chaostactics Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 So I was lucky enough to get a chance to beta test Avast Marine Works' (avastmarine.com) upcoming nano/pico reactor. All I can say is this thing is AWESOME! First I tried granulated carbon from seachem, definitely too small and went right though the flow plates, thats ok, carbon will be run passively in a mesh bag... you'll see my application for the reactor at the end. It fits perfectly in the last chamber of a 14 gallon biocube, now thats small! Leaving the first chamber open for a heater, and the middle for a refugium. In its final version I understand it will be made to run internal or external (freaking cool!) and will have some sort of awesome mounting bracket. With tubing in place, I could have easily added another pump to run the reactor but in order to keep heat and power consumption down I chose to run it with the return pump. Tubing and all the lid closes FLUSH (water level looks low because the pump is off) So since this tank has no skimmer, though the blue poly filter seen at the top of the second chamber does a decent job, I wanted something else to help keep down nutrient levels so... BIO PELLETS, which I will be running on my bigger tank too, which I also found from Avast Marine's site. Seriously look how small and awesome this thing is! With a maxijet 900 there was really good tumble for the bio pellets and there was still enough flow to turn the hydor rotating deflector. Link to comment
chaostactics Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 Pros: The thing looks sick Its STRONG (I dropped it from about 4 feet onto tiled kitchen floor) It fits in a 14 Gal biocube (thats awesome!) No leaks, clean smooth seams, O-ring works great in combination with the key hole slots and thumb screws. Did I mention it looks awesome Works great with a small pump Creates and allows for good flow = excellent media suspension. Cons: Just two The holes in the plates allow the very small carbon to pass though (my MR- reactor came with a mesh screen that you could insert for smaller granular media, I asked them to include it on these as well, they said no problem) No external mounting bracket, yet. Since its in its beta phase and I told them I wanted to run internal anyway it wasn't a problem, they eluded to some sort of awesome external mount that would allow it to be mounted on any tank, no clue but sounds good Link to comment
chaostactics Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 These were all pics with my old crappy phone, I'm hoping to have some quality pics up soon. Link to comment
chaostactics Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 So it looks like I'm going to move to a maxijet 1200, I'm getting really good tumble on the media with a 900, but I think the tank would benifit from a little higher flow. Link to comment
mastahluong Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 This is pretty cool, I like the fact that this can be run internal in biocube chambers. I've never had a reactor and am considering this. One question for you how easy is it to remove, disassemble, clean, re-assemble? Link to comment
chaostactics Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 This is pretty cool, I like the fact that this can be run internal in biocube chambers. I've never had a reactor and am considering this. One question for you how easy is it to remove, disassemble, clean, re-assemble? I could take the unit out, empty out the media, pull the column with the attached plates, clean the entire inside with a tooth brush, put new media in, add a little silicone grease to the o-ring, put the thumb screws back in, and hook it back to the return pump and return pump in the BC 14, I'd say in less than 6 minutes at a casual pace. Link to comment
jgpico Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Wow this is pretty freaking cool. I have never considered a reactor on my tanks but this opens up a new door. Awesome Link to comment
mastahluong Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Any idea on the cost of this unit too? Link to comment
chaostactics Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 Their build it yourself MR5 reactor is like $55, and they pre-built is $75, this is about 1/3 the size but I suspect due to the size and the absolute precision of the machining that goes into it... yea I can't guess, they didn't tell me. So I didn't externally inoculate the bio-pellets with bacteria, so the reactor is cycling today, it wasn't there at midnight but cloudiness is definitely there at 10 am. I'll keep track of how long the tank stays cloudy. I don't plan to do a water change, carbon, etc. Link to comment
chaostactics Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 Tank reminds cloudy today, no more or less so than yesterday. Link to comment
chaostactics Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 I decided to take the bio pellets off line and opt for carbon (pelleted no granulated), maybe GFO instead, after doing more research on the bio pellets I don't think they're a good idea in a tank with out a skimmer Link to comment
disaster999 Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 your not suppose to run pellets WITHOUT a skimmer. its the same as vodka dosing Link to comment
