LaCl Reactor

[insomniac2k2]

Odd. There may be something wrong with your check valve. You could try it without to see if it pushes the LC in, but don't run long term without one. You will overdose.

I have a spare doser I just tried and did not have issues with it either. You definitely have something working against you.

Originally Posted by Rare Angels

My set-up is just like yours, the first canister is empty then a 3 foot piece of 1/2 tubing connecting to the 2nd canister which is stuffed with floss when out a 1/2 tube to the skimmer inlet.

[insomniac2k2]

Yes, your RO canister can be used. I build all my reactors from the RO cannister parts from BRS. They sell all the fittings that you need.

I would probably use the jumbo canister for reaction and the RO canister for floss/carbon sandwitch. I would not feel that there would be benefit for having more floss and carbon to catch the precip. The more this stuff clogs, the better. It will continue to catch smaller precip.

Originally Posted by terri_ann

Insomniac,
It's me again I've been trying to figure out if I can make the reactor...cheap and space saving as I have minimal room under the tank.

I have a "Jumbo" BRS Carbon/GFO reactor that I'm not using...Could this work for one of the chambers?...If yes, would it be best for the mixing/contact time chamber or the floss/carbon sandwich chamber?

I also have an RO canister not being used. Would that work? It has no fittings but there is a lid.

More questions to come after your reply Thanks!

[Rare Angels]

Insomniac,

Thank you for the very prompt and informative replies! This thread is one of the best on RC !

I am going out of town later today for the weekend so I am going to turn off the doser and work with it some more next week. Thanks again and I will update you to my progress on getting things working.

Dave

[Rare Angels]

One other thing, I was able to get all the fittings needed at Buckeye Field Supply, an RC Sponsor, and they had a better selection than BRS.

[insomniac2k2]

Not positive, but I wouldn't imagine why not. If they have 1/2" slip fittings that is.

Originally Posted by Rare Angels

One other thing, I was able to get all the fittings needed at Buckeye Field Supply, an RC Sponsor, and they had a better selection than BRS.

[bnumair]

i am still not sure how much of a diluted chemical (5ml/2lts) r u suppose to dose in 1 day? also can some one post a link to actual seaklear product in use.

[terri_ann]

Originally Posted by insomniac2k2

Yes, your RO canister can be used. I build all my reactors from the RO cannister parts from BRS. They sell all the fittings that you need.

I would probably use the jumbo canister for reaction and the RO canister for floss/carbon sandwitch. I would not feel that there would be benefit for having more floss and carbon to catch the precip. The more this stuff clogs, the better. It will continue to catch smaller precip.

Great! Progress!! I was thinking the Jumbo reactor for the reaction chamber so I'm slowly getting this Can you help me with what size pump to use? Are we looking at a maji-jet or something larger?

Do you use the rigid (black/white)tubing from BRS to go from the pump into the reaction chamber?

Since there are no fittings for the RO canister, what fittings will I need? It will be so I can connect the reaction(Jumbo) TO the sandwich(RO). And then, what fittings are needed coming out of the sandwich canister?

What tubing is used between the reaction chamber and the sandwich chamber? Coming out of the sandwhich chamber that goes to the skimmer?

Last, how much tubing is used between the 2 chambers? Can it be just a short hose/tubing or does it need to be longer?

Thanks for helping me with this Insomniac Walking this 'ole woman through everything helps more than you know!!

[insomniac2k2]

There are only 2 products that you want to use. There is the commercial seaklear (used to be original until they decided to make more money on it). And there is Seaklear CR. I use CR. It's 66% diluted.

I'm diluting CR @ 20ml per gallon

Originally Posted by bnumair

i am still not sure how much of a diluted chemical (5ml/2lts) r u suppose to dose in 1 day? also can some one post a link to actual seaklear product in use.

[insomniac2k2]

I use a T off a "reactor" pump, but if you want to use an isolated pump, you can just run something like a MJ400 with a valve. The 1/2" push to connect fittings fit right on them and then you run the rigid line right into the T, and then into the reactors. All the fittings are available at BRS or other places. You will need to shop for what you need.

