Schuran Jetstream 1 Calcium reactor. Some pictures.

[Ewan]

This is my third calcium reactor. It was purchased after a massive leak occurred in my second. My wife told me to buy a reactor that I wouldn't have to replace any time soon... so I did.

I decided to purchase a schuran reactor based on lots of reading from www.ultimatereef.com ... our UK friends. This reactor has a good reputation there. I also compared it to many other models. It rose to the top every time.

Here's some pics:



This is the unit. It is mounted on a plastic board that measures approximately 21x13. A simple compression valve can be mounted on the true union valve (the big blue handle) to accomodate a pH monitor/controller. The large bubble counter is an excellent feature, especially when running high volumes of CO2 through the reactor.



This is the top seal of the reactor. The bubbles are from CO2. The workmanship is excellent. There is a large, thick seal that is fairly soft. I'm not worried about this reactor leaking. The bottom seal is the same, and the entire middle section comes out. This is by far my favorite feature of the reactor. Filling the reactor can be done at the sink.

Bottom





Here's a size comparison of the reaction chamber. It's small in comparison of the rated capacity of the reactor. It's worth reapeating that I really like the fact that the chamber can be removed for filling.



Schuran suggests large media for their reactors. I was surprised how large it was once I recieved the reactor. The unit uses a fast flow with a high volume of CO2 to lower the pH to 6.20 to 6.50, as recommended by Schuran. This media is very forgiving. During initial tweaking, the pH in the unit reached as low as 6.00. In the past, I have used reactors with much smaller media. Dropping the media to 6.00 would have caused the media to turn to mush. With the larger media, the efect of running such a low pH was a effluent alkalinity of 60+ dKH! There have been no noticeable additions of phosphate in my system from running this media. (undetectable by salifert test)





This is the top of the gas collection chamber. All of the CO2 that is added to the reactor is used. Gas that collects in the chamber is directed back to the injector and recirculated. It is a very efficient design. Again, the acrylic work is awesome. All fittings used are high quality, and provide secure connections.



Here's the top of the bubble counter to further illustrate the craftsmanship.




Here's a shot of the injector assembly. The blue line is an input line from the tank, the red line is from the gas collection chamber. Any CO2 that is not used is added back to the recirculation loop at this point. Very simple and very effective.

That's is for now. Overall, I am very pleased with this unit. The quality of build and functionality of this reactor is second to none. Very high-quality unit.

E.

[3_high_low]

I like it! The media are obviously pieces of coral, free of any snail shells or otherwise.

My 4 year old reactor is getting a brittle, I'm afraid to touch it. I may have to get on the list for Jetstream-1. I think it's a nice unit. Is it an Eheim pump it uses?

BTW, I'm guessing you got it from PA. How long you have to wait?

[s13silvia]

that looks like a really nice setup... how much did that set you back?

[Ewan]

Originally posted by 3_high_low
I like it! The media are obviously pieces of coral, free of any snail shells or otherwise.

My 4 year old reactor is getting a brittle, I'm afraid to touch it. I may have to get on the list for Jetstream-1. I think it's a nice unit. Is it an Eheim pump it uses?

BTW, I'm guessing you got it from PA. How long you have to wait?

I didn't have to wait at all. They were actually not selling very well when I purchased it (from what I understand... I guess I'm not qualified to give that statement). It seems that a few of us bought at the same time and shared our experiences. Ever since then, a demand was present. Now I see a waiting list. This makes me happy.

They really do speak for themselves. I wanted to share some pictures for that very reason.

Yes, I did purchase it at PA. They're my favorite. Their customer service and communication is excellent. I probably still would have purchased it straight from Germany, but I was very relieved to discover that my favorite online vendor carried it.

As for your reactor getting brittle, I know what you mean. I had an ultralife bubble counter that fell apart after 1 year. The CO2 seems to have really eaten the plastic.

E.

[Todd March]

Thanks for the great pictures, Ewan, very nice; just what I wanted to see, some good closeups of that renowned Schuran acrylic work.

Looks like a great sturdy unit. This larger media is very popular in Europe, unknown in the us, essentially.

What size is that inlet hose from the tank? 1/4"...?

[Ewan]

yes. 1/4"

I might add that the this particular unit, purchased from Premium Aquatics, uses fittings that are compatible here in the US. The pump is a domestic ehiem (120V), and the input/output lines are compatible with the 1/4" tubing we use here. John Guest fittings work perfectly with no leaks.

[aLittletank]

interesting design, I really like how it is mounted... It would force me to be organized

can you give us your rates and readings? bubble rate, effluent rate, calcium and alk readings from the effluent


thanks
Allen

[RedEyeReef]

Thanks for sharing, I have been wanting to see one of these in action.

