Official: Masterflex Calcium Reactor Setup Thread

OK,

been following the thread for a while now ... not sure how you guys score the pumps you do. I cannot get close to a reasonable price ... looking for Masterflex L/S 7523-60 with a EasyLoad 7518-10
 
OK,

been following the thread for a while now ... not sure how you guys score the pumps you do. I cannot get close to a reasonable price ... looking for Masterflex L/S 7523-60 with a EasyLoad 7518-10

I got my 7523-60 for $400 not cheap at all, basically after this thread surfaced, the price of pump has sky rocked on ebay especially for this particular model.
 
Hello Masterflex experts, I recently got a 7521-40 off Ebay with a 77200-60 head. I cleaned it up a little bit and checked out everything inside and it seemed in good working order. The brushes of the motor showed some wear but still had tons of material left.

Anyways, I'm new to this type of pump so I've created a video of it going from 0 to 600 RPM and just wanted to make sure it sounded ok. The level of noise isn't an issue, but I'm just sanity checking that I haven't set something up incorrectly. Thanks.
 
Hello Masterflex experts, I'm new to this type of pump. The level of noise isn't an issue, but I'm just sanity checking that I haven't set something up incorrectly.

Im new to this kind as well. No help Sfdan, but thank you for letting us know how big a sound it is.
 
Quick question; I'm looking at this setup. Will this work well?

http://ebay.us/ZnGNQi

Or this one?

http://ebay.us/iFr6gT

I'm not an expert at all, but the two things I looked for were 6-600 RPM and an easy load head that accepted LS-16 / LS-17 tubing.

Both pumps listed are brushed 6-600RPM pumps, so they should work but they'll be on the louder side. My only concern with the first one is I'm not sure how easy it is going to be to tweak the output, because the knob control doesn't look very granular. The second one is a newer model of the pump I have, and the control is very granular.

The head on the first one only accepts LS-15 / LS-24, which I think is technically fine but it is harder to find the proper tubing and plumb it into your system. The second one doesn't have a head so you'll have to get that extra ($50-$100).

I think the first one is potentially a good deal assuming you are comfortable making the LS-15/LS-24 tubing work, the second one probably isn't a very good value. Given my research and experience in the past month, $300 seems like a lot for a brushed pump without a head. I got my 7521-40 and 77200-60 head for $125 shipped.

I've found that any of the pumps recommended in this thread seem to sell at a premium compared to the other ones (I'm not sure how much of that is because of this thread and how much of that is just because they are nicer pumps), so if you want to get value then going off the beaten path a little bit is probably a good strategy.
 
Effluent PH question

Effluent PH question

I have read that the effuent dKh should be between 25 and 35 and the reactor ph about 6.7.

My numbers are"
Flow rate 40 ml
Reactor ph 6.38
Effluent dKh 16

The co2 rate is 6 bubbles/minute

Do I need to be concerned about the effuent dKh or just that my tank dKh is remaing constant?
 
I have read that the effuent dKh should be between 25 and 35 and the reactor ph about 6.7.

My numbers are"
Flow rate 40 ml
Reactor ph 6.38
Effluent dKh 16

The co2 rate is 6 bubbles/minute

Do I need to be concerned about the effuent dKh or just that my tank dKh is remaing constant?

Everybody uses different guidelines. I don't measure the kh of my effluent. I set my reactor pH to around what is recommended for my media which is about 6.65 so I keep my reactor pH between 6.65 and 6.7. I use my tanks parameters to determine if I need to increase or decrease the effluent rate. Currently I am at 26 ml/min flow with about 1 Co2 bubble per 4 seconds to keep the reactor pH where I want it and my tanks parameters where I am targeting. If my parameters were too low, I would increase the effulent rate slightly and adjust my Co2 rate to keep the reactor pH within my target. If my tank parameters were too low, I would increase my effluent rate and increase the Co2 rate to get to my target. Alternatively, I could probably accomplish the same thing by adjusting the reactor pH but there is a point where low pH in the reactor will turn the media to mush so I prefer keeping the reactor pH constant and adjusting the effluent rate to meet my tanks needs.
 
