Looking for the best CA reactor....

[Englishmatt]

Guys,

Looking for the all round best CA reactor. I'm not cutting corners on my build and am considering a CA reactor.

What say ye?

Matt.

[sirreal63]

Best is such a subjective term and no possible way to quantify it. Most people like GEO, the acrylic work is great but the recirc pumps are wimpy which is true of most reactors, MRC, LifeReef, AquaC, Octopus, Korralin, Schuran...etc etc. Take your pic, some have better efficiency than others and prices are all over the place. The most important thing is the CO2 regulator as this makes or breaks a setup. Most of us prefer the Aquarium Plants electronic one as it is by far the most consistent and dependable. If I ever replace my MRC I will probably go with the Octopus.

[aleonn]

I got the GEO based off of reviews and recommendations on RC. It's built like a tank, doesn't leak, and has been working great for me so far, although I haven't tried any other brand. I had considered the Super Reef Octopus brand as well, which also has many positive reviews.

I agree on the Aquarium Plants electronic regulator (they call it the Carbon Doser now).

[Englishmatt]

I see a bunch of folks setting their reactor to 1 bubble per 3 seconds.

Now I 100% understand that the length of time it takes to run the C02 tank down is dependant on the bubble rate....but...how long does "YOUR" C02 tank last and what setting are you using.

I'm trying to decide if I purchase the 5lb tank or the 10lb tank?

Space isn't a concern...so what been your experiences reef oracles?

Cheers,

Matt.

[sirreal63]

This is where reactor efficiency comes into play. A poorly designed reactor will allow any gasses that are not dissolved to collect at the top and escape out with the effluent. If the effluent is the highest part of the reactor it will have this issue. It's an easy fix if you want to correct it. I get on average 14 months out of a 5# cylinder but I had to re-design the reactor to get that. Get the 10# cylinder if you have room for it.

[Englishmatt]

Cheers for the advice. I'm leaning toward the SRO CR5000 single chamber reactor. Seems to get rave reviews and it is a recirc device, so you'd think it would be efficient.

Question...how many folks are using the 8 digit LCD display option with their regulator?

"Available with optional LCD 8 digit resettable counter (has 'backup' battery, will not lose it's count)"

Is it worth the extra $60 for this option?

Thanks in advance for my newbness....

Matt.

[sirreal63]

The LCD seems silly to me but I would agree with the SRO reactor, it incorporates the right features of the more efficient reactors available.

[tkeracer619]

Next time around I will go with the LCD. Might seem silly but once you get it dialed in and know just about how much gas its going to use. That little lcd will tell you when the bottle is getting close to empty. That way you refill it before it runs out.

For the "best" setup I would feed the reactor with a continuous duty peristaltic pump. Adds a considerable cost to the overall unit but that plus the AP regulator provides you with a true set and forget system (at least as close as it can get).

[Zoonutt]

i have a geo 624 and it is terrible, it stopps dripping constantly, i just cleaned it realllygood and put new media in it, i have a maxi jet feeding itfrom a low flow area of my sump, bubble is set to 2-3 bps, drip rate is 1-2 dps.... regulator is a reef fanatic, this makes me wanna switch to dosing pumps, why wont this work? :|

[sirreal63]

Replace the effluent valve, over time they get scarred and clog quickly. Alternatively you could increase the effluent rate and raise the PH. Adding a continuous duty peristaltic pump would be the best long term solution.

[RGibson]

Best is such a subjective term and no possible way to quantify it. Most people like GEO, the acrylic work is great but the recirc pumps are wimpy which is true of most reactors, MRC, LifeReef, AquaC, Octopus, Korralin, Schuran...etc etc. Take your pic, some have better efficiency than others and prices are all over the place. The most important thing is the CO2 regulator as this makes or breaks a setup. Most of us prefer the Aquarium Plants electronic one as it is by far the most consistent and dependable. If I ever replace my MRC I will probably go with the Octopus.

What pump would used on a geo reactor 624 and the flow rate

[sirreal63]

It comes with the Pan world pump PX 30, which a solid pump but only pumps 288 gph at 30 watts. On a 6x24 body it works but a pump with more gph takes better advantage of virtual height. The PX40 puts out 480 gph for 48 watts. More virtual height for just a few more watts. My little reactor is only a 3.5x12 with the actual holding volume of 3.5x8 and I use an Eheim 1250, 317 gph on a much smaller reactor chamber. Is virtual height important? I think it is, here is a bit taken from JDieck's CaRx page that explains the benefits.

"Virtual height of the media column: What? Well let me explain. Every time the water passes trough the media it is equivalent to having a media column equal to its height. If the water re-circulates five times, it will be equivalent to have a media column five times taller in comparison to a reactor with no re-circulation pump thus achieving a virtual height of five times. A more powerful pump may re-circulate say ten times thus creating a virtual height twice as tall as the reactor with the pump re-circulating only five times.



The higher the virtual height of the media the longer the time the media will be in contact with the acidic water or in other words the longer the retention time will be and the longer the time, the more effective the dissolution and CO2 consumption will be.



Also the higher the virtual height, the higher the water velocity will be thus making it more effective to drive the calcium and carbonate ions away from the media surface resulting in an increased performance.



In summary, a larger re-circulation pump will increase the performance by increasing the virtual height of the media thus the increase in retention time and the flow velocity.



Now hold your horse! This does not mean that installing a swimming pool size pump in a reactor will make it better, of course there are practical and physical limitations to the size of the pump, limitations like wasted power consumption, propensity for cavitation at the pump, vibration, media tumbling and breaking apart, media carry over and so on."

Some people do not see the need, and some do. A smaller pump will work, no question about it, but it may not have as efficient dissolution of the gas, which then tends to collect at the highest point in the reactor instead of being completely dissolved. If the highest point in the reactor is the effluent, then any gas that would have collected there will be exhausted out the effluent, gas that escapes the reactor effluent is wasted.

[RGibson]

Thank you for the info.