Schuran media..?

[Ewan]

Hello.

I just returned from Vacation this morning. While I was gone, my Ca reactor sprung a leak and the contents of my sump hit the floor. My fish-sitter called me mid-vacation, and I ordered a Schuran reactor online at PA saturday. It should arrive this friday.

Today I realise that I need media for this reactor. I've done some searching here, and It seems to be hard to locate. Do you have any in stock? If so, I would be very interested in obtaining some. Rumour has it that aquatic-ecosystems has the coarse schuran coral sand, but I can't find it anywhere on their site.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I was ready to give up my SPS tank on saturday, instead, I bought a new reactor.

BTW, great price! I was hoping to buy one at the end of the summer, but for at least $100 more.

thanks,

-Rob

 

[Jeremy B.]

Hi Rob,

Unfortunately I do not know of any other media that might work for you, short of loading up a bunch of seashells and mollusk shells into the system (what we did when we ran ours). You might give Aquatic Eco a call to see if they have any on hand. If I come across anything I will definitely let you know.

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[Ewan]

Thanks for the reply.

I ended up finding the stuff on aquatic-eco's site. It's under the Schuran commercial-sized reactor.

I'm suprised that it's not a big seller here in the US. The folks at www.ultimatereef.com (the big UK board) seem to like the schuran and the korallin reactors the best. The deltecs don't seem to be held in as high regard.

Actually, the Schuran Jetstream 1 sells for about 15-20% more than the deltec from what I found wile searching for the past couple of months. I was very suprised to see them at PA. I was especially happy that they were much, much cheaper than what I expected to pay.

I'm sorry they're not selling. Personally, I'm very excited to get a reactor that isn't going to leak like a sieve.

Again, thanks for the response. I did manage to order some after all.

regards,

Rob

 

[NAGA]

I have not heard much about the Schuran Ca Reactors at all. I too have heard less than favorable oppinions on the Deltec Reactors. Are the Schuran reactors fluidized??? I have seen their protein skimmers (impressive) but, not their reactors.

 

[sean_nj]

I just got a Schuran Jetstream 1 from PA two weeks ago. It looks and runs great. The better part is that the ball valve union comes in 1 inch size, so I have no trouble finding plumbing parts. I took all the Schuran coral sands PA had at hand .

Schuran Jetstream calcium reactor is rated very high in Europe, better than Deltec PF series. It's NOT a fludized bed model. It has a gas/liquid separator (actually it's very simple, a tubing hooking a tee at the recirculation pump to the top next to where CO2 enters the reactor. Once the recirculation pump starts, running water will make a little vacuum around the tee area, this will suck free CO2 (newly entered or undissolved) into the tubing from top to the tee, then water pushed by the pump will carry the CO2 into reactor chamber) and CO2 is supposed to be used 100%.

Sean

 

[Tagareef]

Sean,

What's the set-up like on the Jetstream? I have a Korallin 1501 that's become a real PITA after 3 years. Requires regular tweaking and can't keep up with the needs of my 180. Might turn it into a nice Rowa reactor!

What size tank did you put it on and is it pretty much "set it and forget it"?

Thanks,

Luis

 

[Ewan]

I got my jetstream 1 setup tonight. My media doesn't come until wednesday, so I added 4" of arm to the bottom of the chamber so that I could test it out. It doesn't work well with ARM at all. I knew that, but I thought I'd test it out anyway.

The media comes wednesday... I'll expect it to work perfectly when I have the right stuff.

I REALLY like how the media chamber comes out entirely so that you can carry it to the sink. Also, the acrylic work is the best I've ever seen.

Very sharp reactor. I'm really looking forward to getting it rockin' this week.

E.

 

[Tagareef]

Ewan,

Did you order the media from Aquatic Eco-Sytems? If so how much did that cost you? I'm just a little concerned about the availability of the Schuran media in the future since nothing else really works.

Luis

 

[Ewan]

I did finally find it on aquatic-eco. I ordered 3 bags.


here's the link; It's under Schuran Commercial calcium reactors:

http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/4903/cid/1407

I'm also somewhat concerned about finding media in the future. In the meanwhile, I hope to find a good supply of media at the appropriate size. An article by Greg Hiller showed that quarried limestone was a suitable reactor media with much lower phosphate content that commercial reactor media. I may go that route.

E.

 

[sean_nj]

Hi Luis,

My system is only 100 Gallon. It's pretty much "set it and forget it". I had it set up last weekend and during the last week it was always 9.0dKH, 450ppm. I just increased dKH Friday night by dripping baking soda solution and now it stays at 10.9dKH.

Sean

Sean,

What's the set-up like on the Jetstream? I have a Korallin 1501 that's become a real PITA after 3 years. Requires regular tweaking and can't keep up with the needs of my 180. Might turn it into a nice Rowa reactor!

What size tank did you put it on and is it pretty much "set it and forget it"?

Thanks,

Luis

 

[jasonfrey]

Hi Everyone,

Since this media is hard to come by, our next order from Germany, we'll bring in some media, enough to last everyone for about a year, that way anyone that buys reactors off us will be covered in the future. We might keep selling the Schuran as well since those that have bought them already really love them.

thanks

 

[Ewan]

That's what I call customer service.

I plan on writing up a review and submitting it to RC after I gain a bit of experience with this reactor. At this point, this is the third reactor I've owned, and I have a feeling it'll be the last one I'll ever have to buy.

