Official: Masterflex Calcium Reactor Setup Thread

[tkeracer619]

Originally Posted by hkgar

Does this mean that as tank demand increase you increase flow or increase gas? Tuning the regulator and not the probe sounds like you would increase the gas to get a higher exiting effluent ALK?

Sorry to belabor this, but just trying to understand.

You would increase gas as demand increases. I usually don't mess with effuent rate unless reactor ph gets too low. I like to operate within a reasonable ph so once it gets down to 6.35 under normal operation i bump the effluent rate to get back to 6.5ish.

[gdemos]

massive kudos to Cole Parmer's customer service... a nice phone call and some LS18 'sample' tubing coming my way, probably enough to last me a couple years.

FWIW the US Plastics stuff is 'likely' equivalent although MasterFlex tubing has a "proprietary" OD that is 'something less than 1/2" i'd say thats the same as 7/16" but so be it. I like Cole Parmer.

I also noted that CP was recently acquired by GTCR a private equity group. lets home their customer service stays primo.

[tkeracer619]

Originally Posted by gdemos

thanks Mark. checked ebay and asked seller to clarify what he had listed...
US Plastics carries PHarMed BPT Tubing in smaller (more practical) quantity of 5' minimum
any difference between LS18 and this PharMed BPT which is made by Tygon?

USP carries a 5/16" ID (7.9375 mm ID) x 7/16"OD x 1/16" Wall, takes a 5/16" Barb.

CP carries LS18 which is ID 7.9 mm ID (.31"), and takes a 3/8" Barb

my concern is the 7550-90 which is 1-60 RPM needs the big tubing to get me up to 228 mL/Min which is conceivable I may need the capacity for. I've got enough LS16 tubing to wallpaper my house, but need LS18 or equivalent...

Ls is a series, 16 is the size' bpt is the material. The pharmed tygon tube is as good as it gets until you get into the coleparmer platinum stuff.

precision series tube is way easier to get generic tubing for because it has a wall thickness of 1/16th. Performance series tube is proprietary afaik but iirc it is 3/32 wall thickness. With the easyload style heads it is all about wall thicknes.

[tkeracer619]

I just realized you were asking about precision tubing. You can use any of the pharmed tygon from usplastics that has a 1/16" wall thickness.

what is the part number on the pump head again... believe it or not it is somewhat hard to keep you guys and your part numbers organized...

[gdemos]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

I just realized you were asking about precision tubing. You can use any of the pharmed tygon from usplastics that has a 1/16" wall thickness.

what is the part number on the pump head again... believe it or not it is somewhat hard to keep you guys and your part numbers organized...

Mark, I assure you that you are likely far less confused than I am in general...but I digress.

So this new (well circa 1980 something) is a 7550-90 with a 7021-24 Head will be for my Display Tank.
Thankfully CP is getting me some LS18 for this unit. I kind of jumped the gun on my ebay bid with this 7550-90 and failed to realize it operates 1-60 RPM...so great for low dose, not so much on the high end. The flowrate on this unit equipped with LS18 will give me 3.8 to 228 mL/minute so I should be good but conceivably she'll be cranking along with my system demands could be at that upper limit.

My other unit (currently running on frag tank) is a 7550-60 which rolls 10-600 RPM and with LS16 tubing on her i'm dosing 115mL / minute to stay in the 9-10 dKh range

[zachts]

Originally Posted by gdemos

Anyone have extra LS 18 tubing? Getting a 7550-90 and the 16 tubing I have won't get the flow rate max I will need. Sorry to ask on this forum if not appropriate. Feel free to PM. thanks, -Greg

PM me I have a surplus of the LS 16 masterflex noroprene tubing. happy to share.

[hkgar]

gdemos
Are you sure about 228ml/minute? That would be over a liter every five minutes. I think that works out to over 86 gallons per day.

Have you checked the ALK of the effluent? I have a hunch it might be quite low.

[sean2sean]

"on her i'm dosing 115mL / minute to stay in the 9-10 dKh range*"

I think he is doing 115ml a min. Not 228.

[gregr]

That's still a crazy number- 165 liters a day? 43.75 gallons.

[gdemos]

Originally Posted by gregr

That's still a crazy number- 165 liters a day? 43.75 gallons.

