[chrises08]

Any update to how the reactor is running/issues with it?

i am looking at getting an CR1 of the pacsun reactor for my 215 gallon tank.

Thanks,

Chris

Originally Posted by Johnseye

Some helpful information for anyone with an AC2, although this could apply to the other models as well. I have been in communication with PacSun and provided a video of what I was experiencing. Even after removing more than 50% of my media flow still appeared low. After viewing my video Prezmek pointed out a few things.

First, my diffusion plate (that's what I'm calling it for lack of a better term) wasn't below the water output or reflow tube. The reason is that there is nothing to keep it in place and the bio balls which tend to float, would push it up. My solution was to use a zip tie to keep it in place. So far it's holding.

Second, because the diffusion plate was above the output tube, some pieces of media had fallen into the co2 chamber. One of those pieces made its way to the opening of the Aquabee pump and this significantly reduced the flow. I thought the flow was low and so removed over 50% of my media to see if it increased. When it didn't I knew something was wrong. The pump also started making a clicking noise for a couple hours which was in my video. With Prezmek's advice I had to empty the chambers of water and disconnect the Aquabee pump. There's no easy way to do this. Worth noting, when you are removing the Aquabee from the base you will need to unscrew the union connector from the pump itself, not just unscrew the union. The reason for this is that the side mounting of the pump onto the mount will catch at the pump's cover. There are no instructions on how to do this, so once they are made this would be helpful to include. When I opened the pump I found that one piece of media stuck in the inlet to the pump.

After removing that media, and the other piece from the gas chamber, and removing 5 bio balls so I could zip tie the diffusion plate to the center tube inside the gas chamber, and adding back the ARM media I removed a couple days ago, I was back in business. The flow is much, much faster and is hitting the diffusion plate creating a good amount of bubbles. Now I wonder whether the Reborn media will actually be ok, and it was just the other issues raising the PH.

There is only one diffusion plate in the AC2 and that's used at the top. If that plate is moved and allows media into the gas chamber and down to the pump you could experience the trouble I had. Clear instructions need to be made for this line of reactors as well as something provided to hold the diffusion plate in place. I'll now find out how much of an impact this has had on the element output of my reactor. I've been battling a slow PH increase combined with Alk decrease for months. With this issue out of the way I can now better determine if there is an air leak, which is the line of troubleshooting I had been following with the controller tube issue.

At this point I think the controller pump tubing is the wrong size or there's an issue with the rollers. What looks to be happening is the rollers are wearing away at the tubing. The new tubing I recently swapped out showed signs of wearing away in the same place within about a week. It doesn't appear to be worn all the way through to allow air to enter, but it's hard to tell and it's close. No water had leaked out so that tells me it probably didn't wear all the way through yet.

I greased up the second newly provided tube and put that in line. I don't know if the grease has any impact, perhaps causing the tube to slide around on the rollers and rub the wrong way. My controller is also sitting on its back as opposed to being attached to a backboard. This could cause the tube to slide toward one side if it's not properly sized. If in fact this controller must be mounted to a wall in order to avoid this issue, it's something that needs to be communicated. I'm not sure if the others experiencing this issue have their controller mounted or sitting on its back but would appreciate the feedback.