Official: Masterflex Calcium Reactor Setup Thread

[slief]

Hi Scott. Thanks too you of course...

Ok . will grease it up and put it back together....

Glad to help Janet! It was a pleasure speaking with you as well. Let me know when you get it back together. You have my number! :thumbsup:

So one last question. Is there supposed to be any air at all in a running calcium reactor? Mine seems to be working but there is air/gas being recirculated through it.

There should be no air in the reactor. Typically you should run the reactor for at least 24 hours without the Co2 on to purge the air. If you get the air out and it continues to come back, you likely have a leak somewhere in your reactor system. This assuming you have the Masterflex pump pulling through the reactor instead of pushing. To find the leak, you could swap the lines around so the Masterflex is pushing the water through. If you have a valve on the effluent line, you could close it to pressurize the reactor. That should expose the source of the leak in a hurry. Another potential source or air is if you are adding to much Co2 for the amount of water flow through the reactor. If however that was the case, your reactor pH would be very very low...

 

[oshanickreef]

Glad to help Janet! It was a pleasure speaking with you as well. Let me know when you get it back together. You have my number! :thumbsup:



There should be no air in the reactor. Typically you should run the reactor for at least 24 hours without the Co2 on to purge the air. If you get the air out and it continues to come back, you likely have a leak somewhere in your reactor system. This assuming you have the Masterflex pump pulling through the reactor instead of pushing. To find the leak, you could swap the lines around so the Masterflex is pushing the water through. If you have a valve on the effluent line, you could close it to pressurize the reactor. That should expose the source of the leak in a hurry. Another potential source or air is if you are adding to much Co2 for the amount of water flow through the reactor. If however that was the case, your reactor pH would be very very low...

GREAT NEWS!!! I am very please to say that it is plumbed into my tank! and i am very very pleased that I am yet to deal with the air getting trapped in the top of the system like i anticipated, since apparently GEO reactors have this issue.

first off... i know it is a cluster f so i am going to home depot and installing another shelf to put all this stuff on tonight.

I hooked it all up and i am very surprised that there is no more air bubbling. the CO2 is running at about 1 bubble every 3 seconds and my effluent flow is at 30 ml. i tested alk last night and it was 8.3 and this morning it was 8.3. i will test again tonight but i am please so far.

here is my only question as of now. here is my apex CO2 coding (I renamed my pH2 to pHR because it wasnt saving with pH2 for some reason):

Fallback OFF
If pHR > 6.7 Then ON
If pHR < 6.5 Then OFF
If pH < 7.8 Then OFF

the thing i notice is that my pHR will drop till it hits 6.5 and then shut off until it goes back up to 6.7 then on then off then on then off..... how should i level this out?

 

[slief]

GREAT NEWS!!! I am very please to say that it is plumbed into my tank! and i am very very pleased that I am yet to deal with the air getting trapped in the top of the system like i anticipated, since apparently GEO reactors have this issue.

I hooked it all up and i am very surprised that there is no more air bubbling. the CO2 is running at about 1 bubble every 3 seconds and my effluent flow is at 30 ml. i tested alk last night and it was 8.3 and this morning it was 8.3. i will test again tonight but i am please so far.

here is my only question as of now. here is my apex CO2 coding (I renamed my pH2 to pHR because it wasnt saving with pH2 for some reason):

Fallback OFF
If pHR > 6.7 Then ON
If pHR < 6.5 Then OFF
If pH < 7.8 Then OFF

the thing i notice is that my pHR will drop till it hits 6.5 and then shut off until it goes back up to 6.7 then on then off then on then off..... how should i level this out?

You can decrease the gap between on and off but I think your program is OK.. I would try to balance it out with the Co2 bubble rate and the cole parmer flow. I've found that you get a balance in pH that is precise enough that the Apex doesn't even have to shut the Co2 solenoid off. You just need to adjust your water flow up or down and your Co2 bubble rate up or down until you find the sweet spot. Also, 6.5 reactor pH is kind of on the low side even for Reborn media. I'd try to target 6.7 inside your reactor by balancing your Co2 bubble rate. It takes a bit of futzing but once you find the sweet spot, the reactor pH should be extremely stable to the point that your Apex won't have to intervene.

 

[oshanickreef]

You can decrease the gap between on and off but I think your program is OK.. I would try to balance it out with the Co2 bubble rate and the cole parmer flow. I've found that you get a balance in pH that is precise enough that the Apex doesn't even have to shut the Co2 solenoid off. You just need to adjust your water flow up or down and your Co2 bubble rate up or down until you find the sweet spot. Also, 6.5 reactor pH is kind of on the low side even for Reborn media. I'd try to target 6.7 inside your reactor by balancing your Co2 bubble rate. It takes a bit of futzing but once you find the sweet spot, the reactor pH should be extremely stable to the point that your Apex won't have to intervene.