I'll check keep an eye on the media section on PA in a month (or two) to see when it's avilable.

Thanks! I imagine many of us will stock up.

E.

 

[Tagareef]

Jetstream

Jetstream

Well, Jason's last post just pushed me over the edge...I've been going back and forth whether to buy the Jetstream or not. But with that type of attention to customer satisfaction, my mind was made up immediatly! I just placed an order for the last one Premium Aquatics had in stock at that great price. I think my Korallin 1501 is gonna make a fine Rowa reactor!

Thanks Jason,

Premium Aquatics is the best!

Luis

(And oh, Don't forget to let me know about the AquaConnect bulb)

 

[Tagareef]

Sean and Ewan...you guys helped too.
Thanks for your input!

Luis

 

[Tagareef]

Sean and Ewan,

I got my Jetsteam last week and am very pleased with it so far even though Aquatic Eco-Systems sent me the wrong media. Do not order the 8lb. media off of the commercial reactor page. I wanted to stock-up and ordered 3. When I opened the box I was shocked to find 24lbs of ARM!! The correct part number is 71791 for 1kg of media @ $4 a piece. AES is in the process of moving and won't be able to ship out the correct stuff until Thursday. So in the meantime a mixed 50/50 some ARM and some coarse media called "Red Sea Scallop" that I had from a cichlid tank. It works but probably not at its best.

Man, the build quality on the Jetstream is the best I've seen. Pretty ingenious how it recirculates the c02.

Hope yours are working well for you.

Are there any other Jetstream users out there?

Luis

 

[Ewan]

Sean and Ewan,

I got my Jetsteam last week and am very pleased with it so far even though Aquatic Eco-Systems sent me the wrong media. Do not order the 8lb. media off of the commercial reactor page. I wanted to stock-up and ordered 3. When I opened the box I was shocked to find 24lbs of ARM!! The correct part number is 71791 for 1kg of media @ $4 a piece. AES is in the process of moving and won't be able to ship out the correct stuff until Thursday. So in the meantime a mixed 50/50 some ARM and some coarse media called "Red Sea Scallop" that I had from a cichlid tank. It works but probably not at its best.

Man, the build quality on the Jetstream is the best I've seen. Pretty ingenious how it recirculates the c02.

Hope yours are working well for you.

Are there any other Jetstream users out there?

Luis

Real good to know. Thanks for the heads up.

Bummer about the ARM. I ran mine for 3 days about 1/3rd filled up with ARM and it clogged twice. I've now got the schuran-approved stuff, and it's working great.

You're not kidding about the acrylic work. Very fine piece of equipment. I bought the schuran as a replacement for a reactor that leaked from day one. Not even a drop from the schuran. Very high quility build.

The only problem I'm having is getting a constant drip rate. I've bit the bullet and ordered a peristaltic pump for it. I don't want to spend the rest of my life checking on the effluent flow. Once I get that solved, it'll be smooth sailing.

Glad I had some sort of influence in your decision-making.

regards,

Rob

 

[sean_nj]

The only problem I'm having is getting a constant drip rate. I've bit the bullet and ordered a peristaltic pump for it. I don't want to spend the rest of my life checking on the effluent flow. Once I get that solved, it'll be smooth sailing.

[/B]

Hi Rob,

What kind peristaltic pump did you order? I am also looking for one to get a constant effluent flow.

Thanks,

Sean

 

[Tagareef]

With the ARM media I cut out a circle of eggcrate placed it on top of the "diffuser" and placed a circle of foam on top of that so no grains of media would clog the openings. The c02 kinda collects down there for a bit before it works its way up the column. Does yours look like "club soda" down at the bottom where the c02 is injected back into the reactor?

The Jetstream replaced a finicky Korallin 1501. I was constantly tweaking that thing to make it work right.

I was having problems with the drip rate as well. 40 mls a minute is
kind of a fast dribble and would vary in rate just looking at it. I increased it to about 50-60 mls and that seemed to help alot.

I am using a 3/4" barb to 1/8" T fitting from my pump return tubing to feed the reactor. I was reading on a German BB that they recommended peristaltic pumps. I know that Aquamedic makes one for around $90 but didn't know if they were rated for continuous duty. What kind are you getting?

I e-mailed Schuran and the US suppliers to see if the "control unit" was available. It would be cool to control the ph within the reactor with a ph controller. From the description in the instructions it sounds like it includes the probe, monitor/controller and fitting. I have a controller that I use as a monitor only and would only be interested in the pvc fitting that held the ph probe. I always wondered what that big union ball valve was there for.

Luis

 

[sean_nj]

Well, I made my own probe holder or controll unit.

I copied the design by a post here. I screwed it into a 1"x1/2" threaded by threaded bush, and then replaced the top ball valve. It works great.

The cheap AquaMedic peristaltic pump only has a fixed flow rate of 50ml/min. To run JetStream 1, we need a flow rate 40 - 120 ml/min.

Sean

 

[Ewan]

I've been reading about the aquamedic peristaltic pumps on the UK board www.ultimatereefs.com ... The conscensus doesn't seem to be good.

I have a litermeterIII for topoff, but it doses every 10 minutes. I hoped to get an additional pumphead for it, but the 10 minute interval threw me off.

I ordered and OEM pump from www.iprocessmart.com. Hopefully it will do what I want.

Nice job with the pH probe. I just may have to try that!