[Ewan]

Originally posted by aLittletank
interesting design, I really like how it is mounted... It would force me to be organized

can you give us your rates and readings? bubble rate, effluent rate, calcium and alk readings from the effluent


thanks
Allen

As of today, I have an effluent rate of 40mL/minute [stable] with 100 bubbles/min of CO2.

This puts the reactor pH at 6.34. I only run the co2 for 14 hours/day. This helps to keep my pH up during nighttime.

Schuran recommends a pH of between 6.2 and 6.5. The larger media makes very high effluent alkalinity possible without the worry of turning your media to mush. Schuran suggests cutting off the CO2 at night to avoid excessivly low pH. With the ability to buffer so well, it's easy to run the co2 only part-time.

Effluent Alk is 50-54dKH. This was measured in low resolution with the sample diluted 50/50 with deionised water. I'm very impressed with the effluent alkalinity. I'm not even driving this reactor very hard yet.

E.

[derek]

When you run out of media, what do you replace it with? The size looks a lot bigger the Ca Reactor media I have gotten in the past.

Thanks,

Derek

[Ewan]

more media of the same size, of course.

This media did not come with the reactor. I purchased it for $4/bag at Aquatic ecosystems. The reactor holds about 1.5 bags.

Pretty decent price if you ask me. I'm hoping the larger media will catch on here in the US, as I'm seeing more and more large-media type reactors around.... mostly imports. Ratz, H&S and Schuran to name a few.

Not to say that the large media is a fad. It makes perfect sense to me, and I can see the results. It won't dissolve as readily as ARM or similar, smaller media... But that's OK with me. So far, CO2 is about the cheapest consumable involved with reefkeeping that I've found.

E.

[derek]

Ewan,

Great, thank you for the information. I haven't seen that large of media and thought I might give it a try.

Derek

[Nanook]

Is that unit capable of handling 500 gallons of saltwater for a stony tank? BTW, thanks for the pictures!!


Nook

[Ewan]

Well, it's rated for up to 800 gallons... I really can't comment on how accurate that may be. It IS capable of taking in alot of CO2 and processing A LOT of effluent (150ml/min). Schuran mentions that it is possible to dissolve one complete filling in a month. That's 2.5 kilograms of solid calcium carbonate broken down and put in the water column... Sounds like some good growth to me.

Here's the product information page at www.schuran.com :

http://www.schuran.com/seawater/hobby_reaktoren_e.html

The only thing that I can comment on is the note about the absence of a 'slick' in the reactor chamber after the media has been used. If you've used a reactor, you'll be able to relate to that note. The inside of the chamber is clean-as-a-whistle. Even when I run my reactor as low as 6.2.

E.

[Todd March]

Ewan, I have never ran a Ca reactor before... Can you eloborate on what causes this "slick" and why you think the Schuran unit does not produce it...?

[Cruiznblue]

Now can I ask you how much it cost?

I like the way it looks alot.

[Todd March]

The Schuran units run around $540 or so, unless you get lucky and get them on sale as many of the folks on this thread did...!

[rufio173]

That's a nice unit!

That media is also pretty damn cheap. Phosphate free!

Peace,
John H.

[ZenReefer]

hello,

i recently purchased one of these and have been having a very hard time seting it up. the unit is suckig air from the pump or one of the fittings (I think). I am getting a lot of air bubbles inside the reactor which can't be co2. I have tried tightening everything to no avail. how are you feeding it? I am using an aqualifter pump to feed mine. It fills the reactor fairly quickly with a good flow rate so I don't think this is an issue. I noticed that the impellor housing cover on the eheim was rather loose, so I sealed it better. there was some improvement after doing this but I still get bubbles!

Did you experence this on initial set up of your reactor?

thanks, keith

[Tagareef]

Keith,

How many bubbles per minute are you using? I am doing about 120 bbm and it looks like "club soda" in the chamber. I am also using a peristaltic pump to "pull" water thru the reactor. Also, make sure all the unions have the "O" rings in place and seated properly.

I've had it set up for about a month now and am very pleased with it. Had to throttle it down a little...my Ca went up to 520 in the first few days. Who ever said that calcium reactors are for maintaining Ca and not for raising it has never used a Schuran!

Luis

[Ewan]

You've got that right, Luis.

I had a lot of bubbles in the chamber initially, and the co2 would build up in the collection chamber to about 1". I wasn't comfortable with this. I ended up changing my setup, and running the effluent through the reactor very quickly (100ml/min) and setting the CO2 rate to lower the pH to the proper level (let's just say that I can't count the bubbles very accurately). With the effluent running at such a high rate, there is no co2 buildup in the unit.

