I'm not sure if Jetstreams are truly unique in the sense they require a peristaltic pump. I mean, I have no idea if they really do need it but any calcium reactor could benefit from a peristaltic pump feed, you have a better sense of what your actual effluent flow rate is and so on. I'm considering going that way from now on but the one thing I don't like about the peri pumps available to the hobby is that they are fixed flowrate. I'm looking at ebay for lab grade DC peri pumps that have adjustability but the problem is what you get for cheap looks pretty haggard and the ones that look like they have a fair bit of life left in them tend to go for a few more bucks. Having said that though it does look like good deals come up every week.
Afraid I can't comment on Schuran versus Geo versus Deltec ... I dunno, when the Schurans hit the NA market there sure was excitement and everybody thought they were the shizzle so I'm sure they're good, but in the end to me a calcium reactor is a calcium reactor ..
As long as it doesn't leak and it gets the job done, then I'm pretty happy.
Are there reactors that don't use thumbscrews? I haven't seen a Jetstream up close but aren't they using them too (looks like it from pictures?)? Having said that, given the U.S. price of them right now it almost seems like a no-brainer to pick one up. And if it wasn't for the fact that I need a sump return pump, a swack of T5's, a wavebox and maybe some extra Tunzes (wow, how to spend $1500 in my head in 5 seconds or less
) I'd probably just go pick one up anyhow.
Let us know what you find out though and which way you end up deciding on going! I would like to hear about what's new with reactors these days.