Diy calcium nano calcium reactor made from Phos reactor.

[Radar1]

yesterday I took my Phos reactor and made a little nano calcium reactor. here are some pics. I am testing it today to see how it goes.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f247/Radar2/DSC_0455.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f247/Radar2/DSC_0454.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f247/Radar2/DSC_0453.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f247/Radar2/DSC_0452.jpg

[lakee911]

Cool. :)

[cwegescheide]

Nice Job. Where is the probe holder :D

[Radar1]

I thought about that too since I have a controller but theres no dang room in that lid. : )

[cwegescheide]

You could make a probe holder and run it "inline" from the output of your reactor.

You should get a PVC "T" and cap 1 side with a plug with threads big enough to screw your threaded probe holder into. The other two sides should have plugs with pressure fittings. I thought about making one for my Precision Marine reactor that does not have probe holder.

Chris

[1628mna]

man i was thinking about that thursday, thinking if thats possible. tell us more about the reactor! are the ro/di containers cheaper than a phosban reactor or is this just something you had laying around?

[1628mna]

can you get better pictures, im just trying to figure out what goes were? also what size tank you running this on?

[Radar1]

I will get more detailed pics and descriptions after I do a little more testing. I should note that I am not great with the mechanics of a Calcium reactor and havent used them for very long, but I did have this Phos reactor just laying around which originally cost me about $30. Before I Diy this reactor I was trying out a little acro-cal ( which sucks )on my 56 gallon and this one holds more media than the acro cal. I had to buy the maxi jet since I didnt have it but the rest of the fittings, tubing, and plumbing I got from work.

I did think about doing a RO/Di reactor first but then decided to try and use something I already had.

[cwegescheide]

I would think about putting hose clamps around your bubble counter. I wouldn't trust those zip ties. Maybe wrap the hose clamps with electrical tape so they dont start rusting on you..

[Lost in Tanks]

I don't have much time for DIY anymore, so I just bought one of these...
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewItem~idProduct~VA3111.html

Works great :) and CHEAP

[Radar1]

thats what I was using before and hated it. That why I decided to DIY. That and I was a little bored.

[1628mna]

if your bored lets see some more pics. and more info before i go buy this thing from marine depot. lol lol

[Radar1]

LOL I will get some more pics and descriptions tonight.

[1628mna]

and you live in cali. this is what 3-4 more hours after the night time i have to wait,man i cant catch a break. bad enough we have about 4 in of snow on the ground and what its prob. 80 there im only jealous. lol im just joking though.

[lakee911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13762951#post13762951 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 1628mna
and you live in cali. this is what 3-4 more hours after the night time i have to wait,man i cant catch a break. bad enough we have about 4 in of snow on the ground and what its prob. 80 there im only jealous. lol im just joking though.

I want snow ... :(

[1628mna]

drive about an 1 1/2 hour north on 71 and i will gladly grant you your wish. we are in the secondary snow belt and get hit hard every year. theres something about hurricanes i just dont like or else we would have been living in florida years ago! snow bad sun good. lol

[Radar1]

I hear you on the cold. Its a fridgid 77 deg. and sunny here right now. Brrrr.

[Radar1]

a little detail on what I did. I drilled 4 holes in the lid. 1 hole for the recirc out. I wanted a larger barb fitting but wasnt really nec. with the stock phos reactor elbow that I ended up using. the other was for the effluent out. I also attached a piece of the tuning to the fitting inside the reactor so that the out line sits right above the top foam piece. I hoped that any excess Co2 would bypass the effluent out. the other 2 holes were for the vent and the excess Co2 recirc line in the lid which feeds to the pump, this line is tied in with the C02 in. the reator is fed by a aqualifter pump and recirc pump is a Maxi jet 400. the original hang on part of the phos reactor was used to mount the maxi jet bubble counter and the little black bracket that might hold a small PVC secondary chamber and or PVC T so that I can have a probe holder for my controller. I dont think I will put the probe inside the reactor though. Instead I think I will use it to cut Co2 if the PH in the main tank drops too low. I had some Co2 and water leaking problems that have been resolved and the PH is currently around 7. I'll test later to how it's doing. One thing That I like is that at the widest parts it is less than 6" by 6", even if I add a secondary chamber it should not get much bigger. the Bad thing is that changing media is going to be a pain in the a$&. anywho's I have no real experience with these things and really dont know what I am talking about so here are a few more pics. its kind of hard to take good ones in my garage but here they are anywhays.
One last thing the black fitting for the pump inlet is a prinkler PVC fitting and fit's perfectly on the maxi jet without glue.


