DIY (Schuran) Jetstream stlye automatic Calcium Reactor

[Dennis Cartier]

I have been waiting on some parts to arrive as have re-thought how I want the bottom of the non-flanged versions to be constructed. While I was waiting I did some more digging on expected PH ranges that a full saturation CaRX will operate at. I ran across an old school boutique vendor in Germany and got some info and ideas from their site.

Firstly, their design is similar to a Dastaco, unlike the Jetstream, and they list a PH of 5.0 - 5.5 as the expected range of their units to operate at. Though they use calcite media, so I am not sure if that affects the PH range of their reactor at saturation. I plan to run Reborn.

They also had a couple of interesting features that I will probably poach for my DIY reactor. They have an aeration tube/tower as part of the design of their reactor. The effluent flows through a tube that has an air-stone operating in it. this helps to degas the CO2 from the effluent and raise the PH. They quote an expected PH of between 7.0 and 7.3 depending on the air volume pumped through the aeration tower. This does not sound like too much of a PH bump compared to normal CaRX reactors, but considering their effluent starts at 5.0 - 5.5, that is a pretty significant bump from just aerating the effluent.

They also use an sedimentation tube, which helps to settle out sediment and separate the air from the aeration stage. They state that a slight lowering of PO4 will occur by the passing effluent having the PO4 bound to the sediment. I don't expect this to have a big effect, but any PO4 stripping is welcome.

Lastly they use a separate stage called a magnesium tube. Essentially a media compartment to hold magnesium medium separate from the calcium media. All the effluent would pass through the magnesium media. I am not sure on the reason for holding the magnesium separate, perhaps because it would melt too fast at the PH level the main reactor runs at. I will probably add this to mine as well just to experiment and see what benefit (if any) it has over just mixing the medias in the main chamber.

I expect that I may need to bleed the CO2 gas off periodically to help maintain saturation, but until I have hard data as to the PH range the CaRX runs at over time, I will not know for sure. To help with collecting the data on the PH and hopefully if saturation is maintained, I will be adding a PH probe (or 2) into the test mule reactor. With that in mind I sourced 20 x 1/2" NPT cable glands from Amazon that "should" work for allowing probes to be put inline.

Here is an example of one of these cable glands threaded into a 1/2 ball valve.

I also received the new plumbing parts to remove the curved bottom of the end caps that I had planned to use, but was worried about the o-ring's not being able to seal properly. I have moved to a spigot plug and a fitting.

Here is how it looks on the mock-up. I did not seat the spigot fully for the mock-up as I find them so hard to get apart when seated fully dry. This should work so much better than the previous curved end caps.

For comparison, this is how the previous version fit.

I will be away for most of February, so this project will go into standby until the end of February, early March.

Dennis

 

[Dennis Cartier]

This project is back alive. After my vacation, my frag tank went downhill and I stepped away from reefing for a few months. The pandemic did not help. I have started buying a few monti's and the daily alk consumption is quickly getting out of hand and the All-For-Reef that I had been dosing when the tank had only a few surviving corals is going to get cost prohibitive, fast. With that in mind, I am working towards completing one of these reactors. However, I might just startup the ACR CalRx I have sitting idle waiting on my big build, to give me breathing room. It will be way over sized, but would be better than rushing the build of the DIY CalRx and ending up with less than optimal results.

I did some work on the lid for the unit. I have settled on 2 tapped 1/8" holes for the float switch and CO2 input/re-circulation. The effluent output is the drilled hole for the 1/2" CPVC-CTS fittings. They are not glued yet, just test fitted. I plan to cut some slices into the 3/4" to 1/2" reducer and make a tiny bubble trap for the effluent to exit through.

Dennis

 

[Dennis Cartier]

I decided to make preparations for the Aquarium Engineering ACR reactor I purchased for the Blue Window build to stand in temporarily until I can get one of my DIY reactors completed and tested. I have a nice dual stage CO2 regulator that I purchased second hand in a deal with a nice Masterflex digital pump, a carbon doser and a Geo 618 CalRx. The regulator has been laying on a shelf in the fishroom. When I picked it up, I noticed the all the surfaces that faced up had lots of oxidation on it.

I picked up some brass polish and set out to polish it, with mixed results. The oxidation came off, but the surface remains pretty dull.

