pirate2876
Valuable Member
Hi guys,
I replaced my Skimz Cal reactor about a month ago and I wanted to give a review for the its replacement. I also want to add a shout out to BRS for helping with this as well. I had initally contacted BRS about a replacement pump/impeller, but when none could be found, they offered me super deal on a Skimz, or nice discount on anything else. The skimz had been undersized since upgrading the tank and connecting a frag tank a few years back. Overall water volume is around 400g with a lot of acros, so I went with the RO CR5000D 8" Calcium Reactor
Upon arrival the beast was huge. The acrylic was nice and thick with no burrs or rough spots. The WB pump is enormous and moves around a ton of water/air mixture within the chambers - which I have always thought is key to keeping the reactor efficient. I actually went with RO because I know the water blaster pumps are widely available, and should it fail, it won't be hard to find replacement parts- which is why I left Skimz. A great feature with this reactor are the screw on lids. They are easier to get on and off than something with 12 thumb screws. All connections had o-rings that sealed correctly. Everything lined up nicely as well. It took a ridiculous amount of media to fill both chambers. I take out some of the sponges in cal reactors as I've found those to get caked with gunk and inhibit the flow after a while. I use a larger cal media on the top and bottom of the chamber to "hold" smaller grain media in. I don't know if this is the right way to do this, it's just something I feel works for me.
So far I have not experienced large quantities of trapped air. The big pump is able to effectively move around the C02, so nothing really builds at the top. Aside from the occasional air bubbles being taken inside the pump, the whole thing is silent.
I would recommend this reactor to anyone looking to maintain their alk without dosing. It's solid, it's quiet, and it's parts are easy to replace.
I replaced my Skimz Cal reactor about a month ago and I wanted to give a review for the its replacement. I also want to add a shout out to BRS for helping with this as well. I had initally contacted BRS about a replacement pump/impeller, but when none could be found, they offered me super deal on a Skimz, or nice discount on anything else. The skimz had been undersized since upgrading the tank and connecting a frag tank a few years back. Overall water volume is around 400g with a lot of acros, so I went with the RO CR5000D 8" Calcium Reactor
Upon arrival the beast was huge. The acrylic was nice and thick with no burrs or rough spots. The WB pump is enormous and moves around a ton of water/air mixture within the chambers - which I have always thought is key to keeping the reactor efficient. I actually went with RO because I know the water blaster pumps are widely available, and should it fail, it won't be hard to find replacement parts- which is why I left Skimz. A great feature with this reactor are the screw on lids. They are easier to get on and off than something with 12 thumb screws. All connections had o-rings that sealed correctly. Everything lined up nicely as well. It took a ridiculous amount of media to fill both chambers. I take out some of the sponges in cal reactors as I've found those to get caked with gunk and inhibit the flow after a while. I use a larger cal media on the top and bottom of the chamber to "hold" smaller grain media in. I don't know if this is the right way to do this, it's just something I feel works for me.
So far I have not experienced large quantities of trapped air. The big pump is able to effectively move around the C02, so nothing really builds at the top. Aside from the occasional air bubbles being taken inside the pump, the whole thing is silent.
I would recommend this reactor to anyone looking to maintain their alk without dosing. It's solid, it's quiet, and it's parts are easy to replace.