Ya this is what i am expecting. here is another question for you. so when i adjust the bubble rate to less frequent, do i need to change the size of the bubbles with the AP Carbon Doser? or do i just adjust the bubbles and the flow? right now i think the PSI for the bubble making (i dont know what to call it... lol) is just under 3. is there a big difference with bubble size?

 

[slief]

Ya this is what i am expecting. here is another question for you. so when i adjust the bubble rate to less frequent, do i need to change the size of the bubbles with the AP Carbon Doser? or do i just adjust the bubbles and the flow? right now i think the PSI for the bubble making (i dont know what to call it... lol) is just under 3. is there a big difference with bubble size?

I just adjust the bubble rate and the flow. It makes keeping track of changes and fine tuning much easier than adding complexity by adjusting the bubble size too. I have my bubble PSI set to about 3 as well.

 

[oshanickreef]

I just adjust the bubble rate and the flow. It makes keeping track of changes and fine tuning much easier than adding complexity by adjusting the bubble size too. I have my bubble PSI set to about 3 as well.

cool thanks! how many seconds per bubble do you have?

 

[hkgar]

Just set the program to the low side ph - I have mine set for off at <6.31 but nothing on the high side.

A major reason for using the pump is to tune it to maintain a constant ph at your desired level by adjusting co2 rate and pressure (bubble size)

Since you are using Apex and if you haven't done it already, enable logging for phr to see how often it is turning on and off. Ideally you should have no ons or offs.

 

[slief]

cool thanks! how many seconds per bubble do you have?

I'm at about one bubble per 3 1/2 seconds. My flow is about 30 mL a minute. I'm running a Geo 818 reactor.

 

[BrettH]

So i noticed something was leaking in my garage last night.
Ends up it's my AWC pump that runs for about 45 mins every days.
The tubing split in the middle where the rollers contact it.
But unlike Brett, my clamps were down hard enough, the tubing didn't shift.

Hey d2mini, here is another thought about what could have caused that problem.

Was it your new saltwater or old saltwater line that split open?

If it was the line that was pumping old water out of your tank, maybe some sand or other particulate made it's way into the feed line and then once it got to the rollers it got stuck there, but caused enough abrasion to wear through the tube?

Maybe we should add pre-filters to our intake lines?

just a thought...

 

[machodik]

I would like to thanks Slief for his very supportive assistance in my find for the right pump .

As my country is not as easy to look for 2nd hand CP pump yet I am still working on my latest offer from the only local 2nd hand dealer of which I posted the photos earlier .

As advise from Slief , I am focusing on the CP pump (vs Watson marrow) and after checking with the dealer the model number is 7520-20 with 7518-10 pumps head. I am herewith posting the photos and also the photos of the pump inside hope any body can give me some comment on this unit and this model number ;

Cheers,


MD

 

[oshanickreef]

I'm at about one bubble per 3 1/2 seconds. My flow is about 30 mL a minute. I'm running a Geo 818 reactor.

do you have any issues with air getting trapped in the chamber and therefore being recirculated?

 

[kuyatwo]

Is your head designed for the Pharmed tubing? Not all of them are... What model head and what size tubing?

I use l/s 24 sized tubing

 

[slief]

I would like to thanks Slief for his very supportive assistance in my find for the right pump .

As my country is not as easy to look for 2nd hand CP pump yet I am still working on my latest offer from the only local 2nd hand dealer of which I posted the photos earlier .

As advise from Slief , I am focusing on the CP pump (vs Watson marrow) and after checking with the dealer the model number is 7520-20 with 7518-10 pumps head. I am herewith posting the photos and also the photos of the pump inside hope any body can give me some comment on this unit and this model number ;



MD

That pump is a 0-600 RPM pump so at our flow rates, you certainly won't be working the motor hard due to it's gearing. It appears to use the same brushed motors as the other brushed pumps so from a motor standpoint, it looks durable. It also looks very clean and should work reliably for a reactor. It won't be as quiet as a brushless unit and won't be as easy to make very precise adjustments as the digital ones. It also will not be easy to calculate flow assuming you want to know how many mL per minute you are flowing. You will essentially have to count the rotates per minute then do some math based on estimated RPM and the flow per RPM based on the tubing size as opposed to seeing the RPM or mL per minute on a display.

 

[slief]

do you have any issues with air getting trapped in the chamber and therefore being recirculated?