Dennis

 

[Dennis Cartier]

While testing the regulator on my CO2 tank, I cracked it open slightly with no hose on the output of the regulator. I got the expected hiss of gas and determined which direction was for increasing or decreasing the pressure.

Lol, I only had it open for a second or 2, but my CO2 monitor in the fish room jumped from 462 ppm to 760 ppm in a 5 minute span. So lets call that a real world test of the CO2 monitor as well.

Dennis

 

[Dennis Cartier]

I whipped up a stand out of extrusion scraps. Doh, ignore the flashlight and glasses.

After startup I had a minor leak at the seal, but just tightened it a bit and fixed. I have reduced the effluent rate to 1 second on, 600 seconds off. Will have to see how that fares with a much smaller tank then the reactor is sized for.

Dennis

 

[Dennis Cartier]

An update is in order. The Aquarium Engineering controllers used on the ACR CaRx's proved to be problematic. All the factory controllers failed in the field. I have my frag tank running with an ACR, so when my controller also failed, I set about designing a replacement controller that could automate the ACR and not suffer from the deficiencies of the factory unit.

The latest version (v4) of my DIY controller for the ACR, diverges substantially from the way the factory controller operated, and in doing so, allows the reactor to produce very saturated effluent. It accomplished this by controlling the internal operating pressure of the CaRx, and uses the pressure fluctuations to drive the cycling of the reactor. The ACR reactors are very suited to this as they are constructed of 100% PVC, and can handle modest pressures without the tendency to burst like acrylic reactors.

Unfortunately, in the last few months, Aquarium Engineering has shutdown and ceased operations. So no new ACR reactors will be forthcoming. Which is a pity as they are excellent reactors when paired with a competent controller (like my v4!).

The demise of AE got me to thinking about this project again. My v4 controller design would be transferable to the automated Schuran jetstream reactor of this project. Being a 100% PVC build, it should be able to operate under the pressures that the v4 controller uses. The ability of the controller to scale the operating pressures of the reactor, higher or lower, allows for a smaller volume of media to be able to meet the needs of larger tanks. So the limited volume of a 4" build is not really as much of a limitation when paired with the new controller.

The 4" sch 40 design as laid out, will have a greater media volume than the Schuran Jetstream 2 (based on photos), and the JS2 is spec'd for >2500G! When you add the ability to scale the operating pressure, then the media volume becomes far less important. We might even be able to condense the media volume in the 4" build, to allow for a smaller footprint. The size of the reactor as originally designed was the one thing that gave me pause. It is huge when you get all the plumbing attached and would need to be a wall mounted. So fishroom only. A shorter version, with a condensed media chamber may be possible once the full sized version is tested.

My next task is locate a source of off the shelf seals for the top cap of the reactor. The hard nylon seal they come with is not going to provide enough of a seal against the 4 - 12 PSI range of pressures that I anticipate to be testing against. So I am on the hunt for a source of suitable seals.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

I managed to find a local supplier of o-rings that can provide the needed size. However when I started planning out a 2" version of the reactor, I opted to use unions for the top and bottom of the reactor. This is more expensive, but way simpler to find and construct. With that in mind, I have decided to adjust the design to use unions on the top and bottom of the media tube and do away with as much of the custom drilling and hole cutting as possible. The new plan is to have only the float switch hole and the CO2 hole needed to be drilled and tapped in a spigot plug, and the rest of the reactor will simply be cutting tubing to size and gluing. I think this will make it much simpler for the average hobbyist to build.

Therefore, the effluent drain will no longer be in the lid, and will be moved to the re-circulation pump loop, on the output side, but before the venturi. The water feed will remain on the intake side of the pump.

Re-using an old photo, the top threaded fitting and cap would be replaced by a union, sealed with a spigot plug. The bottom cap, would be replaced by a union, with a slip to 3/4" adapter. The bulkhead fitting goes away, and the bottom tee, would connect directly to the 3/4" adapter. The spigot plugged would get tapped with (2) 1/8" holes for the float switch and CO2 feed/vent.

The media would rest on either a 3D printed grate, or simply a disc of needle point mesh cut to size to rest in the bottom cavity of the union.

Another change, is that as this is going to be running pressurized, having the RODI pressed on to the venturi seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. So I reached out to the makers of the CPR venturi to see if they had a version that had a 1/4" nipple size instead of the smaller dimension it uses. They don't have one, nor can they make one as the molds are long gone, so no new versions are possible. So I have a sleeve being 3D printed that can be slipped over the nipple and cemented in place with ABS cement. That will allow a John Guest style fitting to be used and provide a secure connection.