chaostactics Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 your not suppose to run pellets WITHOUT a skimmer. its the same as vodka dosing yep so I've come to discover, the water params look pretty good but the tank remains a low level cloudy at all times. The reactor is now running pelleted carbon, and relying on the fuge for nutrient export. Link to comment
cactuspat Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 any update on this reactor? Link to comment
Reefie Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 Tagging along as I am looking for a small reactor. Link to comment
21093r53 Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 So I was lucky enough to get a chance to beta test Avast Marine Works' (avastmarine.com) upcoming nano/pico reactor. All I can say is this thing is AWESOME! First I tried granulated carbon from seachem, definitely too small and went right though the flow plates, thats ok, carbon will be run passively in a mesh bag... you'll see my application for the reactor at the end. It fits perfectly in the last chamber of a 14 gallon biocube, now thats small! Leaving the first chamber open for a heater, and the middle for a refugium. In its final version I understand it will be made to run internal or external (freaking cool!) and will have some sort of awesome mounting bracket. With tubing in place, I could have easily added another pump to run the reactor but in order to keep heat and power consumption down I chose to run it with the return pump. Tubing and all the lid closes FLUSH (water level looks low because the pump is off) So since this tank has no skimmer, though the blue poly filter seen at the top of the second chamber does a decent job, I wanted something else to help keep down nutrient levels so... BIO PELLETS, which I will be running on my bigger tank too, which I also found from Avast Marine's site. Seriously look how small and awesome this thing is! With a maxijet 900 there was really good tumble for the bio pellets and there was still enough flow to turn the hydor rotating deflector. Nice thread, aren't you in Maryland? Link to comment
Aunt Minnie Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Any clue if/when this thing will actually be released? The market is ripe for a solid nano reactor which will fit in the rear chambers of popular AIOs. I know CPR is coming out with something soon, however it'd be nice to have some options. Link to comment
JR! Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Any clue if/when this thing will actually be released? The market is ripe for a solid nano reactor which will fit in the rear chambers of popular AIOs. I know CPR is coming out with something soon, however it'd be nice to have some options. cpr has some for sale on ebay now Link to comment
Aunt Minnie Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 cpr has some for sale on ebay now I saw these but aren't they factory seconds? I didn't think the CPR production units had been released yet. Regardless, I can hold out a little longer if there's word of this Avast unit hitting the market soon. Does anyone know anything about this? Link to comment
SULFERHEAD93 Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 So I was lucky enough to get a chance to beta test Avast Marine Works' (avastmarine.com) upcoming nano/pico reactor. All I can say is this thing is AWESOME! First I tried granulated carbon from seachem, definitely too small and went right though the flow plates, thats ok, carbon will be run passively in a mesh bag... you'll see my application for the reactor at the end. It fits perfectly in the last chamber of a 14 gallon biocube, now thats small! Leaving the first chamber open for a heater, and the middle for a refugium. In its final version I understand it will be made to run internal or external (freaking cool!) and will have some sort of awesome mounting bracket. With tubing in place, I could have easily added another pump to run the reactor but in order to keep heat and power consumption down I chose to run it with the return pump. Tubing and all the lid closes FLUSH (water level looks low because the pump is off) So since this tank has no skimmer, though the blue poly filter seen at the top of the second chamber does a decent job, I wanted something else to help keep down nutrient levels so... BIO PELLETS, which I will be running on my bigger tank too, which I also found from Avast Marine's site. Seriously look how small and awesome this thing is! With a maxijet 900 there was really good tumble for the bio pellets and there was still enough flow to turn the hydor rotating deflector. So did they decide not to come out with this? or any word on a release date? Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Nice but I like my design better. Hehe. Fits in a pico or biocube. Link to comment
MedRed Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Nice but I like my design better. Hehe. Fits in a pico or biocube. who makes this? Link to comment
wildmanzeke Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 who makes this? he did. check his sig. Link to comment
nwin Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 For the noob out here...what does this do? Link to comment
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