Everybody uses different guidelines. I don't measure the kh of my effluent. I set my reactor pH to around what is recommended for my media which is about 6.65 so I keep my reactor pH between 6.65 and 6.7. I use my tanks parameters to determine if I need to increase or decrease the effluent rate. Currently I am at 26 ml/min flow with about 1 Co2 bubble per 4 seconds to keep the reactor pH where I want it and my tanks parameters where I am targeting. If my parameters were too low, I would increase the effulent rate slightly and adjust my Co2 rate to keep the reactor pH within my target. If my tank parameters were too low, I would increase my effluent rate and increase the Co2 rate to get to my target. Alternatively, I could probably accomplish the same thing by adjusting the reactor pH but there is a point where low pH in the reactor will turn the media to mush so I prefer keeping the reactor pH constant and adjusting the effluent rate to meet my tanks needs.

Thus my confusion. My flow is 40ml, bubble count 6 per minute and my reactor ph is 6.4.

Your flow is 26/ml and bubble rate of 15/minute (more than 2x mine) and your ph is 6.65.

If my bubble rate was equal to yours my ph would probably drop below 6, unless I pushed the flow rate quite high.
 
Thus my confusion. My flow is 40ml, bubble count 6 per minute and my reactor ph is 6.4.

Your flow is 26/ml and bubble rate of 15/minute (more than 2x mine) and your ph is 6.65.

If my bubble rate was equal to yours my ph would probably drop below 6, unless I pushed the flow rate quite high.

Are you sure your pH probe is accurate? That seems like a really low bubble rate for your flow rate. Then again, I run a Geo 818 reactor which is a pretty big reactor buy something doesn't sound right to me unless your effluent rate is a lot slower than you think it is.
 

No, it's a brushed motor. I don't think Those units aren designed for the Easy Load heads either and the quick load heads that they come with aren't really ideal. You can't use the good norprene tubing in them and they aren't really great for continuous use. The Easy Load heads handle the abuse much better so. I think the quick load heads pump less fluid per rotation due to a smaller roller assembly which results in the need to run the motor at a faster RPM. You could probably add an easy load head to it though and roll the dice as it may hold up but I would probably keep looking.
 
Lifereef Calcium Reactor with Masterflex

Lifereef Calcium Reactor with Masterflex

This is my first-time calcium reactor set up. Since this summer, I have been putting together the pieces for this. Started with a Lifereef calcium reactor LCR2. Then picked up used Masterflex 7523-70 pump and Victor 2 stage CO2 regulator /Ideal valve.

IMG_1829_zpsglj64y9o.jpg~original


IMG_1833_zps0zc2ypad.jpg~original


IMG_1846_zpssvg1euxl.jpg~original


The reactor media is Reborn, just because this is what came with the reactor. I'm using an Easy Load 7518-00 pump head with tubing recommended by tkeracer619 on page 1 of this thread — BTW, thanks tkeracer619 for the guidance!

Cole-Parmer gave me a tip: when time to change the peristaltic tube, instead of replacing it, just slide the tube toward the output side. This lets the rollers push on a new section of unused tubing. Do this as again and again, as your tubing length allows.

So now, everything is plumbed and connected. Just need to plug in the ph probe and add water. Once it's running, tuning this is where I will be back asking for help!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This is my first-time calcium reactor set up. Since this summer, I have been putting together the pieces for this. Started with a Lifereef calcium reactor LCR2. Then picked up used Masterflex 7523-70 pump and Victor 2 stage CO2 regulator /Ideal valve.

The reactor media is Reborn, just because this is what came with the reactor. I'm using an Easy Load 7518-00 pump head with tubing recommended by tkeracer619 on page 1 of this thread "” BTW, thanks tkeracer619 for the guidance!

Cole-Parmer gave me a tip: when time to change the peristaltic tube, instead of replacing it, just slide the tube toward the output side. This lets the rollers push on a new section of unused tubing. Do this as again and again, as your tubing length allows.

So now, everything is plumbed and connected. Just need to plug in the ph probe and add water. Once it's running, tuning this is where I will be back asking for help!


Keep us posted how you like the lifereef reactor. I have a geo I love that I'm currently using, but I also picked up the lifereef reactor too to try out at some point.
 
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