The intention is to have a 2", 3" and 4" version, all with the same basic design, only differing by the size of the media tube and the end fittings.

For the re-circulation pump, a Sicce Silent 2.0 will be used. This is the smallest of the Sicce pumps that can use 3/4" tubing, but it will provide more than enough flow. Because of an issue I ran into with the Sicce's volute being easy to crack when being hard plumbed, I plan to have a collar 3D printed and affixed with ABS cement to reinforce the volute and eliminate the chance of accidental damage.

I ordered in the parts for a 2" version, intending to mock up a version that would be the largest size that could be accommodated in a RS250 stand. I have (2) RS250, that I will eventually get setup someday.

While waiting for the 2" parts to arrive, I was pondering how to make the reactor even smaller, and got a crazy idea. What about an off the shelf, whole house, RODI canister? I have wanted to use one in a CaRx design in the past, but could never figure out a way to make it work. This time, I think I have a workable idea. It would be super compact, and very affordable to build. Note, the whole house models use 3/4" (or 1") plumbing, not 1/4"!

The plan is to use the RODI canister as the media chamber and house the float valve and CO2 pocket in external piping at the top of the re-circulation loop. Water, and lots of small, fizzy bubbles, would flow out of the canister, into the separation chamber, and then get pumped back through the venturi, re-entering the canister through a ventral tube as fizzy bubbles, and rising to the top, to exit.

I have mocked up a very crude example. The parts are just press fit, and/or sitting in place just for illustration purposes. Please ignore the grey fitting as I need it to balance the unit to stand for the photo.

The green line is the water in, the blue line the effluent and the yellow is the CO2 in and re-circulation. The center tube will be much smaller, and have a 3D printed top and bottom part to disperse the water and bubbles, and hold the tube in place for filling the canister.

This could be made with a 10" x 2.5" (as pictured), a 10" x 4.5", or a 20" x 4.5" to support different amounts of media. Unscrewing and removing a 20" x 4.5" filled with media would definitely not be for the faint of heart!

Note, when selecting a canister, it is important to confirm that it does not have any metal inserts in the threaded holes. Some will have a pressure release with a stainless screw, but those are easy to remove and cap off, so they are fine.

I expect both the RODI version and the PVC media tube version to have similar media requirements as my ACR, and I run the original TLF ReBorn with no issues. Though I expect it will work with any media without the compaction and turning to mush issues you often see with other CaRx's when operating a low pH's. This reactor will be in the high 5's, so super low compared to most.

Here is a short vid of my ACR, showing the bubble action to give you an idea of what we are shooting for.

 

[Harpo]

What size tank would this be appropriate for? I have a Korallin that I was considering using.

 

[gennet]

While waiting for the 2" parts to arrive, I was pondering how to make the reactor even smaller, and got a crazy idea. What about an off the shelf, whole house, RODI canister? I have wanted to use one in a CaRx design in the past, but could never figure out a way to make it work. This time, I think I have a workable idea. It would be super compact, and very affordable to build. Note, the whole house models use 3/4" (or 1") plumbing, not 1/4"!

The plan is to use the RODI canister as the media chamber and house the float valve and CO2 pocket in external piping at the top of the re-circulation loop. Water, and lots of small, fizzy bubbles, would flow out of the canister, into the separation chamber, and then get pumped back through the venturi, re-entering the canister through a ventral tube as fizzy bubbles, and rising to the top, to exit.

I have mocked up a very crude example. The parts are just press fit, and/or sitting in place just for illustration purposes. Please ignore the grey fitting as I need it to balance the unit to stand for the photo.

The green line is the water in, the blue line the effluent and the yellow is the CO2 in and re-circulation. The center tube will be much smaller, and have a 3D printed top and bottom part to disperse the water and bubbles, and hold the tube in place for filling the canister.

This could be made with a 10" x 2.5" (as pictured), a 10" x 4.5", or a 20" x 4.5" to support different amounts of media. Unscrewing and removing a 20" x 4.5" filled with media would definitely not be for the faint of heart!

Note, when selecting a canister, it is important to confirm that it does not have any metal inserts in the threaded holes. Some will have a pressure release with a stainless screw, but those are easy to remove and cap off, so they are fine.

