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melev

Calcium Reactor - replenished for the next 8 months

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by
melev
, 10-22-2011 at 07:00 AM (5329 Views)
The Calcium Reactor was quite depleted after 8 months of running on the 400g, so I cleaned it up and refilled it with more media. I disconnected it from in my sump and placed it inside a styrofoam cooler, filled it up with Muriatic Acid & water and let it run for 30 minutes. It was then taken outside and blasted clean with a garden hose to remove the acid, then I was able to wipe it out thoroughly with a sponge.

It was filled up with the larger grade media from Caribsea. I topped it off with some Tropic Eden reactor media that was handy.



I recently had a request for more information about my sump, so here are a few pictures.


Water drains into the skimmer section. The Euroreef CS 12-3 skimmer uses two Eheim 1262 pumps. One has the intake modded to accept the effluent tubing from the biopellet reactor (visible below). The skimmer also has the Skimmer Swabbie from Avast Marine to keep the neck clean.


The water passes through triple baffles into the return zone. There are three reactors there. One Nextreef for biopellets (Coralvue currently), another Nextreef for carbon, and the Lifereef calcium reactor. The two 300w heaters are in this zone, and there are dual switches wired for automated top-off water to replace what has evaporated.


Two Dart pumps push the water where it needs to go. One is the return pump to send water back up to the display tank, and the other pump is for the black PVC manifold that feeds the reactors and the frag tank.

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Comments

  1. jlemoine2's Avatar
    Nice post, Marc... very clean setup. How deep is the water in each of your sections?
  2. melev's Avatar
    The skimmer section is 8" deep and the return 7" deep.
  3. dahenley's Avatar
    On DFW sites and such, you give a layout of the sump with arrows. can you do that some time and give some dimensions and depths? i really like your current sump and may use its design (if thats ok?) but it would need tweaking for my situation.
    Thanks!!

    (isnt your ER SKimmer a 12-2? 12-1 is 24" tall, 12-2 is 30" tall, 12-3 is 36" with 3 pumps. or is considered a 12-3 now with the upgraded Ehiem pumps?)
    Do you like your skimmer, or do you plan on changing/upgrading/trying something different later? (does it still overflow like it did? and do you attest that to the pellets?)
  4. JimM's Avatar
    Thanks Marc...I am at least one of the members that asked for more... and I still want more! How much flow do you estimate to the reactors? Are they daisy chained together or does each one receive its input from the manifold? The sump pictured here also has another side containing macro algae and a sand bed yes? What is the overall flow pattern in the entire fuge? How does the, I assume, lower flow volume through the fuge rejoin the remaining sump chambers?
    Sorry so how, what, why, etc... but inquiring minds NEED to know!
    Thanks in advance,
    Jim
  5. dahenley's Avatar
    Marc
    does your skimmer still overflow, and do you attest it to the bio pellets?
    also, is the swabbie still holding up to your expectations?
  6. melev's Avatar
    dahenley - I have the skimmer box in the garage still, so I'll check the label for the model number. 12-2 it is, sorry for that. It still does the job, so there is no need at this time to change it out. Two ER-style Eheim pumps and the Swabbie upgrade adds up to $600 that I've sunk into it in the past couple of years. Might as well use it.

    I'll get a new picture of this sump (or a replica) to give some flow patterns.

    Jim - The Nextreef SMR XL's flow through the Biospheres is around 500gph. The other reactor is probably running at 250gph. They are not daisy-chained. The Calcium Reactor is probably receiving 50gph or so, since the effluent is a quiet trickle. Some flow is pushed into the frag tank, maybe 300gph.

    The tank has 5 drains. Four go to the skimmer section, and one to the refugium zone. The refugium has a 4" DSB and is 58" long. The water level is 12" tall, and is lit with a UniqueLED daylight-LED fixture. The skimmer section and the refugium zone drain into the return section where the reactors are. Black foam sheets act as a shade barrier to limit algae growth in the cylindrical gear and sump.

    dahenley - When dialed in correct, the skimmer doesn't overflow.
    Yes, I'm loving the simplicity and realiability of the biopellets.
    The Skimmer Swabbie is still working as it should.
  7. JimM's Avatar
    Thanks Marc... a bunch for adding the detail. Just so I understand the geometry... is there a bubble trap from the fuge section to the return section then?
  8. melev's Avatar
    No, the water drains through a section of black egg crate that is 12 to 16" long, and the flow pours through very slowly and quietly. No bubbles form, so there's no need for a trap.