Man! That's a beautiful tank! Following along.
Thanks for the compliment. I need to learn how to take better pictures.
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Man! That's a beautiful tank! Following along.
A very nice new toy!! I really like their Cal Rx. Very cool!Over the holidays I finally got my new Pacific Sun Calcfeeder AC2 Pro up and running. This is my first calcium reactor so I have been learning how calcium reactors work in general. I have been dosing calcium and alk for years, and more recently mag as well. With this new tank my dosing requirements have been very high. I have been dosing about 300ml of alk per day using BRS sodium bicarbonate. A little less calcium and for the first time having to dose magnesium. It's possible these increased requirements are partially due to switching from Red Sea Pro salt to Tropic Marin (regular). I do like how much cleaner the Tropic Marin salt is, but having to dose more is an added cost and effort.
So I looked at several different reactors before deciding on the Pacific Sun. I looked at various used models as well as the Geo and Dastaco. I liked what I had read and heard about the Dastaco so was leaning towards that until I found out that Pacific Sun was going to release a new reactor based on the same principle. This reactor doesn't use PH as it's primary method for dissolving the media, but instead co2 level in a chamber. I researched Pacific Sun's reputation in the hobby as I had never purchased a product from them, and found no reason not to. I was concerned about buying a product so early in its life cycle, as well as getting support internationally, but after some email exchanges with Pacific Sun's President, Przemysław Cybulski, I decided to make the purchase. Przemek has been very communicative from the pre-sale until now, and I expect in the future. This goes a long way for me when making a purchase. It shows me he is personally behind his products.
I finally got around to setting everything up with some spare time over the holidays. First I had to get the regulator working and had never used a co2 reg before. I learned that the needle valve is very sensitive and needs to be opened quite a bit before any gas comes out. I don't have a bubble chamber so I just stick the end tube in a glass of water to count the bubbles. Right now I have it set for about 5 bubbles per second.
I was a pre-order and so received the degassing chamber for free. The degassing chamber is critical for me as low PH is a concern. I placed the order in October and received the reactor in early December. I had expected the wait so no concern. It gave me time to find a regulator and a local co2 distributor. The packaging was excellent and since it was an international shipment much appreciated. The entire box itself was wrapped in bubbles and inside there was plenty of packing material not to mention everything was wrapped in cellophane.
Here's a picture of the controller so you can get a look at the interfaces. It's a solid build, made of metal except for the attached pump.
Here are some of the accessories. Some tubing, holders for the tubing into the sump which is a nice add on, and the solenoid valve.
Setup was fairly easy. As this was my first calcium reactor I expected a learning curve. My only wish is that the instructions were a little clearer. I first needed to determine which tubes went where. There were some pictures in the instructions and I was able to figure out the rest. Once I got the tubing correct I filled up the reactors with media. Based on some research I went with Two Little Fishies Reborn as well as Remag media. Then I filled up the canisters with water, closed them up and started the Aquabee re-circulation pump. The Aquabee pump is extremely quiet.
The next part for me was a little confusing but after reaching out to Przemysław he quickly cleared it up and it made perfect sense. When you first turn on the controller the solenoid valve will open. You have a certain amount of time for the co2 to flow into the co2 chamber and if your co2 isn't flowing fast enough to push the water level down below the sensor, the controller will throw an error. To first get started either turn up your co2 flow or unplug, and plug back the controller until there is enough gas to fill the chamber down to the eye. Once the co2 chamber has enough gas no error is thrown and the reactor will begin to work. I set my effluent level to about 145ml per hour and am changing it as needed to match the tank's requirements.
A very nice new toy!! I really like their Cal Rx. Very cool!
The concept of measuring a set amount of co2 in a chamber is unique to PacSun and Datasco with Datasco using a float switch and PacSun using an optical sensor. Time will tell how it works out but I like the concept. I'm excited about using a reactor instead of dosing. The dosing requirements have increased to where mixing has become cumbersome.
Hi, how is the Ca reactor doing so far? I am interested in the feed back as this is still a fairly new product and even company in this territory. Nice set up.
I guess it makes sense to keep the tube greased. In the end it is a mechanical movement that is in constant motion.PacSun recommends using grease with the tube as their replacement tube came with it. I'm not sure if it's necessary to keep it greased up, or even if grease is necessary, but regardless this split in the tubing caused air to get in and replace the co2.
I guess it makes sense to keep the tube greased. In the end it is a mechanical movement that is in constant motion.
Good to hear you sorted out the problem.
These failures are due to small things and not always that easy to find.
Good luck and thank you for the information.
Lovely setup, you certainly did your homework well done. It shows, if you put the hard work in you get great results. Keep up the good work.