I expect both the RODI version and the PVC media tube version to have similar media requirements as my ACR, and I run the original TLF ReBorn with no issues. Though I expect it will work with any media without the compaction and turning to mush issues you often see with other CaRx's when operating a low pH's. This reactor will be in the high 5's, so super low compared to most.

Dennis,

Have you made any progress on this RODI canister-based build? I'd love to see some updates.

Ken

 

[Dennis Cartier]

What size tank would this be appropriate for? I have a Korallin that I was considering using.

At this point I am uncertain as to how big of tank it would be sufficient for. Because it will operate in saturation mode, it should pack a punch. My guess is that 250G would be possible. See next post though ...

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Dennis,

Have you made any progress on this RODI canister-based build? I'd love to see some updates.

Ken

Unfortunately I have not. My friend, who is supposed to be 3D printing the internal parts that I need to setup the needed flow pattern, has run into some snags. The canisters that I purchased from Amazon are not particularly uniform inside, and are not completely round. I suspect that the master they used to create the mold from, was in fact 3D printed, and not particularly well. The telltale lines, typical of 3D printing layers are visible in the walls of the canister.

So he has not got me the parts yet. I will probably have to just go ahead and get my own 3D printer to be able to make any headway on this.

Sorry for the delay.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

I should add, the photo above, is not the size of canister's that I am actually using for the build. I am using the 4.5" x 10" ones. One canister for the CaRx media, and a second one for a powered secondary chamber.

My thinking is for builds that need even more supplementation, a swap out to the larger 4.5" x 20" canister should extend the capabilities a fair bit.

Unfortunately, I apparently did not take any photos of the mock up before I tore some of it down to provide the parts for the 3D prototyping.

 

[gennet]

Unfortunately I have not. My friend, who is supposed to be 3D printing the internal parts that I need to setup the needed flow pattern, has run into some snags. The canisters that I purchased from Amazon are not particularly uniform inside, and are not completely round. I suspect that the master they used to create the mold from, was in fact 3D printed, and not particularly well. The telltale lines, typical of 3D printing layers are visible in the walls of the canister.

So he has not got me the parts yet. I will probably have to just go ahead and get my own 3D printer to be able to make any headway on this.

Sorry for the delay.

I'm glad to see this project wasn't abandoned; I look forward to seeing how it progresses.

As an aside, have you considered building a Dastaco clone?

 

[Dennis Cartier]

No, not abandoned, just delayed. I have a thread in the Research section that needs this reactor for the experiment, and I want my Research badge! Plus I always wanted to make a CaRx out of RODI canisters just to show it could be done, and work out well.

I thought about building a Dastaco clone way back when they first came on the scene in North America. However today, with what I have learned since, I would no longer bother with that design. The reason for the change in interest is that the Dastaco runs at atmospheric pressure, essentially non-pressurized. After running my ACR reactor for a few years, which is also a saturation style reactor, and more specifically, designing and building the v4 controller for it, I have found that running a saturation stye reactor under pressure appears to be a better mode of operation than running at atmospheric.

The v4 controller allows you to operate the CaRx within a select-able pressure range and uses the pressure changes within the CaRx to automate the cycling of the reactor. Turning on the feed pump to add water when needed and activating the CO2 valve to add CO2 as required to maintain saturation. In operation, you simply control the effluent flow rate and the controller does the rest just based on the pressure changes that occur as a result of the flow rate of the effluent. Essentially the same end result as the Dastaco, but with a very different method of accomplishing it.

Lastly, if I were to need a big CaRx for heavy supplementation, I would probably use the Schuran Jetstream style that I started this thread based on. Those made out of 6" PVC would handle big tanks and be scalable. The ACR reactor I run now is basically the same design pattern, only squat, instead of tall, and it works great.

My research thread should help confirm my belief that operating saturation style reactors under pressure is preferential to running them at atmospheric.

Automatic Calcium Reactor Controller (ACR)

This thread is provide a walk through for building an automatic calcium reactor controller for the Aquarium Engineering ACR line of CaRx's, though it will work with other CaRx's, like my DIY (Schuran) Jetstream stlye automatic Calcium Reactor History The AE ACR is a line of CaRx that use a...

www.reef2reef.com

Super Saturated Small Media Bed Reactor Theory

This thread is to study the effects of operating a super saturated small media bed CaRx (S3MBR) using the super saturation of CO2. The premise is that a S3MBR should be able to to achieve performance equal to, or exceed the performance of traditional larger CaRx reactors that rely on media...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Harpo]

Dennis, If you send me the step files or equivalent, I can have them printed for you.

