Skip's Calcium Reactor

[minfinger]

Skip...

How much pressure would you say is on that system?

Do you think regular ole AGA Silicone would hold it together?

[skipm]

There isn't too much pressure on it but silicone would fail. I don't think that silicone would even be able to keep the pressure of the media in the reactor contained for very long. You need either an acrylic cement or methelene chloride (the active part in the cement). Skip

[Quicksilver]

Hey Skip, have you found a place to get methelene chloride? I want it to make my own adhesive at the cocsistency I want. I am about to be building a skimmer and can not find it locally. What kind of stores would sale it? Thanks for the help. William

[skipm]

I bought mine online from www.usplastics.com . I haven't found anyplace to buy it locally. You commented a little while back about being able to get acrylic, what thicknesses can you get and can you get any other shapes other than sheetstock? I did notice once the one of the marine epoxy/fiberglass systems (West something) had a thinner or cleaner that was methelene chloride but I didn't look to see if anything else was in it since I already have acrylic cement. HTH, Skip

[minfinger]

Skip I don't know if you were checking the original thread, but they've made a few updates since then.

Go to about Page 20 and read on
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=144438

[bugshop]

Hi Guys
I get my methelene chloride from my local train/hobby shop.
HTH Timmy

[minfinger]

Bug,

Isn't that the stuff that comes in the little bottles that has the spray on activator?

[bugshop]

No This stuff cones in a little 2oz glass bottle
with a built in brush applicator (like finger nail polish)
I don't use the brush. I put it into a small squeze bottle with
a long applicator needle.
This stuff evaporates very fast so
unless you are going to use it up fast
I wouldn't get it in the qt. or gal. can.
If you do you need to put it into a coke bottle
it will last longer.

This brand is

AMBROID PRO WELD
professional plastic welder
for styrene, butyrate abs & acrylic.

But the brand doesn't matter
as long as it contains methelene chloride.

we have an old hobby / train store here that stocks it.
You might hind it in a hobby shop near you.
If not let me know and I can get you some.
it's only a few $$ per bottle.

Timmy

[skipm]

Are there any general hobby stores in Charleston? If so where are they? TIA, Skip

[minfinger]

Yeah there's a few. One in Mt. Pleasant that stocks just about 1 of everything. There's also one near my house Skip, I can't remember the name, but it's in the same shopping center as Barnes and Noble, the same road Age of Aquariums is on.

[Troy182]

I stopped by Just trains when I was in Charleston I don't know how they compare to other stores in Charleston but I was not really all that impressed. I set out to spend about 250.00 on a reallynice toy train set to hang in my sons room and left spending $6.00 on two sheets of Track bed liner that I thought would make a nice gasket for a reactor if Skip and I couldn't find anything better.

[Troy182]

oh by the way, how's it doing? any noticable differences? any ph swings? have you tested your calcium yet?

[bugshop]

Skip, I almost planed a weekend trip to Beaufort for this weekend:) I could have brought you some.
But we decided tio do it in a week or three.

I've found that most hobby shops here in the Cola. area are Lame:o
But this one is very.....differant.
It is a very old gas station that I bought candy at as a kid.
The owners fother sold gas and worked on lawn mowers in the back at least when him and 2 or 3 other old timers weren't sitting around the old pot belly stove drinking RC colas:)
The good ol days

Today it is very over stocked little shop that only sells trains and some models.

Timmy

[skipm]

I appreciate the offer Tim but I already have a pint of cement. I was asking just for info for regular hobbies, I also like to put models together once in awhile and like the higher end models.

Troy,
It is up and running but I am getting my rump kicked trying to get the bubble count set. I haven't bothered to test for anything but pH since I set the bubble rate and a short time later it has either stopped or has dumped so much co2 in the reactor that it has displaced about the top 1 1/2" with co2. I may try something a bit different this weekend. Skip

[minfinger]

It's Hobby Town USA

http://www.hobbytown.com/zcl/detail.html?zcl_info_id=80

Nice store, lots of stuff in there.

The other stores are:
Faith's Racing I really nice place for Nascar fans.

Randy's Hobby Shop, I always enjoy going to this store...Just a ton of neat stuff and they've got trains!!! Over in Mt Pleasant.

[dvmsn]

I had a custom nielsen reactor made by My Reef Creations. It is 4.5 inch dia. x 18 inches with a flanged head. 2 x (1/4) od nipples in the flange and 2 x (½) nipples on the cylinder. It cost $ 100.00 plus shipping. About half as much as commercially available models with pump included. I added a maxijet to stir. I plumbed one of those $ 5.00 float switches into another maxijet. I have it sitting in the 10 gall plastic reservoir. I had a hard time finding a place to order acrylic tubing in manageable lengths. Once I paid for shipping and all the extra tube I didn't need, I would have spent about the same amount of money.

[minfinger]

Ok I went back and looked at the original thread...Agian :D

Here's a link to Screws I found. Link (http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=Nylon+Screws%2C+Nuts%2C+Washers%2C+%26+Rod&product%5Fid=Nylon+Round+Head+Slotted+Screws&cookie%5Ftest=1)

And here's some pics of another version. Check out the little acrylic box with the holes in it on the return.
Big pic
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=2626810
The line coming down from the top is the re-circulation loop and also where the CO2 feeds in, I believe.
The tubing the comes out of the front is the output to the tank. It's looped over to the input from the tank for a water test, closest to the intake of the pump.

