that was easier than i thought...

[manderx]

finally decided to make a kalk reactor. i'm too lazy to keep up with mixing a small trashcan every 5 days.

i never made one like this before because i had always been afraid of: cutting the tube without chipping,cracking and melting expensive tube, cutting perfect circles (grooves and disks), making flanges, and trusting uniseals. had to buy some new tools but i got it all down now.

cutting the tube was a joke. i just clamped down some runners on my saw table then spun the tube in place against the saw and it came out perfect. no chips or melting or anything.

i would have liked black acrylic for parts of the flange and base, but the places i was already ordering from didn't have any so i just went with clear to keep things easy and not have to order from all over.

the circle-jig wasn't big enough to do what i needed to make the keyholes perfect, so i had to do a little dremel work on these and they are a bit rough if you look close. i used a free cad program i found online to make a template for where to drill. the circle-jig was perfect for cutting the v-groove for the o-ring though, and for the flat-groove for the tube to sit in so i can get a bomb-proof glue joint.

need to find thumbscrews to replace these. these were all lowes had, and cheap enough to just use temporarily.

rather than uniseals to pass pipe through the side into the body, i cut these blocks out of 1" acrylic. i got a small saw blade and ran it mostly-sideways to carve out a cove. took some trial and error on wood blocks to get the right angle (cutting a 6" diameter cove with a 6.5" blade) but it wasn't too bad. luckily i have a pretty big sheet of 1" black and didn't have to get my hands anywhere near it while running the blade back and forth. now i just gotta decide where to glue them on the body, then route holes through them to then glue in some pvc.

i wanted a durable pump with threaded connections, so i got a baby panworld. now i need to play what-if with pvc to see how i want to mount it. then glue the top and bottom on.

 

[ade]

Matt that looks great. I would buy one. Why didn't you go with a cheap Maxi jet for a pump? What is the size on the reactor? Tube and hight.

 

[reefdadx2]

SWEEEEEEEEEEEET! Michael R

 

[manderx]

this one is 6"x18". 4" would have probably been big enough for my tank, but 6" wasn't much more expensive so why not. i got a 3' piece from mcmaster for just under $80. i went with the panworld because i wanted real threads and i was hoping it would have a ceramic sleeve in the impeller that ran on the shaft, so that it would not wear out like maxijet impellers do in kalk. but when i got it, it was all plastic so that was a letdown. but it still might be tougher than maxijets, and it was only 65 bucks so it wasn't that expensive. i checked and replacement impellers are only $15. if they wear out as fast as maxijet impellers, then i'll just bump up to the next panworld and use this one with a new impeller to make a calcium reactor for someone who needs one...

 

[NbMaxx13]

Is this thing up and running yet ? Pics?

 

[manderx]

finally finished it a few days ago. needed it for rush's tank.

i was in too much of a hurry to fire it up, but i still plan on adding a drain to make it easier to take the lid off without spilling. also might put a union sticking off the top for easier filling.

 

[hahnmeister]

Looks sweet. I like that block idea for the inlet/outlets. Did you end up threading them, or what? I wanted to do similar on a skimmer body... rather than use uni-seals.

 

[manderx]

i thought about it (i have the taps) but decided i wanted the unions directly on the body and to keep it as compact as possible. so instead i used the router to cut holes all the way through for 3/4" pvc to be snug, then another larger hole ~2/3 of the way though for the outside of the union fitting to be snug. glued it with #40.

next time i might put the unions closer to the pump and thread the blocks. i have some 1.5" clear that would make some boss threaded blocks (if you lube the tap with novus it sparkles like a cut diamond). i almost used the clear on this one (since everything else was clear) but it was my first time using #40 and was afraid of bubbles or something that would ruin the look but i'm not worried for next time. i'll let whoever i'm making it for decide.