http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f247/Radar2/DSC_0461.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f247/Radar2/DSC_0460.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f247/Radar2/DSC_0459.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f247/Radar2/DSC_0458.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f247/Radar2/DSC_0457.jpg

[Radar1]

lowered the BPM. effluent PH is at 6 and my DKH is at 32. calcium levels tested at 550ppm for the effluent. I'm not sure what all this means but from what I've been reading I should raise my PH to around 6.5-6.9 and might want to look for DKH levels around in the low-mid 20's. someone please tell me if I'm wrong and have no idea what I'm talking about.

[1628mna]

one way to raise your ph is to kalk your tank.

[Radar1]

thats something I am going to start. I was thinking about making one of those too for my top off. this thing isnt real pretty but if it works it might be kind of cool using something that I made.

[1628mna]

great, woke up this morning to 4 more in. of snow. radar i hope that your not to cold over there, man am i jealous! there are alot of good diy kalk reactors on here. you dont need to have one you can see thru, just watch your ph and you will be alright. there is one on here that is hooked in to a ato mixing it with a maxi 400 externally or you can do like randy holmes farley does and mix it in a bin(dont really like that method). but you will be able to tell the diffrence if you start to kalk. ill try to dig up the plans for the one i have. these plans are really detailed ,the guy i think by the plans looks like an arcitect. nothing better than reading them plans or some good scamatics(spelling prob. wrong). you can put one of these together cheap in about an hour, that is if your bored. lol

[1628mna]

also you can get mrs. wages pickling lime at any grocery store for about 2.00 very cheap and works just as good as the stuff from marine depot or any fish store trying to rip you off.

[hoosierpat]

Slow down the bubble rate and you should get a higher ph. Slow down the effluent stream and you should end up with a lower dKh.

Where did you get that elbow that's attached to the maxijet with the airline nipples on it? With those fittings that you added to the top of the reactor, did you tap threads into the top or were those slip fittings that you glued in? what is your bubble counter? Is it that vertical piece of vinyl?

[Radar1]

the fitting attached to the maxi jet is a prinkler system pvc fitting. I did tap threads into the top but I did glue them as well. I decided to glue them because the lid is pretty thin so there was not much threading for the fittings .

[hoosierpat]

Where did you get the sprinkler fitting? What size tap did you use for the holes?

[Radar1]

I/2" tap I believe anf the pump fitting I got from Home depot. That was the only fitting I couldnt get from work and it cost me 59cents

[hoosierpat]

Cool, thanks.

[NanoReefWanabe]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13762951#post13762951 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 1628mna
and you live in cali. this is what 3-4 more hours after the night time i have to wait,man i cant catch a break. bad enough we have about 4 in of snow on the ground and what its prob. 80 there im only jealous. lol im just joking though.

hehe you guys make me giggle some times...woke up on sunday to 10" of the absolute heavies snow i have ever had the displeasure of shoveling...spent all day yesturday cutting down 25 huge manitoba maple trees that had decided to half-*** fall down and crack...and lucky us another 8" today...for some real fun take a drive North of the boarder ...

BTW the reactor looks great an long the lines of what i am thinking about building too...

[1628mna]

i feel your pain NanoReefWanabe . you by far get more snow than us. that is somewhere i would not live because the snow. if it makes you feel any better 2 more in. last night. the funny thing about where i live 30 miles south from downtown cleveland is that seriously one day you will have snow one day it will be 60 degrees. honestly that is how much are weather swings, dont get me wrong when it gets into winter and snows it snows but like in this month and in october i can predict the weather becuse the forecasters cant.