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How To: DIY Ca Reactor


adinsxq

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i know i got burned pretty bad last time i pasted something from the chat... but oh well...

 

HTH. :|:D:|

 

 

---

 

i gotta add my ca-reactor to the 1.5 so my coraline will grow faster

 

you bought a ca reactor!

they're like $300

for a ca reactor

you don't even have SPS!

 

no i bought a lifegard fluidized bed sand filter, filled it with cc and ran a CO2 line up it's behind

bam! ca-reactor

 

CO2 is carbon dixoide?

 

yes

 

where you getting the carbon dixoide from?

its in the air, but theres still more oxygen then CO2

 

right

co2 is heavier than oxygen

 

so, its just an air pump?

 

that's why you see that white smoke coming off of dry ice

so

 

wheres the CO2 coming from then

 

to get co2 i just go to my local icecream man

and i get a large chunk of dry ice

put that in an air tight container

and let the co2 bleed off into a tube

that goes into the reactor

 

whered you find an airtight container?

still, dry ice doesn't last that long

seems pointless to me

 

i use one of those peanut butter jars (plastic) from costco

 

and made it airtight how?

 

use a hot nail to pierce a hole in the top

and hot glue silicone tubing

 

and you sucked the air out of the container?

 

nono

when the dry ice "melts" it creates c02 gas

 

nevermind

 

that gas creates pressure and goes though the tube

 

still, you'd get oxygen going into the line

not just CO2

 

thatys why you use a peanut butter jar

 

(just oxygen normal air) I know theres oxgen in carbon dioxide

 

the only thing going into the tube is the gas from the dry ice

 

still, how are you getting just how

 

dry ice is solid carbon dioxide

 

yes

 

getting what?

 

how are you getting only co2 in the line

 

because the container is sealed

so air doesn't get in

 

theres air in the contianer though

 

yes but once the dry ice melts

the co2 pushes the air out

then you're left with pure co2

 

do all calium reactors work this way?

 

the principle yes

but there are different sources of co2

some people use pressurized canisters

 

an example

sounds expensive for a CO2 reactor

 

yeah

that's why a lot of people are starting to use dry ice

 

even you're way

 

no man

dry ice is cheap

next time you see one of those guys with the push cart ice cream thing, you ask him for a piece

 

ahh, how often u gonna hve to change the ice?

 

depends on how big the piece is

and if you insulate the peanut butter jar

 

lol

I know

 

you can insulate your peanut butter jar with styrofoam

 

we don't have puch cart ice cream guys

don't you want it to melt quicker

 

at the beach?

 

cuz quicker is more co2

why insulate it?

 

not too much or you'll crash the pH in your tank

if you insululate it the ice will last longer

 

oh, I see

you're way sounds like it could screw a tank over very quicly

 

that's why i have a auto safety valve

 

considering you control how much CO2 u get by insulation

 

if the gas pressure gets too high, the valve opens and releases the extra gas

 

whered you find something like that?

 

you make it

 

a valve held down y a spring?

 

yep

 

still, you have to fool around wioth it alot

 

once you've got it calibrated, you only have to make minor adjustments every few months

 

to get the valve to open t the right times

and I hpe you're gonna calibrate it in a tank with no animals?

 

of course

 

k

and whats cc?

 

 

crushed coral

 

ahhhh

and is water in there

 

yes

the co2 needs to dissolve in water before it can turn the cc into calcium

 

and water gets moved in and out of the ca reactor how?

 

pump

 

so you'll have to add more curshed coral every once in a while?

 

yeah. when you add new cc, you do the valve adjustments

like i said, every few months

3-4

 

?

 

3-4 months

 

ahh, how big is this whole thing?

 

the reactor is about 6 inches wide, and 12 inches high

it hangs on the back

the peanutbutter jar goes in your stand

 

cool

sounds like it should work

anybody else do it before?

 

there are some pretty good plans on the web

you just have to search for it

 

or is this one of your brilliant ideas, :P

lol

 

i typed in "peanut c02 reef reactor"

i gotta go. ttyl.

 

* FLReef is scared of kalk and ca reactors now

* FLReef shudders

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  • 2 years later...

I was also thinking about converting a fluidized bed filter. But into a kalk reactor instead of a calcium reactor, since CO2 will drop the pH quick, especially in a 10g tank, and kalk will keep the ph high and stable. Also it'll be less costly and complicated and i can install it right in between my top off reservior and tank. All i need is to find a way to constantly mix kalk in the bed filter right? Any comments/ideas/corrections?

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  • 10 months later...
shao-lin nano
I was also thinking about converting a fluidized bed filter. But into a kalk reactor instead of a calcium reactor, since CO2 will drop the pH quick, especially in a 10g tank, and kalk will keep the ph high and stable. Also it'll be less costly and complicated and i can install it right in between my top off reservior and tank. All i need is to find a way to constantly mix kalk in the bed filter right? Any comments/ideas/corrections?

 

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=896134

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shao-lin nano
Good going resurrecting a YEAR old thread. :slap:

 

HaHa...nothing to do when you have to work nights over the weekend. :happydance:

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Undertheradar

DSC03946.jpg

 

Thats always been my favorite easy as pie Ca reactor... a super size GE water filter with the plumbing set up to recirculate...

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