My DIY Reactor!

[CaptnIgnit]

I went ahead and decided that I would put together my own reactor and started the process tonight.

I took inspiration from http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/diy_reactor.htm so much credit is ado.

Here are the items I used:

(Link's are not the exact Item I used but very simliar)
1 - Pack of Bio-balls ( http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18401/si1383291/cl0/bioballs1gallonaprox60balls)
1 - Algae Spunge ( http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...quariumpharmaceuticalshandheldalgaepadacrylic)
2 - Gravel Vac's ( http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18377/si1381836/cl0/bigalsprocleangravelwashermedium)
1 - Water pump - I did actually use this specific one ( http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18555/si1379428/cl0/rio600pumppowerhead)
1 - One way Air valve ( http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18285/si1379934/cl0/leescheckvalve)
1 - Tube o Silicone ( http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18273/si1378882/cl0/allglasssiliconesealant3ozblack)
1 - Set of clamps ( http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18657/si1380941/cl0/tlfclampset12)

I am about half way done with the project and still waiting to get my CO2 kit but I have tested it out with an air pump and it appears to be working like a champ.

Here is the finished chamber (I apologize about the poor image quality, camera phone...yea...:

Ultimately here is what I did:

1. When buying the equipment there are a few things to look out for. One, make sure you can twist off the top of the gravel vac. I didn't run into any problems, but it is worth double checking. Two, depending on length you may need some extra tubing, standard 1/2" (Internal Diameter, yay for 2nd trips back to Home Depot!) vinyl tubing works great.

I highly suggest you get the Bio balls first, then go and find a gravel vac they fit in. Once you do that, take that gravel vac and goto home depot if you need extra tubing and find the clamps that work best (make sure that you put the tubing on the gravel vac and test the clamps out as it expands the diameter).

2. Once you have all the supplies it is pretty simple to get it all made. Start by taking off one of the gravel vac's top's. You'll want to double check and make sure it doesn't have a flap on the inside. Mine did and it was causing me a headache until I found it. Looking at the bottom of the gravel vac's top you should see a piece of plastic covering the flap. Just use a flat head screw driver and pop off the little piece of plastic off (carefully, it can break) and it will fall out. Then just put the plastic back on.

Repeat on the other gravel vac's top. Once this is completed choose one of the gravel vac tube's (doesn't matter which one) and put one of the gravel vac tops on it.

Now find that algae sponge and get a pair of scissors/knife and cut it to fit as a disc inside the gravel vac tube. You could potentially use any type of sponge but I find that the aglae sponges allow water to flow through them a lot easier than a normal sponge.

Once this is done, jam the thing all the way to the bottom and push it up against the gravel vac's top piece. Make sure that it is well fitted and doesn't bend or leave any open spots. This will prevent air bubbles from escaping out before getting mixed in.

Once that is complete throw a few bio balls in and put the other gravel vac top on. At this point I would suggest testing it out and making sure it works how you want. Just hook up your water pump and all the hoses and turn it on. If the water flows through it at a decent rate, you are good to go!.

The last step before getting the silicone involved is drilling a hole for the air valve. I used a dremel with a drill bit for this, but any drill will do. Just drill out the right size and you are set. I put the location right above the sponge as air bubble's tend to go upwards. I don't know if the location really matters but I followed what Chuck said on his diagram for this.

Silicone! This is a tricky part and you better make sure you are happy with how it looks before you start this! First I do the air valve, remember this is a one way valve. Test which way the valve works before siliconing it in place! It should allow air to be blown into the tube, and not allow water back out. Once you are sure that it is setup correctly put a ring of silicone around the side that slides into the gravel vac tube and slide it in place.

Now put the tops on the tube. Just guide the silicone around the edge of the tops until it meets up with the other side. I suggest taking a piece of paper (standard computer paper is fine) and then lightly wiping away the excess. Do this to the other end and then you are done!

