I wrote a review on the Dastaco automatic calcium reactor sometime last year, I have switched to a Deltec Twintech 1500 for a year now and I figure I would write a review on it too.
Keep in mind I wasn’t paid or am I sponsored by any of the companies. I went out there and purchased the unit with my own money at full price.
SETUP
Setup was pretty straight forward, just had to follow the manual. Since this was my second automatic calcium reactor it was pretty simple. It’s just plug and play. The unit came with everything but the CO2 regulator and Co2 tank, so you will need to purchase that separately along with your choice of media. It’s recommended that you use 2-stage regulator but it’s not necessary. I had a SS 2-stage co2 regulator from a previous setup so I was good to go… A 2-stage co2 regulator can run you $350+ a single stage one like the tunze one will cost you about $100. Something to consider if you are on a budget.
My first impression; super well built, unit has a really CLEAN look. It’s something you would be proud to display under you cabinet or even outside your cabinet. The white and blue give this modern feel to it. I love it!
OPERATION
Once you have the reactor setup, dialing it in is a simple as pressing the up and down button on the main controller. You can increase the amount of effluent by simply pressing the up button on the controller. Super easy!!
The unit uses the same principle as the DASTACO automatic calcium reactor. As mentioned in my Dastaco review.
“The DaStaCo has no ph probe, No more ph probe calibration!! The way it works is through the idea of Co2 saturation. Co2 will get pumped into the Co2 chamber where a float switch will control when the Co2 solenoid will open/close. So the ph inside the reactor will stay consistent and steady. The knobs on the controller only controls how often the peristaltic pump comes on to push effluent out. Now I won’t get into more detail as this is the basics of the operations.”
The unit comes with 2 pumps, no peristaltic pumps so that means no tube replacement, less maintenance! The way this unit controls the effluent amount is through a flow sensor. The feed pump will kick in to feed the calcium reactor and when the flow sensor will determine when the feed pumps stops. The reactor mixing pump is a DC pump so you can adjust how much flow it pushes through the reactor. The pump is near silent, but like any DC pump, you will hear a slight humming once you have it in the higher levels, under 60% and you won’t hear it at all. I have it set a 40% and haven’t had the need to go higher than that.
MAINTENANCE/PARTS/SUPPORT
Deltec has been around for industry for some time now, and there’s a reason for that. The products are built like rocks and they perform like no other. I wasn’t too worry about having issues with this unit. I wasn’t expecting to need any support with the product, but something did happened to my unit that I had to reach out. I had some issues with the reactor mixing pump, it was defective after a few month of usage. It would occasionally stop running. I went ahead on contacted DeltecUSA in Florida. After a few exchange of emails they were going to replace my pump but they didn’t have it in-stock at the moment so they had to order it from Germany. It took a few weeks so during this time I had to dust out my 2-part dosing system and setup it up. Pump came in and I was good to go. No issues in the support department but keep in mind that the mother company is overseas so some parts will need to be order and it might take a few weeks for it to arrive.
Maintenance on these units are very minimal, but I’m guessing it also depends on the media you use. I had some DASTACO media left from my last setup, so I was using DASTACO media. The DASTACO media is very coarse and it didn’t break down like the reborn media. I didn’t have anything on the bottom of my reactor after a year of use. I thought I would had to clean the media chamber but NOPE! I checked all the lines to make sure everything good. Checked the mixing pump impeller and it was clean! I took the feeding pump apart and it wasn’t too bad, I clean the sponge filter and the impeller with a toothbrush and I was good to go! Didn’t have to replace any tubing of any kind!
Also these units are built with US plugs so you can directly plug it into the wall, no transformers needed.
PROS
I love this reactor! It’s a set and forget system with super low maintenance! It’s simple to setup and simple to use. I think this is by far the easiest calcium reactor to setup! If you this is your first calcium reactor I would highly suggest this unit.
I know some of you guys are probably wondering which one a better unit; the Dastaco or the Deltec? They both will do the job, but the Deltec reactor feels more refine, more modern. Dastaco is a little more sensitive and it has a DIY feel to it. If I was to choose between the 2; I will stick to my Deltec unit.
Please let me know if you guys have any questions or comments.
Here’s my Dastaco review if you haven’t seen it yet
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dastaco-calcium-reactor-throughts-and-review.713462/
Keep in mind I wasn’t paid or am I sponsored by any of the companies. I went out there and purchased the unit with my own money at full price.
