8"x24" CaRx DiY Style
- Thread starter Sisterlimonpot
- Start date
- Tagged users None
McPuff
Valuable Member
Jimmy, as always.... WOW. I made a DIY calcium reactor a few years back out of a GFO reactor. Was a great learning experience but it was NOWHERE near as nice as what you've built. Very impressive!
OP
OP
If this process has taught me anything, beauty doesn't make for an efficient product.
Of course my focus was making it so that it can hold up to positive pressures.
Hopefully my efforts make that possible.
I did get the clear PVC last night and glued a piece in place. It has a blue purple tint to it but it had the right outer diameter that made it snug to the sch80 fittings.
The clear acrylic has a gap that would've needed a lot of infill.
And I filled it with water and allowed the pump to run overnight. I just went out to check on it and everything is bone dry on the outside.
I had to put my hand on the pump to ensure it was running.
I guess the only thing I have to do is find a source for reactor media... and swap it all over.
OP
OP
For ease of maintenance. I wanted to be able to simply remove the top flange to add media.
What you don't see because it's not in there yet is that there will be a 90 degree elbow tuned up on the inlet of the loop so that it will pull water from up there.
Also, if it pulls from the top, it’s more likely to suck in bubbles thus resulting in a noisy reactor. Less of a problem since @Sisterlimonpot is designing a pressurized carx. But it’s the reason why Geo changed their design because of all the reefers using a “pull” as opposed to “push” setup.
OP
OP
I'll have to look at Geo's design to refresh my memory, did they run all the plumbing through the side??
OP
OP
go for it. I'm actually sitting at the computer about to design a similar mount for the pumps driver...the pvc is bulletproof! right choice imo. man that pump mount is legit! might have to borrow
There’s a simple diy mod that works if you have a pull setup. A lot simpler than the BC mod IIRC. Basically you need to tap the lid for your effluent instead of drawing it off the manifold. And then you add a short extension from the manifold opening on the lid. Together, the excess gas gets pulled out by your peri pump and the circulating pump bypasses any additional trapped air. Not sure if explaining it clearly enough. Sorry to hijack the thread.
OP
OP
Do you have links to all these? I'd like to see the BC mod... and the simple one you speak of... I think I get the premise. It sounds like what I did with the what I called the "gas vent". That port gets connected to the "manifold" (I assume you're talking about the recirculation plumbing... if not please correct me) where it acts sort of like a venturi and creates a vacuum at that port, thus pulling any trapped gas to be mixed in the water column.
One thing I didn't add, (and could easily be added if needed) is a way to purge the excess trapped gas. But that only seems to be an issue upon start up once all the gas is purged you never have that issue.
Plus the pressurizing of the reactor will help in this sense because it will force the more gas to stay suspended in the water.
But, I'm now second guessing my effluent adapter that I printed (I didnt showcase that one) that essentially is a bubble trap. It was designed to minimize the removal of gas. I'm curious if having that adapter will make for noisy operation because there's no way to purge accumulated gas?? The question becomes, will gas accumulate over time? Or once it's in operation and fully purged you wont have to worry about it??
Here’s a link to the diy mod.
www.reef2reef.com
Here’s the BC mod:
www.reef2reef.com
Air/Bubble Noise through recirc pump
For those that have a build up of CO2 in there reactors please read: If you own a GEO calcium reactor that was built before 2009 (manifold connected to the lid via union) then this design was built to have pressure inside the reactor. Pressure was supplied to the reactor via small feed pump...
www.reef2reef.com
Here’s the BC mod:
!!!7000+ POUNDS OF GLASS!! YOU GUYS UP FOR A BUILD OR WHAT??
Adam is missing in action? Where in the world is Adam.
www.reef2reef.com
TMB
Well-Known Member
No need to worry about trapped gas/air over time. IMO once it's purged, after the initial assembly, there won't be any accumulation. Mostly because you're constantly recirculating it.
If you do have some sort of malfunction though - like water level getting low in the sump and the feed drawing in air - you'll probably need to bleed that off. Possibly not though, just depends how much got in there.
That's one of the cool functions of pressurizing your reactor, it pushes all the gasses into suspension, not just the CO2 (within reason of course).
OP
OP
I sort of stalled out on this, It's funny how certain things take precedence in your life. But yesterday, I sat down on Solidworks and designed a holder for the recirculation pump driver.
It's fairly straight forward, I didn't want to solvent weld a cleat onto the body of the reactor because I don't know how I want the reactor to sit under the tank. I wanted to be able to position the driver so that I could view it no matter the final resting place. It's a simple clamp made of plastic but because it had to be 3D printed, I had to print them in layers so that I didn't have to utilize supports (I hate using supports!!) The added layers just made me have to incorporate alignment holes and extrusions to aid in easy assembly. I printed them in an old roll of black PETG that actually melts with weldon 3, which made putting the pieces together extremely easy.
Here's all the pieces:
In an effort to avoid scratching the tube I added 4 holes to accept these rubber pads that can be pressed in. This layered print happens to be sliced just right so that you can see the profile of the hole.
This video of me putting it together should clear up any confusion that you may have.
And finally here it is in place on the reactor...
It's fairly straight forward, I didn't want to solvent weld a cleat onto the body of the reactor because I don't know how I want the reactor to sit under the tank. I wanted to be able to position the driver so that I could view it no matter the final resting place. It's a simple clamp made of plastic but because it had to be 3D printed, I had to print them in layers so that I didn't have to utilize supports (I hate using supports!!) The added layers just made me have to incorporate alignment holes and extrusions to aid in easy assembly. I printed them in an old roll of black PETG that actually melts with weldon 3, which made putting the pieces together extremely easy.
Here's all the pieces:
In an effort to avoid scratching the tube I added 4 holes to accept these rubber pads that can be pressed in. This layered print happens to be sliced just right so that you can see the profile of the hole.
This video of me putting it together should clear up any confusion that you may have.
And finally here it is in place on the reactor...
OP
OP
Yes, it's an ultrabase... 210x210
TMB
Well-Known Member
The bleed is actually already built into this reactor design. Since the return to the pump is below the lid - the feed pump will fill this reactor 100% full - no trapped air (not even in the plumbing). All that is needed is to leave the circulation pump off, turn on the feed, and leave the PH probe nut lose until it starts to drip - and BAM - reactor full, no air.
Similar threads
