performance series tube is proprietary afaik but iirc it is 3/32 wall thickness. With the easyload style heads it is all about wall thicknes.
tkeracer619
New member
I just realized you were asking about precision tubing. You can use any of the pharmed tygon from usplastics that has a 1/16" wall thickness.
what is the part number on the pump head again... believe it or not it is somewhat hard to keep you guys and your part numbers organized... :lol:
what is the part number on the pump head again... believe it or not it is somewhat hard to keep you guys and your part numbers organized... :lol:
gdemos
New member
Mark, I assure you that you are likely far less confused than I am in general...but I digress.
So this new (well circa 1980 something) is a 7550-90 with a 7021-24 Head will be for my Display Tank.
Thankfully CP is getting me some LS18 for this unit. I kind of jumped the gun on my ebay bid with this 7550-90 and failed to realize it operates 1-60 RPM...so great for low dose, not so much on the high end. The flowrate on this unit equipped with LS18 will give me 3.8 to 228 mL/minute so I should be good but conceivably she'll be cranking along with my system demands could be at that upper limit.
My other unit (currently running on frag tank) is a 7550-60 which rolls 10-600 RPM and with LS16 tubing on her i'm dosing 115mL / minute to stay in the 9-10 dKh range
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