ReefTek Club
- Thread starter Rebels23
- Start date
Beenalongtime79
New member
Hey Tagamet,
There is no feed pump at all. Actually, when I first saw the Reeftek design, I almost cried because it was absolutely perfect for what I wanted to do, mod it so I could use it to just run it with one pump. I have two friends that have different calcium reactors (one Geo and another homemade) that run their reactors with one pump (it circulates and "feeds") at the same time and they have great tanks. They did a lot of testing at first, but the levels were good and they stopped, but they have amazing tanks... anyways... The whole concept is pretty easy.
If you have a closed circuit with one pump in the loop (ala closed loop), what goes out one end of the pump must come in on the opposite of the pump. If you control effluent flow with the ball valve, all of the excess flow goes back into the reactor to recirculate. This will actually be better for your pump as you will restrict it less as it can divert flow back into the recirculation loop, whereas a feed pump encounters high pressure resistance due to the slow flow out of the reactor.
AfricanGrey,
I think that you will find the reeftek reactor a great buy. Jorge is sending out all the new reactors with this mod and you can drive it with the one pump, although he recommends a feed pump to pressurize the reactor, although like I stated above, no pressurization needed for good calcium and alkalinity levels.
I have not been able to run it as I ran out of funds for now. I've just water tested but here is something that you can do, run it at a high rate of effluent flow to flush out any debris and let it slowly drop down and reach a steady state (once you've got this steady state going, you can then supply the CO2). You might have to do this for a couple of days, because I've found that Jorge uses teflon grease which actually can clog up the valve as the hole is very small. You might want to ask for teflon tape instead of the grease.
Peace,
John H.
There is no feed pump at all. Actually, when I first saw the Reeftek design, I almost cried because it was absolutely perfect for what I wanted to do, mod it so I could use it to just run it with one pump. I have two friends that have different calcium reactors (one Geo and another homemade) that run their reactors with one pump (it circulates and "feeds") at the same time and they have great tanks. They did a lot of testing at first, but the levels were good and they stopped, but they have amazing tanks... anyways... The whole concept is pretty easy.
If you have a closed circuit with one pump in the loop (ala closed loop), what goes out one end of the pump must come in on the opposite of the pump. If you control effluent flow with the ball valve, all of the excess flow goes back into the reactor to recirculate. This will actually be better for your pump as you will restrict it less as it can divert flow back into the recirculation loop, whereas a feed pump encounters high pressure resistance due to the slow flow out of the reactor.
AfricanGrey,
I think that you will find the reeftek reactor a great buy. Jorge is sending out all the new reactors with this mod and you can drive it with the one pump, although he recommends a feed pump to pressurize the reactor, although like I stated above, no pressurization needed for good calcium and alkalinity levels.
I have not been able to run it as I ran out of funds for now. I've just water tested but here is something that you can do, run it at a high rate of effluent flow to flush out any debris and let it slowly drop down and reach a steady state (once you've got this steady state going, you can then supply the CO2). You might have to do this for a couple of days, because I've found that Jorge uses teflon grease which actually can clog up the valve as the hole is very small. You might want to ask for teflon tape instead of the grease.
Peace,
John H.
Rebels23
New member
Hey Guys,
Will, I have been adjusting the valve everyday to no avail. When looking at the reactor, I noticed that there was a huge pocket of air (or CO2) formed a tthe top of the flange. I know it will probably get sucked out and re-circulated, but I am wondering if this pocket of air or CO2 affects the pressure and effluent flow somehow???
Then I was thinking of putting a funnel in the reactor, upside down, so that all pockets of air will be re-circulated right away........any comments on that?
Will, I have been adjusting the valve everyday to no avail. When looking at the reactor, I noticed that there was a huge pocket of air (or CO2) formed a tthe top of the flange. I know it will probably get sucked out and re-circulated, but I am wondering if this pocket of air or CO2 affects the pressure and effluent flow somehow???
Then I was thinking of putting a funnel in the reactor, upside down, so that all pockets of air will be re-circulated right away........any comments on that?
Freed
It's what it's
Will all those having problems with their effluent slowing down please post pics of the orientation of their effluent hose from the reactor to where it drips into their sumps? I have an idea and have been talking to a couple of people about the issue and may have an answer or may not depending on what the pics show. Just a hunch but it may help us out a bit. I have been having the same problem and seem to have fixed it but need the help of everyone else too. Thanks, Freed
africangrey
Active member
May be the new modification posted by both John and Jorge will solve the irregular effluent flow problem.
