Review: Reef Octopus Hang On BP Reactor OCT-BRH90

[BigKahuna]

I know there is much debate about cone vs. cylinder in the skimmer world so when the Reef Octopus BP reactors came out last year I was curious if they actually made much difference. A reactor is just a reactor right? I've had good success with my TLF 150 reactor converted to BP duty with the sponges replaced by the recommended screens. The problem I've always had with the reactor is it needs to run to the point of chaos to keep the BP's from clumping and channeling due to very uneven flow. Enter the "cone" bottomed BP reactors. I put "cone" in quotes because they are really hemispherical not cone shaped in my opinion, so probably just a marketing thing to tie them into the cone skimmer popularity. I decided I wanted to return my TLF reactor to its original intend purpose to start running GFO again to get my PO4 levels where I wanted, my nitrates are undetectable but the PO4 seems to want to stay a little higher than I'd like. Space is a little tight under my stand so I bought a Reef Octopus Hang On Bio Pellet Reactor model # OCT-BRH90. It's very well built and looks nice while not taking up much space.

http://homepage.mac.com/jerrycube/jerrycubepix/IMG_2589.jpg

The "cone" bottom submitted for your approval:

http://homepage.mac.com/jerrycube/jerrycubepix/IMG_2602.jpg

The bottom cone looks to be CNC'd out of a solid very thick piece of acrylic. Kudos to CoralVue for not cutting corners here.

Other niceties of the reactor include what appears to be a check valve to prevent back flow of pellets in the down tube:

http://homepage.mac.com/jerrycube/jerrycubepix/IMG_2594.jpg

The pellets are kept in the reactor with a floating cup in the neck that has mesh on the bottom but is free to float upward if clogged to prevent the reactor from shutting down flow entirely which is probably a good compromise between pellet retention and clogging:

http://homepage.mac.com/jerrycube/jerrycubepix/IMG_2593.jpg

Relative movement of the cup:

http://homepage.mac.com/jerrycube/jerrycubepix/Slider.jpg

Here is a comparison to a TLF 150 side by side:

http://homepage.mac.com/jerrycube/jerrycubepix/IMG_2653.jpg

How do I like it? Very much so to be honest. The flow is much more complete and orderly not to mention it's effective BP capacity is significantly higher not only because it is a wider cylinder but also because the orderly flow means you don't have to blast the pellets and expand them into to column in the process. I made a video showing the difference. The pellets in the Octo are the same ones transferred from the TLF150 along with some fresh additions of around 150ml (TLF NPX BP's):


http://youtu.be/tCJCLqYC-mE
<iframe width="960" height="750" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tCJCLqYC-mE?hd=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Overall I am very pleased with the reactor but there are few minor quibbles. One would be the floating cup doesn't have much screen area so not many pellets would be required to clog it but the weight of the cup does a good job holding it down somewhat if there're a fair amount of them floating against it. Also I would prefer that every time I opened the lid the down pipe wouldn't also come out with it essentially necessitating jamming the pipe down through the BP mass until it seats into its triangular holder on the bottom. The price is even more reasonable than the standup Super Reef models and it doesn't look like it is cheaply made at all. Overall I'd recommend one, or at least look into a "cone" bottomed BP reactor if BP's are going to be used. If anyone sees anything wrong feel free to correct me and any questions are welcomed.

[j tavares]

where to buy one thanks

[BigKahuna]

I got mine from the Premium Aquatics, they are a Sponsor here too btw.

[j tavares]

thanks

[BigKahuna]

thanks

No problem, I should have mentioned this model has a 1200ml volume, a 700ml BP capacity, and runs around $125.

[Sterling07]

Great review!! I was looking into buying this today, but was not completely sold until I read this. Thanks and great job!

[BigKahuna]

Glad you found the post helpful.

One trick I discovered to clear the mesh if you get some floaters stuck to it is to turn off or lower the flow into the reactor and unscrew the cap a little. It breaks the seal and the water level drops in the reactor and the intake gets loose enough you can jiggle the down pipe which in turn can knock the floating mesh-bottomed cup around a bit which seems to work better than just slapping the sides of the reactor to knock them loose. Floaters aren't really a big problem with this reactor though, maybe just the first few days you add some pellets unlike the TLF which seemed to be unhappy for a week or two when adding more.