SETUP
Setup was pretty straight forward, just had to follow the manual. Since this was my second automatic calcium reactor it was pretty simple. It’s just plug and play. The unit came with everything but the CO2 regulator and Co2 tank, so you will need to purchase that separately along with your choice of media. It’s recommended that you use 2-stage regulator but it’s not necessary. I had a SS 2-stage co2 regulator from a previous setup so I was good to go… A 2-stage co2 regulator can run you $350+ a single stage one like the tunze one will cost you about $100. Something to consider if you are on a budget.
My first impression; super well built, unit has a really CLEAN look. It’s something you would be proud to display under you cabinet or even outside your cabinet. The white and blue give this modern feel to it. I love it!
OPERATION
Once you have the reactor setup, dialing it in is a simple as pressing the up and down button on the main controller. You can increase the amount of effluent by simply pressing the up button on the controller. Super easy!!
The unit uses the same principle as the DASTACO automatic calcium reactor. As mentioned in my Dastaco review.
“The DaStaCo has no ph probe, No more ph probe calibration!! The way it works is through the idea of Co2 saturation. Co2 will get pumped into the Co2 chamber where a float switch will control when the Co2 solenoid will open/close. So the ph inside the reactor will stay consistent and steady. The knobs on the controller only controls how often the peristaltic pump comes on to push effluent out. Now I won’t get into more detail as this is the basics of the operations.”
The unit comes with 2 pumps, no peristaltic pumps so that means no tube replacement, less maintenance! The way this unit controls the effluent amount is through a flow sensor. The feed pump will kick in to feed the calcium reactor and when the flow sensor will determine when the feed pumps stops. The reactor mixing pump is a DC pump so you can adjust how much flow it pushes through the reactor. The pump is near silent, but like any DC pump, you will hear a slight humming once you have it in the higher levels, under 60% and you won’t hear it at all. I have it set a 40% and haven’t had the need to go higher than that.
MAINTENANCE/PARTS/SUPPORT
Deltec has been around for industry for some time now, and there’s a reason for that. The products are built like rocks and they perform like no other. I wasn’t too worry about having issues with this unit. I wasn’t expecting to need any support with the product, but something did happened to my unit that I had to reach out. I had some issues with the reactor mixing pump, it was defective after a few month of usage. It would occasionally stop running. I went ahead on contacted DeltecUSA in Florida. After a few exchange of emails they were going to replace my pump but they didn’t have it in-stock at the moment so they had to order it from Germany. It took a few weeks so during this time I had to dust out my 2-part dosing system and setup it up. Pump came in and I was good to go. No issues in the support department but keep in mind that the mother company is overseas so some parts will need to be order and it might take a few weeks for it to arrive.
Maintenance on these units are very minimal, but I’m guessing it also depends on the media you use. I had some DASTACO media left from my last setup, so I was using DASTACO media. The DASTACO media is very coarse and it didn’t break down like the reborn media. I didn’t have anything on the bottom of my reactor after a year of use. I thought I would had to clean the media chamber but NOPE! I checked all the lines to make sure everything good. Checked the mixing pump impeller and it was clean! I took the feeding pump apart and it wasn’t too bad, I clean the sponge filter and the impeller with a toothbrush and I was good to go! Didn’t have to replace any tubing of any kind!
Also these units are built with US plugs so you can directly plug it into the wall, no transformers needed.
PROS
- Low maintenance cost and super low maintenance
- Super reliable
- Easy to use
- Looks awesome, goes with the rest of your aquarium furniture!
- Co2 regulator is not included with the price of the unit, additional cost on top of the unit
- Some replacement parts might not be readily available
I love this reactor! It’s a set and forget system with super low maintenance! It’s simple to setup and simple to use. I think this is by far the easiest calcium reactor to setup! If you this is your first calcium reactor I would highly suggest this unit.
I know some of you guys are probably wondering which one a better unit; the Dastaco or the Deltec? They both will do the job, but the Deltec reactor feels more refine, more modern. Dastaco is a little more sensitive and it has a DIY feel to it. If I was to choose between the 2; I will stick to my Deltec unit.
Please let me know if you guys have any questions or comments.
Here’s my Dastaco review if you haven’t seen it yet
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dastaco-calcium-reactor-throughts-and-review.713462/
. it was more complicated to adjust skimmer than this reactor.