-A
-A
Beenalongtime79
New member
Hey Freed,
Maybe they've all solved their problems. Hehe.
Or maybe just lazy.
Peace,
John H.
Maybe they've all solved their problems. Hehe.
Or maybe just lazy.
Peace,
John H.
*j-cat*
Premium Member
The pictures of mine wouldnt help due to the fact that my reactor(double chamber) is about 6 feet from my sump. It is elevated approximately 2 feet above the water level in the sump. I too have to adjust the needle valve probably twice a day to keep it ~constant. I am hoping to hook up my SP3000 this weekend.
Freed
Freed
Just curious, but did you put a jg elbow in the effluent tube, so that the discharge doesn't have to travel in a rainbow curve to the sump? My effluent tube looks like the golden arches at Mickey D's and I'm assuming that that would effect the pressure required to push the effluent up and out. If the effluent tube ran parallel to the floor (or even "downhill"), there'd be less pressure required.
Tagamet
Freed
Freed said:
Just curious, but did you put a jg elbow in the effluent tube, so that the discharge doesn't have to travel in a rainbow curve to the sump? My effluent tube looks like the golden arches at Mickey D's and I'm assuming that that would effect the pressure required to push the effluent up and out. If the effluent tube ran parallel to the floor (or even "downhill"), there'd be less pressure required.
Tagamet
Beenalongtime79
New member
Re: Freed
Re: Freed
Hey Tagamet,
If you've got an elbow. Wouldn't it add even more head pressure (about 1 ft). Unless the arch takes up much more than 12 inches as compared to the elbow... there wouldn't be much difference. Right?
Peace,
John H.
Re: Freed
Tagamet said:
Hey Tagamet,
If you've got an elbow. Wouldn't it add even more head pressure (about 1 ft). Unless the arch takes up much more than 12 inches as compared to the elbow... there wouldn't be much difference. Right?
Peace,
John H.
Beenalongtime79
New member
Tagamet,
Haha. Well, why don't you just drive on over to the Home Depot... throw down a couple of beans for the elbow and try it out.
Peace,
John H.
Haha. Well, why don't you just drive on over to the Home Depot... throw down a couple of beans for the elbow and try it out.
Peace,
John H.
Todd March
Premium Member
Okay so I've read through this entire thread and am unsure about what has and has not be resolved with Reefteks Ca units and the effluent flow problems...?
I'm shopping for a Ca reactor unit, and Reefteks price is fantastic and Jorge's customer service seem top knotch... But I need a hassle free unit (okay, who doesn't) and if I need to buy a $90+ peristaltic pump, the value starts to disappear real fast...
With the mod first done for rufio173 where the single pump now can feed as well as recirculate, has the flow issue been delt with?
Is this mod now on all new rectors, Jorge...?
Help...?!
I'm shopping for a Ca reactor unit, and Reefteks price is fantastic and Jorge's customer service seem top knotch... But I need a hassle free unit (okay, who doesn't) and if I need to buy a $90+ peristaltic pump, the value starts to disappear real fast...
With the mod first done for rufio173 where the single pump now can feed as well as recirculate, has the flow issue been delt with?
Is this mod now on all new rectors, Jorge...?
Help...?!
Todd,
Every new reactor features the mod that rufio has talked about. So far I have had no more reports of flow slowing down on this units. Contact me by email if you have any more questions. I am on vacation and I am leaving the place where I was able to check emails today, so I wont get back to you until next wednesday.
Jorge
Every new reactor features the mod that rufio has talked about. So far I have had no more reports of flow slowing down on this units. Contact me by email if you have any more questions. I am on vacation and I am leaving the place where I was able to check emails today, so I wont get back to you until next wednesday.
Jorge
Freed
It's what it's
Is this the pump I would need?
The web pages say it can dose up to 3 liters per hour or .8 gallons per hour. 33 ml/minute comes out to 1,980 ml/hr. I assume that would be 1.98 liters per hr., correct? This is around $15-$20 cheaper and can put out more fluid if necessary. Any input on whether or not this would be a better choice than the other pumps in this thread?
The web pages say it can dose up to 3 liters per hour or .8 gallons per hour. 33 ml/minute comes out to 1,980 ml/hr. I assume that would be 1.98 liters per hr., correct? This is around $15-$20 cheaper and can put out more fluid if necessary. Any input on whether or not this would be a better choice than the other pumps in this thread?
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