One review update:

After running this thing for about two weeks now I don't see any clumps at all, not even two pellets sticking together. I mentioned in the first post that I bought this reactor and intended to return my TLF150 back to GFO duty after getting this BP-specific reactor but I'm not for sure I will. For some reason my PO4 levels have been in a slow but steady decline since putting the BRH90 to work. Using the TLF 150 as a BP reactor got my nitrates to unreadable but PO4 always seemed to be inching up. Maybe this reactor is so much better at running the Bio Pellets or maybe because I added more of them I don't know? I any event I'm very happy to see this happen and one less reactor to worry about is a plus in my book.

[TommyA]

Thnks pics dude.Which pump or you useing on that bad boy???TIA

[MentalNote]

Great review.

I too am wondering what pump you are using. I have been using a modified Next Reef MR1 reactor with pellets and experience clumping - obviously you don't have that issue. I have been using a MJ 1200 pump. I am wondering if it is the pump or reactor I have to change out.

[coralreefnc]

nice review . The Octo does flow more evenly than others I have seen .

[BigKahuna]

nice review . The Octo does flow more evenly than others I have seen .
Yeah it has an almost perfectly uniform for the entire circumference around the reactor which makes it actually use less flow than the TLF IMHO. It's still going strong w/o a single clumped pellet and about the only maintenance I've done in the past few weeks is to tap it to release some bubbles that build up near the mesh cup. When I was using the TLF reactor I had to shake it up every few days and eventually open it up every other week to break up one or two walnut sized clumps that would not go away. This wasn't so bad but breaking up the clumps by popping open the reactor always seemed to disturb the bacterial slime on the pellets and basically would make my skimmer overflow the moment I put the TLF reactor back in service. The BRH90 is pretty low drama and low maintenance which I really like.

Great review.

I too am wondering what pump you are using. I have been using a modified Next Reef MR1 reactor with pellets and experience clumping - obviously you don't have that issue. I have been using a MJ 1200 pump. I am wondering if it is the pump or reactor I have to change out.

I use my main return pump on a manifold, Laguna Max-flo 1500, so I have plenty of flow to play with but I have the valve to the Octo reactor set pretty far back. It is hard to gauge but by the flow coming out of the exit tube, which I have in front of my skimmer, looks like I use less flow with the Octo reactor than I was using with the TLF. The one thing I would say about any reactor using BP's is that uniformity out the bottom is key. Some reactors and media like a chaotic flow pattern to really mix it up. To use a chaotic flow to keep BP's from clumping will probably work but you have to really blast them. A hemispherical bottom on a BP-specific reactor keeps the bottom of the reactor fluidized completely which is critical to prevent clumping. One iota of a dead spot in your reactor bottom is going to afford the pellets a little linger time and a lingering BP is gonna stick eventually to another and once that happens you will get a chain reaction.

[BigKahuna]

I just wanted to correct something about my pump. The pix and videos all show the reactor running off a manifold driven by my old Mag 9.5. I've since upgraded to the Max-Flo 1500. The Mag 9.5 was doing fine with a chiller, BP reactor and feeding my separate refuge all while returning the water to the tank but I wanted a little more flow through the refuge and a little more return back up to the tank. When I was running the TLF reactor the flow into the tank was slightly less than with the Octo. With the Max-Flo I have ample flow to add back the TLF as a GFO reactor again if I want and probably will.

[DrHarryLopez]

very good review!

[Sterling07]

Quick Update.....

I decided to go with the BR-110 Super Reef Octopus Biopellet Reactor for my 120 reef and Set it up 2 weeks ago and have it running with a MAG3 pump and it works perfect!!

I do suggest that you use the foam pre-filter....Didnt at first and noticed that i did get some buildup on the screen but after I install the pre-filter I do not have that issue anymore.

Used the BRS pellets so after it cycles through the tank for another 6 weeks or so I will report back on the phosphate/nitrate levels.

Thanks again for the review and so far I am extremely happy with the quality of the product!

[BigKahuna]

Thanks again for the review and so far I am extremely happy with the quality of the product!