3. Let it sit until it is dry and then you should have yourself a nice inline reactor for about $30-$40. When putting it in place remember to use the clamps! don't want to have it come undone and water to spray everywhere.

Anywho, as I finish up I'll edit this and try and take some more pictures.

 

[Purrbox]

Looks good so far. Definately would like to see some stats on it's performance. Doesn't sound like you're running CO2 on the tank currently so I guess we'll just have to settle for the final numbers.

 

[malkore]

It looks like it could work really well. I'll be interested to see the apparent effectiveness.

 

[An t-iasg]

Great project! Will you be using it with pressurized or yeast?

I highly suggest you get the Bio balls first, then go and find a gravel vac they fit in. Once you do that, take that gravel back and goto home depot if you need extra tubing

Do you mean gravel vac here?

 

[CaptnIgnit]

haha, typo's yay!

I don't have any CO2 currently setup but will be getting the Red Sea Turbo CO2 Bio System.

I plan to set it up with the reactor that comes with it and get a weeks worth of reading's then switch over to the reactor I made and get a weeks worth of readings. Once I have that I'll see if I can't dig up this post and let everyone know the results.

 

[CaptnIgnit]

Just a quick update, I am still waiting to get the CO2 unit (supposed to come in this coming wednesday) but I managed to hook up the reactor and have been running it to check for leaks.

I do have a couple questions that have popped up thorugh all this.

1. Any know of a quiet water pump that does 200 GPH or more? the rio 600 is loud and obnoxious (not so much the hum as the rattling it makes) and if there is another option I would like to get it.

2. how much air pressure does a yeast CO2 system put out? I notice that the one way valve requires a good amount of air pressure to open. I hooked up my profile 1000 air pump to it was barely able to make enough air pressure to open the valve.

 

[Purrbox]

I'm using the ViaAqua 180 with my CO2 reactors. It's only 80 GPH, but there are several larger models available. The only time they get noisy is when they need cleaning, otherwise it's just a quite hum.

I have no idea how much pressure the Yeast CO2 builds up, but they do fine with standard checkvalves. Just have to ensure that it's pointing the correct direction and there won't be any problems.

 

[CaptnIgnit]

K, so I did some more testing with the pump. It only creates the rattling racket right up against the side of the tank. I tried jamming an algea sponge between it and the tank which helped some, but you can still hear it. Only when it is sitting about 2 inches away from the glass does the vibration noise go away.

I'm curious if anyone else has found a way to get rid of the noise? is it just this pump or is this something I'll just have to live with? Should I get an external instead of submersible pump?

EDIT:

Ok, well I solved it for now. Not sure how much of a long term solution this is, but I'll try to explain what I did.

NOTE: This applies only to the rio 600, but I imagine with a little work you can get it to work with your pump. I'll cover the theory behind it in the first step.

1. Take the pump apart and get to the blade/rotor/impeller. In the rio 600 there is a plastic blade attached to a metal cylinder with a small rod through them both. The blade and cylinder are attached independantly of the rod. The pump works by spinning the cylinder and therefore the blade to make suction. however, if there is any sort of interference or pressure on output or input the blade starts spinning on the cylinder and making the rattle noise.

As I said, the blade can spin independantly of the cylinder but only to a certain degree. I would guesstimate it can spin 150-180 degree's before getting stopped. This is the major contribution to the noise that it produces. Therefore to reduce the noise you need to stop or slow down the blade.

2. take the cylinder and blade and get some Teflon Tape. Cut a small strand of it off and then work it into the gap between the clyinder and blade piece. Wrap it around a few times until you can't work it down into the little valley anymore. I suggest making a small wrap around the cylinder as it can bounce around inside the casing as well.

3. Throw it all back together and make sure it runs before putting it back in place. You may have to reduce the amount of tape used depending on how it works.


Hopefully this will give other people some idea's on how to reduce their vibration noise. Right now I'm not sure of the exact affect this has as you aren't really restricting anything or making the pump work harder. But keep in mind this would probably void any warranty you might have.