Yes, so the 1000 Reactor is delivering 115 mL per minute by way of my Masterflex 7550-60 with LS16 tubing with a power range of 6-600 RPM. I have had the effluent as low as 50 mL/minute on this system when i started with the mflex but it was not supporting my parameters. with this flow rate of 115 mL/min my effluent is 19.8 dKh and keeps my system at 9-10 dKh and 430ppm Calcium.. parameters I am comfortable with.

If i noticed anything approaching 12 dKh in the system i'd dial back the flow rate but that has not been the case. So i keep it up there

I have been rethinking the approach of high gas/high effluent rate as it does produce an excess of gas trap in the reactor... either that or as noted earlier my long run from CO2 tank to reactor causes a pressure build up that 'blasts' gas as opposed to a metered delivery. not sure to be honest.

Seeing as it the 115 mL/min is keeping my parameters stable and satisfactory i'm good with it. I had been as high as 135 mL when i had more frags in the tank. Currently 60+ all SPS frags.

the 228mL/minute referenced is for my second larger reactor driven by a 7550-90 masterflex... which using LS18 tubing has a max of 228mL/minute effluent at full power of 60 RPM.

[gdemos]

Just sent this off to CoralVue, will be interesting to see what Jeremy suggests:

Hoping you can help me eliminate excess air and inconsistent effluent on my two reactors.
First I'll describe my setups:

1. SRO 1000: This setup is for my 75gal. frag tank.
The reactor sits on the same level as the tank, and the sump is below.
The intake is currently located in the tank itself, just below the overflow teeth. I have previously located the intake in the sump, but found that it only led to more air being trapped in the reactor.

The effluent drips to a high-flow area of the sump, the sump is directly below the tank.
To keep the effluent as consistent as possible, I have put a Cole Parmer Masterflex peristaltic pump in line with this setup.
The Masterflex is set to 115 mL/minute and is keeping parameters stable at 9-10 dKh and 430ppm Calcium.
However, I am still getting gas trapped in the reactor. The masterflex has the capacity to feed the air through the effluent line, otherwise I would lose effluent flow entirely. Prior to enlisting the Masterflex, this was the case, the effluent would cease.

The gas is mostly trapped beneath the sponge on the top of the reactor.
I have the 'gas recirc' line shut off, as I find that this only further pulverizes the gas and keeps recirculating air causing the waterblaster 1000 to become inefficient.

My CO2 tank is a considerable distance from the reactor, approx. 15' run length with airline silicon tubing.
my bubble count is very high, the bubble counter at the solenoid is too fast to count.
the bubble count on the reactor is erratic.
The tank is controlled with a solenoid and apex keeping reactor pH at 6.4-6.5
I am using brightwells CoraLazarous and NewMag for media.
I have found that within 30 days of running, the impeller body of the water blaster will collect media paste which might suggest that my pH is too low, but I am confident that 6.4-6.6 is fine for the media, and my effluent tests at 19 dKh so I know I am not over doing it with low pH.

I have it plumbed such that the masterflex is pulling effluent out of the lid - with the fitting flush to the lid, and depositing effluent to the sump.
The other lid fitting with the recessed intake is connected to the gas recirc line (which again is shut off).
I have plumbed this in both configurations (effluent from flush fitting, effluent from recessed fitting, etc) and found no real change.

So two concerns on this setup is the paste building up in the pump chamber and the air being trapped.
Otherwise, the system keeps parameters stable.
I am ultra confident that the masterflex is the saving grace.
Would a different sponge help - one that allowed the gas to escape?
What would solve the paste build up in the pump chamber?

Here's a couple pics:




2. 5000D Reactor.
This is on my display. The effluent here I keep much lower, say 20mL per minute currently, since the display has no coral currently. Yet the effluent rate remains very erratic. I have not yet plumbed a masterflex to this unit but I will be doing so soon. This is a shorter run from reactor to CO2 tank, approx. 8'. There is little to no consistency in effluent.

