Wow, that is some precipitant!
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Looking good. Have you noticed any precipitate starting to build up on the pleated filter ?
If you get a moment, can you snap a photo of the barb/fitting you are using to connect to the LS13 tubing ? We just used the smallest barb we could find, but would prefer to do a more proper/secure long term setup.
Awe, thanks.Very interesting read. I am in awe of your DIY skills!
I have been following this thread for quite a while now and would love to pick your brain about some of the finer details. I have made up a very similar unit over the past two months and actually got it online finally today. 10" x 2.4" reaction chamber with honeycomb-drilled pvc as a flow modifier with a 20" x 4.5" 5 micron pleated filter after. Have a Neptune 1/4" flow meter to keep an eye on my input/output flow rate with a Kamoer Pro 2 Doser pump controlling the Lanthanum dose every half hour. Waiting on a very similar pressure gauge as the standard oil filled pressure gauge from RODI setup doesn't give me any sort of readings even when the output was entirely clogged. What sort of pressure readings were you getting with the pleated filter setup?Well my phosphate reactor is back online. I accidentally drove my PO4 back into the stratosphere with some automated dosing and a lack of attention. Oops. While running it again I noticed that my levels had plateaued and stopped dropping. It turned out to be a poorly placed (re-installed) intake hose for the peristaltic pump had sucked up a bunch of cheato, but in the mean time, while trying to diagnose the issue, I made some observations.
The current v2 reactor is just too big an unwieldy with the big 20" x 4.5" canister. Taking it apart for maintenance is a job unto itself. The poor sealing of the cartridge holding the glass beads continues to annoy me.
I also noticed that while the algae was obstructing the intake, the flow through the reactor allowed a big pile of flocs to settle on the bottom of the mixing chamber like a big pile of guano. This again makes me wonder if a simple settlement filter is not possible. I tried this in the past and failed, but I may try something again with a much longer and slower path for the reacted flocs to settle out of suspension in.
I have purchased 4 of the BRS hard shell filter cartridges and plan to rebuild the unit into a 4 canister version that provides the same surface area as the 20"x 4.5", but uses (4) 10" x 2.5" canisters. It will also allow individual canisters to be taken offline and back washed (I think). The biggest cost for the v3 version will be the required extra ball valves to allow each canister to be independently operated (online / back washing / offline). I also plan to revisit the mixing method and see if it can be improved both for result and ease of maintenance. I expect to wait until I have my PO4 back under control before I start the rebuild.
I don't think I used the IFM pressure sensor on the pleated version. When I had it running on the glass bead version, I found that it would get up to about 1.5 psi, and that was the signal that it needed to be back flushed. So that is probably why you are not seeing a reading on a gauge as the pressure is still pretty low, and the gauge will not be as sensitive.I have been following this thread for quite a while now and would love to pick your brain about some of the finer details. I have made up a very similar unit over the past two months and actually got it online finally today. 10" x 2.4" reaction chamber with honeycomb-drilled pvc as a flow modifier with a 20" x 4.5" 5 micron pleated filter after. Have a Neptune 1/4" flow meter to keep an eye on my input/output flow rate with a Kamoer Pro 2 Doser pump controlling the Lanthanum dose every half hour. Waiting on a very similar pressure gauge as the standard oil filled pressure gauge from RODI setup doesn't give me any sort of readings even when the output was entirely clogged. What sort of pressure readings were you getting with the pleated filter setup?
Another question is: Did you ever play around with mixing up the reaction chamber in any more of an effective manner? My work got in a bunch of replacement lower plastics for RODI canisters that have been dropped over the years, and Im wondering if its worth trying to machine out that bottom nub to be able to use some sort of magnetic stirring action within the reaction vessel itself.
Second question is: Is it worthwhile to try adding a secondary filter chamber to REALLY make sure that all LACl percipitate is out of the water coming out of the rx? Thinking a final 10" x 2.5" 1 micron pleated filter would really polish it out as I build up stock of nicer fish after a bad crash last summer. Just worried about some of the tangs/ angels etc... with more complicated gills that I have interest in keeping once again.
Sorry if the picture is a bit confusing as its in front of my calc reactor setup as I temporarily use one of my dosing containers as a stand while i work something up for such a THICCCK filter. Glad to be rid of the socks though!