smoothdog
Active member
Did you use uniseals to create the recirc plumbing? Do they leak at all? I'm running mine external so it would have to be leakproof and if the wall is too thin it will cut into the uniseal causing minor leaks over time.
What have you done with your tank lately?
- Thread starter VSpeck
- Start date
Did you use uniseals to create the recirc plumbing? Do they leak at all? I'm running mine external so it would have to be leakproof and if the wall is too thin it will cut into the uniseal causing minor leaks over time.
sweet... not only do i crash your party but i found out i can be helpful too!
I can actually get some better pics of it when I redo the sump either this week or next which will probably be way more helpful then me describing it lol
There are 2 uniseals in the clear body of the reactor, they're both for 3/4" pvc and it's plumbed into a mag 5. I staggered them... one seal at the very top, and the other seal is about 2-3" below it and offset 90 degrees. The lower seal is the outlet side of the pump, and just runs down to about 3/8" to 1/2" off the bottom of the reactor. The top seal has a pipe that barely protrudes 1/4"
I took the original disc (which already had the mesh over it for bio pellets) and threw away the top one. I took the center tube, and cut it at about 4" length, then put the elbow on, and the adapter and pushed it into one of the original outlets. It is solely there to hold the disc in place and keep pellets from escaping into the return for the circulation pump or the other original outlet. I capped that line on the outside, no water flows through it, it's only job is to hold the disc.
The other original line has the original ball valve on it and 1/2" tubing. This is how I control the effluent coming out of the reactor... if you see the black hose running across the front of the sump that's actually plumbed into the intake of one of the skimmer pumps. I can slow this down to a trickle if need be if the water gets too sterile.
The main ball valve is on the inlet side of the pump, this controls the tumbling (opening up the effluent line also increases tumbling. At the bottom of that pipe is a 3 way tee (a 90 degree tee) with 2 3/4" slip joints and 1 1/2" fpt which goes to a closed nipple, then a union, then onto the pump with another closed nipple.
There is no secondary pump required to feed this. Because of the flow and the 90 degree tee, the return water from the reactor will feed the pump before it pulls in any fresh water. If I open the effluent valve, it will draw in enough water to replace what has been pushed out. I actually closed the effluent valve and put a few pieces of pellet food in front of the intake and it wouldn't even draw them in, as soon as I opened the effluent valve in they went.
Hope this helps
I can actually get some better pics of it when I redo the sump either this week or next which will probably be way more helpful then me describing it lol
There are 2 uniseals in the clear body of the reactor, they're both for 3/4" pvc and it's plumbed into a mag 5. I staggered them... one seal at the very top, and the other seal is about 2-3" below it and offset 90 degrees. The lower seal is the outlet side of the pump, and just runs down to about 3/8" to 1/2" off the bottom of the reactor. The top seal has a pipe that barely protrudes 1/4"
I took the original disc (which already had the mesh over it for bio pellets) and threw away the top one. I took the center tube, and cut it at about 4" length, then put the elbow on, and the adapter and pushed it into one of the original outlets. It is solely there to hold the disc in place and keep pellets from escaping into the return for the circulation pump or the other original outlet. I capped that line on the outside, no water flows through it, it's only job is to hold the disc.
The other original line has the original ball valve on it and 1/2" tubing. This is how I control the effluent coming out of the reactor... if you see the black hose running across the front of the sump that's actually plumbed into the intake of one of the skimmer pumps. I can slow this down to a trickle if need be if the water gets too sterile.
The main ball valve is on the inlet side of the pump, this controls the tumbling (opening up the effluent line also increases tumbling. At the bottom of that pipe is a 3 way tee (a 90 degree tee) with 2 3/4" slip joints and 1 1/2" fpt which goes to a closed nipple, then a union, then onto the pump with another closed nipple.
There is no secondary pump required to feed this. Because of the flow and the 90 degree tee, the return water from the reactor will feed the pump before it pulls in any fresh water. If I open the effluent valve, it will draw in enough water to replace what has been pushed out. I actually closed the effluent valve and put a few pieces of pellet food in front of the intake and it wouldn't even draw them in, as soon as I opened the effluent valve in they went.
Hope this helps
At this point none of the seals are leaking, and the reactor is actually slightly pressurized. All external joints are glued
I literally just did this today, it's only been running for like 3-4 hours now so no clue if I'm going to get a change of skimmate or not. I was previously running a very very low dose of bio pellets in a brs reactor, and could never keep them fluidized, would clump within a day or two and get very little flow. This water was just dumping NEAR the skimmer.
Now I've went ahead and just put all 500ml of pellets in there since I can control the effluent for nutrient control... I'm running full bore at the moment though because my nitrates were like 16ppm last time i tested
For an external setup, You would nix the 3 way tee at the bottom of my return pipe and just put a 90 there, seal it up completely. Then you'd have to feed the reactor off your manifold but you could feed it through the 1/2" nipple which I capped off. As long as water is flowing into it pellets should not be able to escape. I didn't use that as my effluent outlet because the finer mesh circle has a hole in the center of it to slip over the pipe, so pellets could have went right through it
I finally added some fish to the tank. 9 to be exact. 3 ORA Neon Gobies (Elacatinus oceanops), 3 ORA Yellow Line Gobies (E. figaro), and 3 ORA Sharknose Gobies (E. evelynae)
Here's a pic of two of the Sharknose and one Neon hanging out together.
Here's a pic of two of the Sharknose and one Neon hanging out together.
Ocean View
Premium Member
Very cool fish, nice coral and great picture.
I don't mine saying I'm envious.
I don't mine saying I'm envious.
Mr D smack
Active member
So what's going on with everybody's tanks?
I'm cleaning a 120
I'm cleaning a 120
Tradewinds
Well-known member
So what's going on with everybody's tanks?
I'm cleaning a 120
The tank looks prefect there. :thumbsup:
VSpeck
Slash Smack Talker
I don't understand the question?
Last edited:
HouseDJSTL
Premium Member
I found 3 little aptasias. Used a hammer and chisel to remove the section of rock they were attached to.
VSpeck
Slash Smack Talker
I kept trying the box of water thing but the cardboard never holds long. I dont know how you guys get trough a cycle without the box giving out.
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