My Diyed Calcium Reactor

[Joe_P]

Hi Guys...

The parts listed are

A and B ) Plastic strainer...(most hardware stores have them)

C) 13 mm Coupling

D) 2 inch thread cap on 4 inch endcap

E) 13mm pvc pipe welded into 4 inch endcap (2.5 inches protruding out and 1.5 inches protruding in with a elbow on the inner pipe

F) 20 inches long 4 inch diameter Clear PVC....

Main Body

And a test run....

And the final working and now running product....

[hotsoup]

Cool man! Can demo on the making ? I mean step by step in DIY the CA

Thks

[Joe_P]

Cool man! Can demo on the making ? I mean step by step in DIY the CA

Thks

Not unless I can dismantle my reactor and do it again.....

Use a little imagination.... you should be able to figure it out.....

[Anthony]

phang,

how much u spend on all the pvc materials. u runing it w 1250 eheim?

[alvy]

well from the looks of it, it is a simple and cheap setup, but definitely effective!! think you can get all the parts from Haicheong Plastic at Kallang Place. But i have a suggestion to improve the design. The top cap portion: instead of cutting a hole to install the smaller screw cap, straightaway bypass this step and buy the large 4" screw cap to replace the entire top cap contraption shown here! In this way, the media can me easily replaced as i forsee some difficulties in removing old media from the small bottle necked screw cap opening!! Also this save you $$ from cutting a custom large hole on the end caps to install the screw cap threaded socket!! This improvement is purely for the sake of maintenance, nothing to do with performance! The main tricky part to do this reactor is to drill holes on the round surface of the tube!! UNless you have milling or highend pressdrills to do the precise hole cutting, you'll need to wield the connections/joints as seen in the images!

As said before, this is a cheap and effective diy alternative to expensive reactors sold in the market!good work!

[Joe_P]

But i have a suggestion to improve the design. The top cap portion: instead of cutting a hole to install the smaller screw cap, straightaway bypass this step and buy the large 4" screw cap to replace the entire top cap contraption shown here! In this way, the media can me easily replaced as i forsee some difficulties in removing old media from the small bottle necked screw cap opening!! Also this save you $$ from cutting a custom large hole on the end caps to install the screw cap  threaded socket!! This improvement is purely for the sake of maintenance, nothing to do with performance! !

I actually thought if the 4" screw cap...... however, as the plumbing as shown in the picture is from the top of the cap..... upscrewing the whole cap would actually require the dismantling the tubing and in the process the entire Calcium Reactor....

So stick to the 2" cap ... with the concept of jus to top up with media once they are exhausted....

What is required is to stop the circulation pump and water inlet feed pump, release the pressure with the output and you can upscrew the 2" cap and top up....

plug and play ........no hassle and not much problems with media top up.....

Anthony, the materials are cheap.... its the welding that will cost ya...

.... but definitely way much cheaper than those retailing outside......

the pump is a Eheim 1064 I think..... 2nd lowest rated pump....

[CooL_anakin]

Great work you've got there...!

[alvy]

not necessary Joe, there are a few ways to taclke the problem. you can drill the hole on the top portion of the tube instead of on the cap which will not obstruct the cap rotation, or you can install a union (cheap for normal JIS standard) at the top pipe connection and dismantle the top pipings! in this way, you can take the entire chamber to the toilet to clean..after tt just rescrew the union joints! i say this becoz it is quite necessary to be able to put ur hand into the reactor to unclog stuff, clean algae or dirt and even remove stuck old media!! anyway you are not suppose to top up media right!! it is highly recommended tt you remove the old ones once you see the overall volume of the media reduced by 25-35%!! the old ones will be coated with slime and this diminishes the dissolvability of the chips! try pouring out everything!! you'll see lots of other "goodies" trap at the bottom of the chamber!

[Joe_P]

not necessary Joe, there are a few ways to taclke the problem. you can drill the hole on the top portion of the tube instead of on the cap which will not obstruct the cap rotation, or you can install a union (cheap for normal JIS standard) at the top pipe connection and dismantle the top pipings! in this way, you can take the entire chamber to the toilet to clean..after tt just rescrew the union joints! i say this becoz it is quite necessary to be able to put ur hand into the reactor to unclog stuff, clean algae or dirt and even remove stuck old media!! anyway you are not suppose to top up media right!! it is highly recommended tt you remove the old ones once you see the overall volume of the media reduced by 25-35%!! the old ones will be coated with slime and this diminishes the dissolvability of the chips! try pouring out everything!! you'll see lots of other "goodies" trap at the bottom of the chamber!

Interesting....

Thanks for the feedback....

Basically I think the the plumbing from thetop of the endcap is the better method...

Even if the plumbing came from the sides of the endcaps, the pipe would have to be at least 2-3 " before the top due to the threading on the cap top.... and that would result in CO2 trapping at the cap end..... dun wanna create a bleeding line on the cap for excess CO2 .....

Your idea on a union looks good.... will take into consideration when I DIY a larger Calcium Reactor....

One of the features of the design is the addition of some plastic strainer as seen in the first diagram... stariner labelled as A) and ...

This is to prevent media from clogging up the water flow .... clogging should be minimal due to this...

Guess to clean up the whole reactor, jus have to turn it upside down and empty it........

and real glad that its a "once in a while" event.........

[ruel]

Hi Joe_P,

great work.... BTW, can you tell me why you have this piping (encircled in RED) and what is this purple thing (encircled in Blue)?

thanks

[ah_d3x]

wat r those ? coral chip? actually how long do u have to replace them?