When you first fire the unit up, there will be air in the reactor. I just shut the recirculation pump off on my Geo and use the prime button on my Masterflex while moving the reactor around to get the air bubbles to the top while also guiding them into the recirculation pipe at the top of the reactor. This gets the bubbles out of the reactor and sends them back to the tank. Once I have the bubbles purged, I restart the recirculation pump and repeat the process as needed until all bubbles are purged. Once they are purged, there should be very little air that gets back into the reactor. If you continue to see lots of air getting into the reactor, you either have an air leak or the area that the reactor is drawing from in your sump is heavily aerated. Keep in mind that it can take up to 24 hours for the media to become fully saturated with water before the air is fully out of the media.

 

[oshanickreef]

When you first fire the unit up, there will be air in the reactor. I just shut the recirculation pump off on my Geo and use the prime button on my Masterflex while moving the reactor around to get the air bubbles to the top while also guiding them into the recirculation pipe at the top of the reactor. This gets the bubbles out of the reactor and sends them back to the tank. Once I have the bubbles purged, I restart the recirculation pump and repeat the process as needed until all bubbles are purged. Once they are purged, there should be very little air that gets back into the reactor. If you continue to see lots of air getting into the reactor, you either have an air leak or the area that the reactor is drawing from in your sump is heavily aerated. Keep in mind that it can take up to 24 hours for the media to become fully saturated with water before the air is fully out of the media.

okay thank you for the fast reply! this is very helpful because i have been trying to get the air out with the recirc pump on. so i will turn it off via apex fusion now and hopefully it will be good to go when i am home!

thanks again

 

[machodik]

Official: Masterflex Calcium Reactor Setup Thread

That pump is a 0-600 RPM pump so at our flow rates, you certainly won't be working the motor hard due to it's gearing. It appears to use the same brushed motors as the other brushed pumps so from a motor standpoint, it looks durable. It also looks very clean and should work reliably for a reactor. It won't be as quiet as a brushless unit and won't be as easy to make very precise adjustments as the digital ones. It also will not be easy to calculate flow assuming you want to know how many mL per minute you are flowing. You will essentially have to count the rotates per minute then do some math based on estimated RPM and the flow per RPM based on the tubing size as opposed to seeing the RPM or mL per minute on a display.

Thanks Slief for your always prompt advise giving to us , newbie of this stuff.

As a matter of fact the price of that machine really very tempting and when I saw the inside motor that looks clean and looks new than supposedly aged. The owner should be taking good care while in their position , I heard from the seller that it was seldom use by the previous owner.

But with your said statement over the difficulty in fine tuning and also precisely calculate the flow which is also giving me some kind of thoughts over choosing it.

I have another option but it is not CP brand and it is digital , I know it also have distributor as well in the USA. Price wise is also attractive and yet it's brand new Digital , brushless and dead silent etc;

Well, have to decide by next week.

Cheers,


MD

 

[slief]

okay thank you for the fast reply! this is very helpful because i have been trying to get the air out with the recirc pump on. so i will turn it off via apex fusion now and hopefully it will be good to go when i am home!

thanks again

That is your best bet because the recirc pump has much more flow than the Masterflex and will suck the bubbles in before they are exhausted out of the reactor. The end result is that the bubbles will just get condensed and redistributed throughout the reactor.

Thanks Slief for your always prompt advise giving to us , newbie of this stuff.

As a matter of fact the price of that machine really very tempting and when I saw the inside motor that looks clean and looks new than supposedly aged. The owner should be taking good care while in their position , I heard from the seller that it was seldom use by the previous owner.

But with your said statement over the difficulty in fine tuning and also precisely calculate the flow which is also giving me some kind of thoughts over choosing it.

I have another option but it is not CP brand and it is digital , I know it also have distributor as well in the USA. Price wise is also attractive and yet it's brand new Digital , brushless and dead silent etc;

Well, have to decide by next week.

Cheers,


MD

I am sure that pump would work. The big question is how long it will last. The Cole Parmers are proven to be durable under continuous use. That pump you are considering has no track record among us calcium reactor users. As such, you are taking a bit of a gamble. I would check with the manufacturer and see if that pump is rated for continuous duty. I'd also make sure you have good warranty support for that unit before buying it. Remember, what ever pump you choose is going to be running 24x7 so you want to make sure you get a quality pump. If I were you, I would search for reviews on it in addition to verifying that it is rated for continuous duty.

 

[slief]

As a side note, I got a great deal on a Cole Parmer 7523-80. It's a new style 600 RPM digital brushless pump that was barely used. It was a good enough deal that I couldn't pass it up. This thing is deal silent. I will be replacing my other digital Cole Parmer with this new later today and will put my original one up for sale.

 

[tkeracer619]

Very nice!

 

[hkgar]

I have a pump

I have a pump

for sale. It is listed in the sellers forum