The reactor sits on a shelf just above the sump. Intake is from the sump with 3/8" line
The gas recirc line is also shut off here, same problem as above, I find that opening the gas recirc only exacerbates the gas problem as described above.
I upgraded from 1/4" to 3/8" line to help relieve some problems. 1/4" silicon line is still used for gas supply to reactor and for the gas recirc (again this is shut off). Intake, Effluent and Chamber 1 to Chamber 2 lines are 3/8"

As you can see in the pic below the effluent on left is the flush john guest lid fitting, the chamber 1 to chamber 2 line is the recessed john guest fitting.

I have tried multiple configurations, swapping lids, fittings, etc. and remains problematic.



Suggestions?
Thanks,
-Greg

[gdemos]

CV's response can be summarized to say the CO2 run length may be an issue, but more so states that reactor pH should be 6.6-6.7 to react media and that my current 6.4-6.5 is too low; so my gas and effluent rate are too high.

I will experiment with the larger reactor to see how the higher pH produces dKh. I think CV's statement is true in theory but is a generalization not an absolute.

[hkgar]

I don't know much but I have a hunch, call it a WAG.
Your flow rate is so high that it is causing a high turnover rate of water within the reactor. I would check the effuent ALK and if it is under 25 dKh lower your flow rate to get it up to about 35 dKh. As the effluent dKh increases because it is picking up more by being in the reactor longer your tank dKh shouldn't change much. I think reducing the flow will allow the reactor water to absorb more of the co2, This lowers the reactor ph and increase the effluent dKh.

[gdemos]

Here's more from CV:
SRO 1000 and SRO 5000D Calcium Rx Issues http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2439382

[vietnam]

Got my system up and finally stable. 20ml per minute, Carbondoser regulator at 1 bubble per 5 seconds (reg. gauge at 5psi), masterflex pulling while I have a feed coming from my return. pH in the reactor at 6.5 rock solid.

Alkalinity 8.9dKH
Calcium 450
Magnesium 1410

[sean2sean]

Originally Posted by vietnam

Got my system up and finally stable. 20ml per minute, Carbondoser regulator at 1 bubble per 5 seconds (reg. gauge at 5psi), masterflex pulling while I have a feed coming from my return. pH in the reactor at 6.5 rock solid.

Alkalinity 8.9dKH
Calcium 450
Magnesium 1410

how big is your tank?

[gdemos]

Originally Posted by vietnam

Got my system up and finally stable. 20ml per minute, Carbondoser regulator at 1 bubble per 5 seconds (reg. gauge at 5psi), masterflex pulling while I have a feed coming from my return. pH in the reactor at 6.5 rock solid.

Alkalinity 8.9dKH
Calcium 450
Magnesium 1410

Masterflex pulling + return pump feeding? Not saying that's wrong or bad just didn't think it would be necessary to have a push and a pull

[vietnam]

Originally Posted by sean2sean

how big is your tank?

Total water volume is 105 gallons.

Originally Posted by gdemos

Masterflex pulling + return pump feeding? Not saying that's wrong or bad just didn't think it would be necessary to have a push and a pull

I tried to set it up with just pulling but didn't work for my set up. I've got a manifold on my return system and an inline ball valve to make sure it's not adding more pressure then needed. The ball valve was adjusted to basically a slow stream to help push water in, the masterflex pump still has 100% control. Like I said, I've got a good and solid rate at 20ml coming out per second. No issues.

[gdemos]

Nice work

[sean2sean]

20ml per sec or per min?

[hkgar]

20 per second would be 1200 per minute. Seriously?

[vietnam]

Originally Posted by sean2sean

20ml per sec or per min?

That's 20ml per minutes.

[gdemos]

Got this up and running. My lower rpm twin. 7550-60 and 7550-90

[zachts]

Originally Posted by gdemos

Got this up and running. My lower rpm twin. 7550-60 and 7550-90

[Laser Lammons]

TKERacer,,
Thank you so much for the time you put into this for all of us!
After reading this post I pulled out my Cole Parmer that I had in reserve and put it to use on the calcium reactor. I am running a 1000 gallon tank,1300 total volume with a Deltec PF 1001 calcium reactor. I just set up the reactor as the tank is now 4 months old and SPS growing like algae. What would be a good recommended effluent rate and starting bubble count to maintain effluent somewhere in the range of 35... All help surely apprecitated.
By the way is your screen name associated with any type of fraternity?
Sorry for my pitiful picture skills