[aqua_reef]

well from the looks of it, it is a simple and cheap setup, but definitely effective!! think you can get all the parts from Haicheong Plastic at Kallang Place. But i have a suggestion to improve the design. The top cap portion: instead of cutting a hole to install the smaller screw cap, straightaway bypass this step and buy the large 4" screw cap to replace the entire top cap contraption shown here! In this way, the media can me easily replaced as i forsee some difficulties in removing old media from the small bottle necked screw cap opening!! Also this save you $$ from cutting a custom large hole on the end caps to install the screw cap threaded socket!! This improvement is purely for the sake of maintenance, nothing to do with performance! The main tricky part to do this reactor is to drill holes on the round surface of the tube!! UNless you have milling or highend pressdrills to do the precise hole cutting, you'll need to wield the connections/joints as seen in the images!

As said before, this is a cheap and effective diy alternative to expensive reactors sold in the market!good work!

bro.. so i can get all the stuff from Part A-F from Haicheong Plastic at Kallang Place

izzit?.. Kallang place industrial area?

Welding.. which part require welding?? thought we only use the term "welding" when it somes to metal??

Sorry if im wrong here..

Bro you mention" But i have a suggestion to improve the design. The top cap portion: instead of cutting a hole to install the smaller screw cap, straightaway bypass this step and buy the large 4" screw cap to replace the entire top cap contraption shown here! "

are you refering to Part C???

Im interested to make one but need to get all the links up before i can start to get the materials and construct

[aqua_reef]

Hi Joe_P,

great work.... BTW, can you tell me why you have this piping (encircled in RED) and what is this purple thing (encircled in Blue)?

thanks

is that UV-C???

[Achilles Tang]

PVC Welding? Yeah, there is such a term used.

[Joe_P]

Hi Joe_P,

great work.... BTW, can you tell me why you have this piping (encircled in RED) and what is this purple thing (encircled in Blue)?

thanks

Standard flexible tubes sized at 16/22 think its 1/2 inch sizing...

the thing in purple..... bubble counter.... to determine the amount of CO2 injected into the reactor by bubble count..... (strange, that thing is suppose to be blue..... must be the Camy.....)

[ruel]

ok thanks... but just wanna trace the flow...

RED Line

So water from sump/tank goes into the pump and push it into the reactor chamber

and exit at the top and return back into the pump. Why there is a loop here?

BLUE Line

From CO2 tank (i think behind the reactor right?) goes into the bubble counter and into the pump. Why connect it into the pump inlet? Can this be connected straight into the reactor? Where can I bought it?

YELLOW Line

I guess this is the water return to sump/tank. Isn't it the size of tubing too small?

Appreciate your help. Great work..

[Joe_P]

Redline.... is a portion of a closed loop for the circulation pump...

There is a tube running into the loop from a tee off at the bottom right hand.... thats the supply from sump....

Blueline.... is the CO2 feed... the pump is to create a siphoning effect on the CO2 intot he Calcium chamber through positive negative pressure.....

The pump would also be used to help break up the CO2 bubbles by the impellor rotation....

Yellowline..... That's the effluent... whatever results from the dissolving of the Calcium media by CO2 in the chamber.... thats goes into the sump.....

[ai[k²]wan]

DIY CO2 for cheapest

[ah_d3x]

wats co2 for? wats the media?

[Tanzy]

wats co2 for? wats the media?

CO2 is carbon dioxide gas. It is dissolved in the water to reduce the pH such that the media can dissolve. The media is calcium carbonate chips or similar item.

[piero]

It seems like carbon dioxide is dissolved in water to form carbonic acid and that is used to react with the coral chips. Is it possible to have a drip into the coral chip using vinegar instead?

[Tanzy]

That is possible but absolutely unnecessary. Why go through the hassle of building a device to do that when you can mix up the vinegar and kalkwasser in a container then drip it. Vinegar with calcium carbonate will give you a lot of bubbles and foam.

[CalciumReef]

The design overall is good.However i feel that if the supply of water is not pumped in by the pump from sump would be better as the co2 in the chamber will not remain long enough.Water should be dripped in,with the excess overflowing back to sump.

[CalciumReef]

Check out this design.WHat do fellows members feel about this design?

[alvy]

i disagree with the dripping of water into the reactor and letting the effluent overflow into the tank by gravity (would there be a siphon effect resulting in air pockets being introduce into the reactor??will power trip introduce excess CO2 into the chamber and the Co2 later be released into the tank since it is a heavy gas and sinks??) ..water should be pumped into the reactor chamber in order to pressurise the chamber!!! it is already long practiced in German reactors tt pressurisation yields better CO2 dissolving into the water and allows 100% CO2 saturation which can more efficiently dissolve calcium carbonate!!! this sometimes mark the difference between an efficient design which requires less CO2 input to dissolve the aragonite than a less efficient one!! the reason y CO2 is in excess in the chamber can also be due to wrong volume of CO2 injected with respect to the quantity of effluent release. or simply a badly designed reactor!

IMO Joe_P's reactor is fine design..what i do ponder upon is the media he used! Aside from any impurities it might release into the system (i doubt so), the required ph to dissolve these chips could be different from tt of a better quality media! ARMS is renowned to be dissolvable at ph7. normal grade media around 6.5-6.7..what about these chips??sometimes i suspect if you switch the media to ARMS, you calcium supply would already be ample since you can dissolve more with less CO2 used!

jus my 2 cts