New reactor design. big pics.....

[DJ88]

Ok.. I have decided to redo how my reactor works. well the plumbing that is. After having fittings start leaking on the top I am going to make a reactor with no fittings on the top of the chamber. Nothing to disconnect when media needs replacing. nothing. I have two designs I have made. one without and one with fittings on top.. any thoughts???????

http://members.shaw.ca/montipora/pictures/reactor2.jpg

http://members.shaw.ca/montipora/pictures/reactor1.jpg

[Shadetree]

Darren,

My only thought is how efficient is the CO2 enetering the top of the chamber like that? Does it accumulate at all? My reactor (the Canreef) is similar to the second one, sort of.

Scott

[DJ88]

The DIY reactor I have now has the CO2 coming in the same way.. Works just fine and dandy IMO. The downdraft of the water pushes it into the media pretty quickly..

[DJ88]

This is looking at the side with the pump on it. Not shown tho. just to give an idea of how the pvc runs inside the chamber.

http://members.shaw.ca/montipora/pictures/reactor3.jpg

[ 10 January 2002: Message edited by: DJ88 ]

[pocilipora]

Put your CO2 where your effluent is and your effluent where your CO2 is. This way you wont get a big pocket of CO2 traped at the top. Other than that looks good!

[ldzielak]

My question is the 180 to direct the flow down required? Flow would be re directed down anyways, probably more evenly too. Just wondering how easy this would get hit when re-filling the reactor. I would have unions on your inlet and outlet tubing so you can easyly dissasemble things. Looks great images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[DJ88]

Thanks Guys.

I put the 180 mainly so taht when I am refilling I don't get media down the tube. But I guess just cover it at that time and things work fine..

Thanks.. Once I get the new stand finished I guess this is my next little project.. images/smiles/icon_wink.gif And then we are making a new neilsen reactor.. images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[DJ88]

Lee,

There will be unions everywhere. they make life soooo easy.. images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Aquattro]

Patrick, if the valve is going to break off and cause the tank to fly around the room, it wouldn't matter where the reactor came from(store bought or DIY). As for safety, I think it's more dangerous to have an unprotected circuit....if a heater breaks and you put your arm in the tank, it could be you flying around the room images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif A well maitained reactor is as safe as anything else around the house. If you have a fire extiguisher at home and the valve breaks, same thing...flying around the room time.

[ldzielak]

Darren,

Unions are my fav too, they cost, more but make it fun to work on things. Next question, is this a 6" or 4" and I assume it has a round main chamber and a square base. What no top view??? images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

[DJ88]

Its Six inches. And I am working on the top view. images/smiles/icon_smile.gif So far as well only one person has noticed my mistake in my drawings.

Any takers???? Other than Jamie. images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif
I am also doing the drawings for a new kalk stirrer at the same time. so you can also expect that soon.

[Gordoe]

take this with a grain of salt because I haven't built mine yet... but I would reverse the flow of your mag 3.. suction from the top and feed into the bottom. That way the CO2 doesn't get trapped at the top and undisolved.. I would switch the CO2 and the RO in around..

Can any of the Chemists out there tell me if CO2 would disolve better in RO or salt water?


Nice pics Darren..


Gordoe

[StirCrazy]

anything will desolve better in RO. pure water is the ultimat natural solvent and RO is almost as pure as you get

Steve

[Aquattro]

Sorry Steve, gotta disagree. While H2O is a solvent, there are many other natural solvents. Hexanes and ethanes come to mind. Again, the solute will determine how well the solvent will work. As to CO2 in RO vs. Sea water, I'm sure there is way too much math involved to answer that with a simple yes or no. Temp, pressure, O2 levels will all play a role.
Darren, do you have a reason to feed RO instead of sump water? Some cool link we can read about chemistry? images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

[canadawest]

Hey Mr. inventor (Darren) what happened to the plans for a DIY wave maker?

I've got 5 powerheads, all on bulky home depot timers, not to mention the addition of two more timers when I get my MH lighting installed next week.

I NEED a wave maker to replace all these timers, so get back to that project man! images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

[StirCrazy]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by StirCrazy:
anything will desolve better in RO. pure water is the ultimat natural solvent and RO is almost as pure as you get

Steve<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

sorry I ment to say water is the universal solvant but the words eluded me at the time of typing

Steve

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

I am not sure, but that bubble counter water level shouldn't be there. The entire hose and the counter should be filled with water. Shouldn't it ?

You could put the CO2 inlet at the water inlet of the MAG. This ensure the big CO2 bubble is scattered and easily dissolves in to the water. There will be a bit of CO2 at the top of the canister, but this won't affect performance.

You could also put the water inlet on the inlet of the pump. Its not a biggy, but it means you'll need more water pressure on the RO inlet. (BTW, it is fairly unusual for a calcium reactor to use RO directly ? RO as in reverse oz or top off water. Are you sure this is right ? ). Anyway...just a minor point.

You could also turn the MAG on its side (or rotate the impeller housing 90 degs) so that you avoid that nasty 180 turn.

As for what dissolves better ... RO or salt water. It should be salt water. This is because salt water natually has a higher pH or less H+ ions. The more H+ ions you have, the more acidic the water becomes. By dissolving CO2 in to water, you would form carbonic acid (similar to mineral water, coke and other bubbly beverages). Carbonic acid is a weak acid, so there is a limited amount of acidity (pH) that carbonic acid can have. Since salt water has less H+ to start with, it needs more CO2 injected to the salt water in order for it get to the same acidic level.

- Victor.

[ldzielak]

On my new reactor in the previous post, you will notice that I had the water inlet at the inlet to the pump and the CO2 a little back durring testing and I have switched these in the working unit. This was because I was short on tubing, but it was better with the CO2 back some. I get a noise for every bubble that goes through now. No big deal, but some may care about sound.

[BCReefer]

Again and again I will ask the silly question but this is a Calcium Reactor, right? The reason that you DIY is based upon the cost, right? As I remember from Fudge, a new CR can be about $1,000.00.

Are you not worried about the tank having problems. I remember reading on reefs.org or RC about a canister that had its Pressure release valve go off and calcium/or what ever is in the tanks, fly around the kitchen, plus it actually started freezing some of the stuff kept near the tank.

Is this correct?

Based upon this, I must admit I am damn paranoid about a CR.

Thanks for the input.

Patrick

[DJ88]

Ok,

Teh mistake was that I labelled the input of water RO instead of from the sump. images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif So it looks like Jamie, Victor n Brad got it.. images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote but I would reverse the flow of your mag 3

Not the mistake. I run my current reactor this way and it works just fine. CO2 doesn't get trapped up top. And the media doesn't get compressed(before anyone asks that one images/smiles/icon_wink.gif).

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote Hey Mr. inventor (Darren) what happened to the plans for a DIY wave maker?

Still in progress.. I am not in school right now and I am NOT thinking about electronics images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif mind is a little fried right now.. lol..

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote I am not sure, but that bubble counter water level shouldn't be there. The entire hose and the counter should be filled with water. Shouldn't it ?

Run mine this way right now. Why would that make any difference? As you add CO2 into the counter it gets forced trough as it is.

I'll add more to this in a bit.. need food.. images/smiles/icon_wink.gif