I currently have my co2 solenoid on a timer. It's only open for 8 hours a day. Actually, yesterday I lowered it to 6 hours, because my Alk has crept up to 14dKH!

Other than my Ca and alk raising, the unit has required no daily fussing for well over a month. It did take me a while to find out what would work for my system in terms of CO2 and effluent settings.

I've since removed the dosing pump from my system too, and I'm feeding the reactor from a tee off of my return pump. I will likely purchase a peristaltic pump next year for it, but it seems to be working flawlessly right now.



E.

[keigle]

Wow, thanks for posting these pictures. I have been thinking about getting one of these reactors for almost a year, but it just seems hard to find any information on them. About how big is the reactor chamber? What is the flow rate of the circulation pump?

Jeff

[ZenReefer]

Originally posted by Tagareef
Keith,

How many bubbles per minute are you using? I am doing about 120 bbm and it looks like "club soda" in the chamber. I am also using a peristaltic pump to "pull" water thru the reactor. Also, make sure all the unions have the "O" rings in place and seated properly.

I've had it set up for about a month now and am very pleased with it. Had to throttle it down a little...my Ca went up to 520 in the first few days. Who ever said that calcium reactors are for maintaining Ca and not for raising it has never used a Schuran!

Luis

right now i am running very little co2 about 40 bubbles /min. i did get it to work a lttle better by sealing all of the joints around all fittings and using teflon tape on all unions. it still looks like a jucuzzi in there. I am using an aqualiter pump (diaphragm type pump) to feed the reactor. I have it throttled down to about 1-2 drops per sec efluent. when you say you are pulling the water through, do you have the inlet line open to your tank? The instructions say not to restrict the effluent (outlet ) line and control only the inlet side. I'm getting a lot of big bubbles, not just litttle ones. Do you have solenoid on your tank connected to a timmer? is that how you shut it down at night? The reactor is working, i guess it is going to take a bit of fussing to get it dialed in. every other reactor i have owned has had to have the excess co2 bled off regularly anyway.

thanks for your help, keith

[dgasmd]

Not to derail your thread, but does anyone know if this type of media will work just the same with any other reactor so long as the pH is as they recommend? I can't see why not.

[Ewan]

Originally posted by ZenReefer
I have it throttled down to about 1-2 drops per sec efluent. ...

what is your pH in the chamber? If it's super low, that would help to explain the bubbles.

I didn't get the desired results with a low effluent flow. This reactor is made for big tanks... I have a very small tank (29 gallon) so after trying everything else, I thought I'd try running it as I would on a big tank, but for just part of the day. This has provided the best solution for my needs.

I, too had lots of bubbles, and a large amount of gas building up in the reaction chamber when I ran a low effluent drip through the system. In my experience, effluent flow under 50 ml/min will cause gas buildup in the chamber. Obviously this varies system-to-system, and is dependant on the CO2 input. But in my case, in order to achieve the low pH needed to dissolve the media, I had to add a lot of CO2.

I think 1-2 drops per second is your problem. I was in your shoes... trust me. Personally, I would try to aim for 50 ml/min or more for effluent, and adjust your co2 until you reach an appropriate pH in your chamber. At that point, put your co2 solenoid on a timer for the amount of time that you need to maintain Alk and calcium. 6 hours/day seems to do it for me.

Also, from the schuran manual, it mentions that a possible cause for CO2 buildup is having the output line too far below the reactor, creating a siphon. This would cause negative pressure in the reactor... not what we want. I achieved better stability with my effluent flow when I positioned the output line roughly one inch above the top of the reactor. This placed a *tiny* amount of backpressure on the reactor. Importantly, it got rid of the negative pressure. This is actually mentioned in the manual. The effluent line is placed within a large PVC pipe that leads to the sump. The PVC pipe acts as a 'waterslide' for the effuent.

Finally, it's worth noting that my reactor settled down over time. Once I accepted the fact that my reactor chamber looked like club soda, and focused on the fact that it was working very well at maintaining my Alk and Ca, the bubbles just went away on their own.

dgasmd: I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work. The schuran unit is particularly good at recycling un-used CO2... but I've noticed that it works exactly the same as David Playfair's recirculation loop mod: http://mistressreef.homestead.com/fi...0recirc%20loop

I love the media though. I recently added a second chamber full of ARM just for fun. I was rewarded with an aglae bloom. I'm pretty sure the events are related.

The ARM chamber is now off-line.

E.