Offical Eco-Bak Thread

poolkeeper1 · Dec 26, 2011

Dowtish said:
Bill that's the reactor shown in the youtube video in the above gmoney post. It's a great idea, and that video is great at explaining and breaking down what's really happening.

I see that now, Great video. I went and bought a few fittings and tried retroing my MR1 Hmmm In theory it should have worked but in reality all the water took the least path of resistance. Will sleep on this and come up with another way to do this without spending 249.00 for a new reactor.
Bill

Dowtish · Dec 26, 2011

Well when you figure it out let me know. :)

sent from chris using my unsmart phone

gmoney243 · Dec 26, 2011

That same guy has a 6 part video explaining how skummers work in full detail and there skimmers are suppose to b killer. This guy seems vry knowledgable and does his homework

pickupman66 · Dec 28, 2011

WOW! those are PRICEY! looks like it could be simply made, just have to put some thought into it. looks like a Kalk reactor/CA reactor/recirc skimmer.

from teh looks of the one in the video, the pump intake is restricted to adjust the ammt it is tumbling the pellets. yes, water does enter on the intake side of the pump.

So, take a Kalk reactor chamber and modify it.

poolkeeper1 · Jan 3, 2012

pickupman66 said:
WOW! those are PRICEY! looks like it could be simply made, just have to put some thought into it. looks like a Kalk reactor/CA reactor/recirc skimmer.

from teh looks of the one in the video, the pump intake is restricted to adjust the ammt it is tumbling the pellets. yes, water does enter on the intake side of the pump.

So, take a Kalk reactor chamber and modify it.

Call me Crazy but i had Chris @ AC order me one of those new reactors just because i think they will be killer in Phos control where all the current reactors are missing the ability to regulate the amount of water going back into the tank.
Bill

poolkeeper1 · Jan 26, 2012

Seems Reef Dynamics is selling Reactors they can not deliver on the time frame they promised, That's Dissapointing! After already waiting 3 weeks now they are saying it will be at least another 4 weeks to recieve a product that has already been paid for!
Bill

reewik · Jan 26, 2012

Yeah that is a bummer.. I was just watching this video as I was doing some research on my Euroreef skimmers. Funny that I say the video on my own and not the posted one. I was in the process of trying to convert my skimmer and realized that I cannot convert it to use the gate valve. (cause some pin head glued it)... I was still able to do it I just had to be a little more inventive..LOL...

This is basically the same set up, smaller, as my life reef calcium reactor. My kalk reactor ReefTek.com - Nilsen (Kalk - Kalkwasser) Reactor may be the ticket to try to get this to work.... Sweet! I will give it a go...

JustinC · Jan 26, 2012

Seriously, another 4 weeks for yours? That's crazy! I might have to figure out a cheap homemade reactor build just so I can get my pellets wet. I'd hate to wait another month at the earliest to get those guys started!

rcmike · Jan 26, 2012

Yeah, that could be easily made. I may see if I can redesign the kalk reactor I made to convert it to one of these. It is basically the same concept as the calcium reactor I made but I have a small maxi jet feeding it. It might be able to do it without the maxi jet but I have read it is hard to control the flow with this type system. It wouldn't be as critical with a biopellet reactor since larger amounts of water are gong through it but with a calcium reactor you have very small amounts of water going through them.

JustinC · Jan 26, 2012

Since it will be over a month till I get my reactor (ordered one from ac also) does anyone have an old cheap reactor not being used that I might be able to buy?

poolkeeper1 · Jan 26, 2012

rcmike said:
Yeah, that could be easily made. I may see if I can redesign the kalk reactor I made to convert it to one of these. It is basically the same concept as the calcium reactor I made but I have a small maxi jet feeding it. It might be able to do it without the maxi jet but I have read it is hard to control the flow with this type system. It wouldn't be as critical with a biopellet reactor since larger amounts of water are gong through it but with a calcium reactor you have very small amounts of water going through them.

Good Luck i tried and it's not as easy as it seems, I wasted money on fittings and time only to find that water takes the least path of resistance and could not get the desired results. But I'm sure that people smarter than me may succeed.
Bill

rcmike · Jan 26, 2012

How much pump is needed to keep the biopellets suspended? Would a MaxiJet 1200 do it or would it need more? I haven't used biopellets yet so I'm not sure how heavy they are. I can always feed the reactor from my return pump if needed.

poolkeeper1 · Jan 26, 2012

rcmike said:
How much pump is needed to keep the biopellets suspended? Would a MaxiJet 1200 do it or would it need more? I haven't used biopellets yet so I'm not sure how heavy they are. I can always feed the reactor from my return pump if needed.

That is the way i currently do it from my return pump, The problem with that is to keep the pellets tumbling you may feed more water through the reactor than you need to keep your Po4 under control. Thus why I am buying this new type reactor.
Bill

rcmike · Jan 26, 2012

I'm talking about using a pump to circulate it and having a separate pump to feed it if needed. Pretty much any reactor could be modified to run that way I would think. Just hook a pump to the input and have the output going to the intake of the pump. Have a valve in there to regulate the tumbling rate. Then have a small line going to the reactor and another going from it. You could hook one of these up to a pump or if you have the input near the recirculation pump it might draw water into it without a separate pump like in the video.

gmoney243 · Jan 26, 2012

i think the trick to getting his reactor to working that way is the very small tubing he uses for the actualy intake the water pulls from the closer bigger easier flowing source(the reactor) aka the path of least resistance , instead of the small long far away tubing that still sucks in a small ammount.

rcmike · Jan 26, 2012

He has the tube right next to the intake of the pump which has lower pressure where the water comes out. You could even make that work better if you could put a tube inside the pipe that goes closer to the intake of the pump. I probably won't worry too much about getting it to work that way since I already have a place to tie into my return plumbing and I would have to modify my reactor quite a bit more. I might even just use the BRS Carbon/GFO reactor and modify it instead if I can find appropriate fittings.

rcmike · Jan 28, 2012

I converted my kalk reactor today to a recirculating biopellet reactor and it is working pretty good. I bought some TLF media at AC to see how it's going to work. I forgot I had to run this reactor in my sump because it leaks a little where the acrylic is glued to the PVC fittings. I made the plumbing stick out a little too far and it won't fit. I have it sitting in a Rubbermaid container for now. I will get a few fittings tomorrow and make it fit.

One question. Is there a problem with mixing different brands of media? I will probably add some more to what I am already using if it will work.

Dowtish · Jan 28, 2012

I know ToXIc mixed some of his existing pellets with a different pellets, and didnt have any ill effects. I wouldnt think it matters, its kinda like mixing 2 different sands. Bio pellets are just a substrate for bacteria to grow and feed. I dont think it matters if you mix them.

orthokardia · Jan 28, 2012

I think the mixing is good in that it is possible (not for sure) that it may yield more diversity in the bacteria. The only bad side would be if the shapes of the media would hinder it's ability to churn in the reactor. I run ecoback and the BRS brand with no ill effects.

-bart