FU-Reactor - my first big DIY project

That looks like the unit i built 8 years ago, Does anyone still have one that i built? I used a o ring lid that was cnc cut.

Thats killer man! Good luck with the build and take lots of photos.

So, after speaking with FIRE SHRIMP at the club meeting, he placed me into doubt whether or not this is a two stage CA reactor. After studying the design and the write up on the design on melevsreef.com I think I have come to the conclusion that we are both somewhat right. I will explain.

In a two stage design, the idea is to take the effluent out of the recirculation chamber (where media is mixing with the CO2, lowering the PH, and disolving the media) and then put it through another vessel of media before introducing it into the aquarium. The idea is that this second pass through the media will "consume" any leftover CO2 in the effluent by having it react with the media outside the recirculation chamber (where new CO2 is always being added).

Now, in this design above (DJ88 design), there is no real separate chamber from the recirculation. That is where FIRE SHRIMP is correct. However, since it is an "up/down" design with a recirc bleed off at the top, a portion of the CO2 will naturally collect at the top of the unit to be bled off, and the water (with less CO2) will be pulled down through the second chamber to be recirculated.

I do not know how the two designs will differ in the PH of their effluent. Only a test would be able to determine that. Anything else would be speculation from either of us I think.

I did the exact thing that Brad describes above. I ran a kalkwasser reactor (you may have seen it at the March meeting) in conjuction with my calcium reactor specifically to keep the pH up. 

Edited by Shane H - March 07 2009 at 10:53am

I agree with the statement but its still a single chamber reactor here is why, as long as first chamber is open to the second chamber the ph will be the same on either side, in that design the two sides are being recirculated, this would be easy to test when you get it running. run the reactor for a week then collect some of the effluent test the ph then take off the lid and test the first chamber if i am correct the ph will be the same. but either way its a easy fix

NP,

Ya. My plan is to use a RO canister with a downtube if I decide the ph is still too high on the effluent. Or the other option is to just create an acrylic cylinder with tapped endcaps for john guest fittings.

I got my co2 cylinder and regulator today. I will be finished with it next week and fire it up. Not only has this process saved some dollars it has been fun and educational. I now understand how these things work much better.

OK, so I finished the CA Reactor and have been running it for a little more than a week now. I have got it balanced out and it is putting out enough effluent to keep the tank at 11.5-12 dKH and about 480 Ca. The Ph of the effluent stays in the 7-7.15 range and my tank has not decreased much in Ph at all (from 8.15 to 8.05).

How much do you estimate the cost at?