Glad to help. I've been a member here for a long time but only lightly posted while receiving tons of advice and info that would have been otherwise impossible to obtain. I'm not sure I'd be able to do many of the things as well as I do w/o this place and the people who post here. I figured I would try to give back a little of my time with some info on a product that was new and not in many people's hands.

ETA: Maybe we should make a thread, or add on to this one, for people to compare reactors and how they should work and how different reactor types deal with different media. It seems to be a common issue just knowing how to properly tumbale media etc.

[aleonn]

I just wanted to thank you for the review. I was wondering why BP's in my TLF 550 reactor were clogging, even though I plumbed the return pump to the reactor (it's an upgrade over the MJ-1200, but the tumble is visibly slowing down by the week). This answers a lot of questions, and I intend to get the Reef Octopus hang-on reactor whenever the next sale is :).

[BigKahuna]

I think most, not all, problems people have with BP's are the result of bad or improper flow. If you start off with a reactor better suited to them you probably have half the battle won. The whole idea of having BP's is to have carbon dosing that is lower maintenance w/o worrying about dosing daily. If you have a reactor that isn't cutting it for BP's that you have to keep after to prevent channeling and clumps I don't see the point, not to mention the issues you are probably going to have by having parts of the reactor getting no flow. I haven't really touched my reactor since before I started this thread and it is still going strong w/o a single issue or clumped pellet.

[aleonn]

I was wondering, would your reactor (OCT-BRH90) fit on a sump that has 2.5" of Eurobracing?

[BigKahuna]

I was wondering, would your reactor (OCT-BRH90) fit on a sump that has 2.5" of Eurobracing?

Just looking at it right now it looks like it could span an inch or so but 2.5" looks to be too far. You might want to ask over in the coralvue sponsor forum how much it can span for an exact figure. The reactors bottom is pretty broad so it looks like it could stand on it's own fairly well to be honest, plus once it's plumbed up it would be pretty stable IMHO.

[aleonn]

Looks like I will look into a DIY mini-project :). Thank you for all your help, I have a feeling I'll love this reactor :)

[tynman]

I just got my hang on the sump 90 today and put it in. I was using the tlf also and I would get clumps every few days.
So my question to u and anyone else is I use a pump that ran the tlf and the pellets and it also fed my chiller. I don't remember the size but it worked. But now with the new reactor all the pellets are sitting on the bottom not tumbling why? I also could Change the pump to a mag 9.5 that I have but I don't k own if that will fix the problem. I have even turned the valve off to the chiller. To get the full power of the pump but they still wont tumble. I did just take them out of the tlf reactor and put them in the new one and put clean saltwater in there.
So if anyone can help I'll be glad to listen.
Thanks

[BigKahuna]

I originally was running a Mag 9.5 with the BRH90 off a manifold with a chiller and another feed for my separate refuge and it did fine. I upgraded to the Max Flo 1500 when I decided I also wanted to put the TLF back into use for GFO and figured it was one valve-off too much for the 9.5 to get adequate return back to the tank. The one thing I noticed with the Octo reactor that might be at play here is it has what appears to be a check-valve in the down pipe assembly to prevent back-flow of the BP's when the pump is turned off which must take a little bit force to open. If your pump is marginal or has too much head the flow is pretty anemic. Once it gets enough flow you can turn it back down again but it seems you need a certain amount at first to get a good tumble going then you can fine tune it. As with any BP reactor you really need a little spare pump capacity so you can tune it downwards, you can't really make a weak pump stronger unfortunately.

[tynman]

So I pulled the pump out it was a Rio 1400 and it worked fine with the tlf reactor and the chiller except for the clumping after a few days. Now with the mag 9.5 I have very little movement of the pellets and I closed the valve off to the chiller.
So what your saying is the pumps are not stronge enough to do both?
What pumps do you think would do the both of them? If thats the problem.