 

[gennet]

No, not abandoned, just delayed. I have a thread in the Research section that needs this reactor for the experiment, and I want my Research badge! Plus I always wanted to make a CaRx out of RODI canisters just to show it could be done, and work out well.

That's a relief to hear!

The v4 controller allows you to operate the CaRx within a select-able pressure range and uses the pressure changes within the CaRx to automate the cycling of the reactor. Turning on the feed pump to add water when needed and activating the CO2 valve to add CO2 as required to maintain saturation. In operation, you simply control the effluent flow rate and the controller does the rest just based on the pressure changes that occur as a result of the flow rate of the effluent. Essentially the same end result as the Dastaco, but with a very different method of accomplishing it.

I've pretty recently gotten back into the hobby after a fifteen year hiatus and while I am mostly keeping soft corals and some LPS for now, I know I'll inevitably have to deal with an ever-increasing demand for alk/cal once SPS comes into the equation and I'd much rather go the DIY route when that time comes. I'll have to take a second look at your ACR controller thread; I have to say that I only quickly skimmed over it the first time around because I found all the wiring and electronics stuff daunting (as much as I hate to admit, I am not handy at all when it comes to electrical/electronics).

At any rate, I'll be watching these threads closely!

 

[Harpo]

That's a relief to hear!



I've pretty recently gotten back into the hobby after a fifteen year hiatus and while I am mostly keeping soft corals and some LPS for now, I know I'll inevitably have to deal with an ever-increasing demand for alk/cal once SPS comes into the equation and I'd much rather go the DIY route when that time comes. I'll have to take a second look at your ACR controller thread; I have to say that I only quickly skimmed over it the first time around because I found all the wiring and electronics stuff daunting (as much as I hate to admit, I am not handy at all when it comes to electrical/electronics).

At any rate, I'll be watching these threads closely!

Same here. I'm also getting back in after a 15 year break.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Dennis, If you send me the step files or equivalent, I can have them printed for you.

I don't have anything yet. I am guessing the step files are the 3D models or what the models get turned into, but I only provided him the parts and descriptions of what I need. He is very experienced at 3D printing, with several printers, both filament and resin based.

I have asked for 4 different parts in PLA. I know that PLA will dissolve eventually, but I need something that can be affixed with PVC adhesive. That means PLA or ABS. Since ABS releases toxic fumes during printing, I have asked for PLA. When I eventually get my printer, I plan to build a ventilated enclosure to allow ABS to be used easily and safely.

Of the 4 parts, 2 are very simple, and 2 are more complex. I am using a CPR venturi for this build, as well as in my ACR, so I want a tube that can slide over the 3/16" CPR nipple to adapt it to being usable with the 1/4" push fittings. So that is a tube about 3/4" long with 1/32" walls. See simple!

The next part is a sleeve with notches to slide over the volute on a Sicce pump to reinforce the volutes of the pumps used in the build. They crack way too easily when fittings are screwed tight into them. With a sleeve affixed into place beforehand, no cracking!

The next part is a bayonet fitting to go on the end of a length of PVC pipe. I will probably use 3/4" CPVC pipe as it's very stiff, so this fitting would have a female socket that the pipe seats into and would extend into the head of the canister. There will need to be a slot for an o-ring on the nipple that extends into socket in the head. It doesn't have to be super tight, especially since the head has to spin on with it in place. Though the canister could do the spinning instead, but that might prove difficult once it is filled with media (each piece of media could be the piece that jams the canister).

The final piece is the largest and most complicated. Again it is a fitting with a female socket that will affix onto the pipe. There will be grating that extends close to the edges of the canister (this is what the media rests on). The center of this part will have to use the center ring of the canister to position itself and hold the pipe in the right position for the head to screw on and mate the bayonet fitting into the socket in the head. There will need to be slots in the fitting under the grating level to allow water to flow out under the grating. There will also need to be standoffs under the grating to support the grating with the media sitting on it. I am not sure if this part will need to be printed in 2 parts and glued together, or if it can be printed upside down with the grating on the bottom of the print and the standoffs and center fitting extending up. This part is dependent on the dimensions and uniformity of the canister and where he has run into difficulty apparently.

Those are the parts I am waiting on. See easy!?