DIY Calcium Reactor - Details and Plans...

gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
Ok.. This thread is in reply to some requests on another thread in the DIY forum.
This isn't an original design for the square reactor, I got the idea off of DJ88 on the other board. But I did modify it a little due to the local availability of some of the pieces/parts. I could have bought the stuff online, but didn't have the patience! :)
Ok, so first of all, here is what I used part wise:
-Acrylic Scraps (1/4" for the main body and 3/8 for the lid)
-Plastic screws/nuts to hold the lid together
-3/8" OD(outside diameter) hosing for effluent/influent/co2
-1/2" ID (not sure what the OD is on it) hosing for main circulation)
-Associated drill bits and taps (to make female thread for fittings)
-Misc plumbing (i'll get into more detail as required)
-CO2 Bottle (I used a 2.5#)
-CO2 Regulator (i used a milwaukee brand w/ solenoid)
-2 containers of ARM (obviously the size you make yours would vary this)
-misc valves for the 3/8" tubing/hosing.
That's the main stuff. Obviously there are specifics on the plumbing and such, but that can be done in a number of ways.. I'm sure questions will arise that might bring up better/new ways of doing them.
For the main circulation loop inlet/outlet, I used 2 pvc fittings (one male, one female) and joined them together sandwiching the acrylic in between them (I made a hole just big enough and the little bit of overhang is what made the seal..) You could use a PVC/Acrylic cement that would bond this permanently, or because I didn't know a solvent for both materials was available, do what I did and put a rubber gasket that fits just perfectly on each side... Both would work. Other option I've considered for my next one is to tap out the arylic, use a solvent, and screw it in while still moist to have a perfectly waterproof and permanent seal.
The other inlets/outlets such as the influent and effluent, I used barbed fittings with male thread. I tapped out the pipe or acrylic where ever I was going to have the connection, used some solvent or teflon tape (depending on the situation) to ensure the threads didn't leak by. The ones I used solvent on have held up much better... The ones I screwed up the threads on with the tap set aren't the best, but I did a messy but decent job sealing them.
I'll end this post with a overall picture of the reactor. The next post will explain the basics of a Calcium Reactor and how they work for those who haven't had any experience with them.
Feel free to ask questions any time... I'm sure either my self, or many other people have the answer you're looking for.
 
fender

fender

Active Member
If it's possible could you draw a labeled pic or drawing.
Thx for the info.
I love DIY projects.
 
gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
Yep.. Just finished working on it...
After posting these pictures, I'll put more explanation of the basic operation down.
This first picture is without many labels so you can see basic theoretical construction, not all connections are where they actually would be, and obviously plumbing is made 2 dimensional for understanding.
 
gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
OK. Now that I have a decent drawing to go from...
Looking at the picture attached to above (second one, with labels) and the one I'll attach here (same one for reference), you'll see the purplish color which is labeled 'INFLUENT', that refers to your tank water, fed by a mini-jet, maxijet, or any suitable pump, usually the input to the reactor is controlled by a valve of some sort. In this design, it meets up with a tee in the line, where there is an aux recirc loop. The purpose of this is to get gasses at the top of the reactor body to recirculate through the pump and hopefully dissolve into the water, exiting with the effluent, keeping our reactor full of water, with no air. In my system, this doesn't work. The goal was to have a venturi effect where this line meets the main pump suction, however it didn't quite work. Fortunately, my Rx(reactor) stays full of water, and I don't have a problem with air in the top.
The next thing to discuss is the main path of water/co2; water is injected at the suction side of the pump. CO2 is also injected and mixes with the water, therefore forming carbonic acid and lowering the pH. This lower pH water exits the pump and enters the rx body, flows through the entry void and past an acrylic 'grate' through some sponge material and into the mass of media. After making it's trip up, it would (in theory, if your venturi works right) allow some water to travel in the aux recirc line, with the rest starting to make its trip down (on the left side of the provided sketch). On the way up, the pH was lower, slowly dropping as it went up, so we expect more media to be used on the up-flowing side, versus the down-flowing side. Once the water makes its way down the media, it will pass through another sponge, past a acrylic 'grate' and into the exit void. Here, some water will be allowed to exit (based on the feed rate) and the rest will return to the suction piping to be mixed with more tank water and more co2.
This continues indefinitely. Due to the recirculating nature, there is a large lag in the changing of variables when adjustments are made, so time is allowed prior to re-sampling.
If there are any questions on this design, or on the basics of a calcium rx, just ask!
Here's the pic new sketch again, for reference while reading this post:
KEY FOR THE DRAWING
PURPLE - INFLUENT AND AUX RECIRC
GREEN - EFFLUENT
ORANGE - CO2 IN
GREY - MAIN RECIRC PIPING
 
gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
For the recirc pump, i'm using a eheim 1048
For the feed pump, i'm using a mini-jet 606
The reactor is running on approx 350 gallons of sps, lps and clams.. There are some softies in there, but they don't need the rx...
Here are some more pictures.
This is the pump and it's 1/2 inch hose to/from it. Kind of messy, but it works great.
 
gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
This shows where mine has it's effluent and recirc connections. I didn't put the effluent on the bottom as I show in the drawing, but I wish I had. Would have had a higher pH and more enriched effluent.
Not sure if you can see in the pic, but the effluent connection has a small piece of hose going down about an inch to prevent any excessive built up CO2 from entering the tank
EDIT: I've circled the extension in green and labeled the flow of the effluent in green and the flow of aux recirc in red.
 
gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
This is where the water returns to one of my sumps. The valve you can see in the back of the sump is the control for the feed rate.. I have it full open to keep up with everything.
 
gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
This is a side view where I have the main recirc loop 'bulkheads'
You can see that there is a piece on the right and left that have screwed into eachother, sandwhiching the acrylic. As I mentioned before, there is o-rings on both sides... I also put a little weld-on acrylic glue around the edges to get it good and secure. The pressure in there can get up there if you feed at a high rate.
 
fender

fender

Active Member
Seems pretty simple.
If you don't mind, how much did everything cost you?
I assume the pumps and the CO2 tank/regulator were the only big expenses?
 
gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
Yep... Very simple once it all makes sense.
Some of the stuff I already had laying around, but I'll just put the approx prices from an online vendor
Costs:
50 Pump - Eheim 1048 (on ----)
17 Feed pump - mini-jet 606
55 CO2 Tank
101 CO2 Regulator w/ Solenoid and bubble counter
40-50 Plumbing(valves,tubing,pipe,orings)
50 Acrylic (if you had to buy a whole sheet...) you could save on this if you could find scrap.
10 Acrylic scrap for the top... It has to be 3/8" vice 1/4 so it could be bolted together for a seal.. This is the hardest piece to find if you want black/grey like I did.
I bought some other misc things, like drill bits and a couple tap sets, so that ran around 40-50, but wasn't necessary if you knew someone who had it, or had it yourself... Plus, it's reuseable stuff.
I'd also had about $20 in plumbing parts I never used, or just screwed up... If it was better planned out from the start, it would prob be a little cheaper.
So, total, not including the tool items I bought, or the $20 worth of mistakes, it was around 320-330, but that's including the 155 worth of CO2 stuff. I already had the acrylic, but I added that in, just to give an idea of worst case scenario.
My actual cost of what was bought and finally included on the finished product was about 275.
 
gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
here's the inlet/outlet. Those gooped up connections on the right side are the co2 injection and influent connections. That is the suction side of the pump.
 
fender

fender

Active Member
What are the overall dimensions?
Is there any concern with it being too tall or too short?
 
gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
The dimensions of mine are
18" high
6" wide
6" deep
2" void at the bottom
3" gap at top from lid to top of media at max full
The bigger you make it, the more media, the more surface, the larger a system it can sustain.
I'm in the process of making a bigger one for when this one can't keep up. Then this one will go to a smaller system.
I'll include some pictures of the current one's progress.
 
fender

fender

Active Member
Cool. that sounds like it'll fit in my stand no prob.
Now to start collecting parts..... :D
 
gatorcsm

gatorcsm

Member
Here are the first stages of the next one, 20" high and 7" wide.
Same idea though.. No top or bottom.. No holes.
 
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