I originally was running a Mag 9.5 with the BRH90 off a manifold with a chiller and another feed for my separate refuge and it did fine. I upgraded to the Max Flo 1500 when I decided I also wanted to put the TLF back into use for GFO and figured it was one valve-off too much for the 9.5 to get adequate return back to the tank. The one thing I noticed with the Octo reactor that might be at play here is it has what appears to be a check-valve in the down pipe assembly to prevent back-flow of the BP's when the pump is turned off which must take a little bit force to open. If your pump is marginal or has too much head the flow is pretty anemic. Once it gets enough flow you can turn it back down again but it seems you need a certain amount at first to get a good tumble going then you can fine tune it. As with any BP reactor you really need a little spare pump capacity so you can tune it downwards, you can't really make a weak pump stronger unfortunately.

[BigKahuna]

The 9.5 should be fine though. Like I mentioned above I had a 9.5 running the Octo, a chiller, a line to my refuge and the return back to the tank and only the return wasn't valved back. My manifold was all 1" off the pump and then some 3/4 and 1/2 valves. What is your plumbing setup? Something is wrong if you can't get the BP's to tumble. The 9.5 is a fairly strong pump and pretty decent with some head on it. Can you post any photos of the set-up? Maybe temporarily try the rio running just the BP reactor and the 9.5 running the chiller or vice versa just to see if you can get the BP tumbling by itself. Also make sure when you put the BP's into the reactor that the down pipe doesn't get a wad of BP's stuck into the outlet or it would essentially act as a stopper. Basically unless your chiller is adding a crushing amount of head loss the 9.5 shouldn't have too much trouble, from what you say my 9.5 ran with more stuff and I had the Octo reactor valved back to boot.

ETA - BTW what sized tank and how much BP's are you running?

[tynman]

I have a 76 gal half circle with I think a 20 gal sump.
My set up is a mag 9.5 3/4 tub coming out of it goes to 3/4 to 1/2 to 3/4 t.The 3/4 #1 is coming out of the pump. The 1/2 of that t goes right to the bio pellet reactor with a tlf valve before the reactor. The other 3/4 goes to a 1/2 barb tub that goes to the chiller. On the end of the chiller return I have a valve. Ill try to post pictures.

As you can see I dont have to much room in my sump to do much more with pumps.


The 9.5 should be fine though. Like I mentioned above I had a 9.5 running the Octo, a chiller, a line to my refuge and the return back to the tank and only the return wasn't valved back. My manifold was all 1" off the pump and then some 3/4 and 1/2 valves. What is your plumbing setup? Something is wrong if you can't get the BP's to tumble. The 9.5 is a fairly strong pump and pretty decent with some head on it. Can you post any photos of the set-up? Maybe temporarily try the rio running just the BP reactor and the 9.5 running the chiller or vice versa just to see if you can get the BP tumbling by itself. Also make sure when you put the BP's into the reactor that the down pipe doesn't get a wad of BP's stuck into the outlet or it would essentially act as a stopper. Basically unless your chiller is adding a crushing amount of head loss the 9.5 shouldn't have too much trouble, from what you say my 9.5 ran with more stuff and I had the Octo reactor valved back to boot.

ETA - BTW what sized tank and how much BP's are you running?

[tynman]

I think I might have it. The inlet pipe in the reactor might have had some pellets in it cause now I have it flowing but one side isnt flowing.

[BigKahuna]

Yeah it looks pretty tight in there. Is your Mag sucking in air and cavitating? In the last photo I can see your 9.5's top out of the water. From my experience they will start sucking in air from the surface in a vortex and kill the efficiency of the pump if the water level is too low. Maybe try putting some more water in the sump?

[BigKahuna]

I think I might have it. The inlet pipe in the reactor might have had some pellets in it cause now I have it flowing but one side isnt flowing.

Cool, if the pellets have been under-tumbled they will probably stay in clumps for a while till they get broken up. Try to alternate the flow with your valve on and off to buffet them a bit then let them be a while and repeat. Once they start to tumble correctly they should be good to go.

[tynman]

Im going to say with the mag 9.5 I have to much flow but Im leaving it....LOL Also I think the reactor pipe had biopellets under it. I took the water out tilted it to the side so I could see the bottom of the reactor and then I put the pipe back in and it is working great now... Thanks for your help..

[tynman]

Thanks for all your help. The reactor is working great now.

[moonpod]

Based on your recc I went with the Reef Octopus stand up biopellet reactor. Super easy to use. Seems really well built. I like it. THANKS!