This is an example of the Venturi type design he used on the intake.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=2627134

Check out the little box on the pump return.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=2626818

Top removed, he used 2 O-Rings to seal the top instead of a gasket.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=2626831

I can't wait to get into the new house and get a Table saw! :D

[Quicksilver]

Hey Skip! How is your Calcium reactor coming? I have finished the tower and cup part of my skimmer. Took your advice with the spray induction, but I am going to make it where I can change it later if I want. When I get done with this skimmer I will be starting on the calcium reactor. Did the calcium reactor ever level out to where you wanted it? What modifications did you have to make to help with the excess CO2 problem? William

[skipm]

I just got it back up and running. When I went to get the co2 tank exchanged for a filled one they were out and didn't get any in until thursday of last week. I bought one of the check valves that Justin was talking about at the last meeting and that solved the co2 problem. I am in the process of dialing everything in now, I am sure this will take a week or so since any adjustments I make are small ones. I think my reactor is working fine now with the exception of needing fine tuning. Hope your skimmer works out well. Later, Skip

[Quicksilver]

Good to hear it is up and running. I will have to come visit you and check it out sometime. It does not look like I will be at this meeting. I have to be involved with the Heritage in Sea Pines. Just my luck. Sick last month and busy this one. I will talk to you later. William

[JOHNNYHO]

hey guys, hopefully i can help. if you want to glue acrylic use weld -on #3 or #4, if you want to glue pvc to acrylic use weld on #16, u can call ips international and they will tell u a local shop in your area that sells the stuff or a good online shop like usplastic.com , http://www.ipscorp.com/wo_html/howto.html is the site u need to contact them, i have made 3 calcium reactors and 2 protien skimmers before so if u would like some answers to your project just give me a pm, have fun fellas
john

[Quicksilver]

Appreciate that John! I think I have the skimmer under control, but you might be getting a PM when I start the reactor. I have to figure out how to get my seams to look a little better. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. William

[dragon_slayer]

Originally posted by JOHNNYHO
if you want to glue pvc to acrylic use weld on #16,

weld-on 16 does NOT attack PVC and does not form a secure bond. for 'gluing' PVC to acrylic you need to use 1802 or make your own, you can do this by mixing MEK with acrylic shavings.

Quicksilver

for the best looking seams you need smooth edges. I use an 80 tooth blade and only use it for cutting acrylic, never PVC or anything else. PVC ruins a blade with a single cut so that it doesn't cut acrylic satisfactory any longer.

for anything thicker then 1/4" you need to space the seam apart (30 gauge bare wire works great) while applying the glue and remove them after the edges have had time to soften, you'll get a little squeeze but perfect seams.

hth
kc

[Quicksilver]

Thanks for the tips Dragon_slayer. I will have to try the 30 guage wire trick. I have to build a box for the skimmer so I will have a chance to try it as soon as I can make it by the shop to pick up some more acrylic(luckily it is free). I kind of got carried away making little boxes and all kinds of other things trying to practice my seams. William

[minfinger]

Alright,

Now that it's coming down to it and I'm going to be buying a table saw soon. I need to build a calcium reactor that will handle between 600G and a 1000Gs. I got to thinking about it and I don't think it would be wise to make the reactor much taller than 3'.

Would anyone be apposed to building the reactor wider in all deminsions?

[JOHNNYHO]

not true, if you call IPS they will even tell you for up to 1/16" to 1/8" gap it will glue pvc to acrylic, even on the package it shows acrylic to hard plastic, i have proof (pic on bottom) that it will bond. now if you are going to make a bigger skimmer or reactor then the best is weld on #40 2 part epoxy or as dragon slayer mentioned #1802, hard to find because it is usually sold by the gallon but some specialty shops may carry it by the pint, this is very strong epoxy that can weld any kind of plastic. and for fitting the pvc to acrylic go get a new foresner drill bit (real clean circular cut for acrylic), john
DIY dual stage reactor
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/579/28300mini-100_0025.JPG
DIY single stage reactor
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/579/28300Image001.jpg

[Quicksilver]

Nice!

[minfinger]

what about building a giant Calcium reactor?

[Quicksilver]

I 've read (so do not quote me) that you would just need to increase the water volume and media to build one for a bigger tank. I will see if I can find that thread for you later. William

[skipm]

Mike,
The downsized reactor that I built will hold more than 8 lbs of ARM media. I want to say the original dimensions held near 20 lbs. Do you really need to go any larger than that? I would beleive that the original dimensions with something along the lines of a Mag 7 for circulation should be plenty for you with room to grow. JMO, Skip

[JOHNNYHO]

A bigger pump will increase the amount of calcium released into the tank especially with more Co2 being released into the reactor itself, Co2 breaks down the argonite but the faster amount of flow that runs through the reactor will definetly speed it up, its just the larger the reactor the more media it will hold so u change it less often, john

[minfinger]

Well I was going for a sort of maintenance free model :D

Perhaps I will build one like the original.