You don't need long tubing. Shortest possible is fine. The reaction chamber is the important part IMO. That's where the magic happens.

To make it easy, I took the hardline that exits the final reactor and slipped some standard soft tubing over it and then ran the soft tubing into my sump where my skimmer is. I added this tubing into my little skimmer inlet "mod". I believe I linked it earlier in this thread.

Originally Posted by terri_ann

Great! Progress!! I was thinking the Jumbo reactor for the reaction chamber so I'm slowly getting this Can you help me with what size pump to use? Are we looking at a maji-jet or something larger?


Do you use the rigid (black/white)tubing from BRS to go from the pump into the reaction chamber?

Since there are no fittings for the RO canister, what fittings will I need? It will be so I can connect the reaction(Jumbo) TO the sandwich(RO). And then, what fittings are needed coming out of the sandwich canister?

What tubing is used between the reaction chamber and the sandwich chamber? Coming out of the sandwhich chamber that goes to the skimmer?

Last, how much tubing is used between the 2 chambers? Can it be just a short hose/tubing or does it need to be longer?

Thanks for helping me with this Insomniac Walking this 'ole woman through everything helps more than you know!!

[rockdoc2010]

Just Wondering about tank size.
I have been following this tread as well as the original and it seems that everyone has a larger tank. I have a 40 gal with about a 10 gallon sump and was thinking about making one primarily for algae control as I have a low fish count and I cant say that I am impressed by my BRS dual GFO/CARBON setup. I do have a 1.1 mil BRS doser.

Lower fish count means lower fish food but I still get quite a bit of algae

But smaller volumes of water would be affected by high phosphates more quickly so I am thinking that I should give it a try.

Any comments on smaller tank size would be appreciated.

Thanks

[insomniac2k2]

I would not use a reactor on smaller water volumes, unless you have a perpetual phosphate issue. GFO would be my first choice.

That said, you could use a LC to bring high phosphates down and then maintain them with GFO.

Don't get me wrong, LC can be a viable option, but I feel that it has a startup cost, and requires a few months of commitment to track numbers and progress.

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by insomniac2k2

There are only 2 products that you want to use. There is the commercial seaklear (used to be original until they decided to make more money on it). And there is Seaklear CR. I use CR. It's 66% diluted.

I'm diluting CR @ 20ml per gallon

ok thanks, dilute 20ml per gal is ok , how much of it u dose daily. and what size tank and phos levels before usage?

[insomniac2k2]

My present dose rate is about 3.5 ML an hour. I dose 24/7. I see a reduction of about .01 every 3 days or so at this dose rate. Fast reduction of phosphates is not necessary IMO. The slower the better!

Maintenance dose is somewhere near 2.5ml an hour.

[terri_ann]

Originally Posted by insomniac2k2

I use a T off a "reactor" pump, but if you want to use an isolated pump, you can just run something like a MJ400 with a valve. The 1/2" push to connect fittings fit right on them and then you run the rigid line right into the T, and then into the reactors. All the fittings are available at BRS or other places. You will need to shop for what you need.

You don't need long tubing. Shortest possible is fine. The reaction chamber is the important part IMO. That's where the magic happens.

To make it easy, I took the hardline that exits the final reactor and slipped some standard soft tubing over it and then ran the soft tubing into my sump where my skimmer is. I added this tubing into my little skimmer inlet "mod". I believe I linked it earlier in this thread.

Thank you so very much Insomniac! I'll see about T-ing off one of the reactors. If not, I have a spare MJ600. I'll recheck to see about the inlet mod as I don't remember that

I know you have a life outside this thread and just want you to know how much I appreciate your help and time!!!

[terri_ann]

Questions: Do I need to have a tube running the solution into the bottom of the reaction chamber?

What size tubing are you using?

Where does the check valve go?

Is it absolutely necessary to use the doser (1.1ml)?

I'm sure I will have more questions...sorry! Thanks!

[Heliman]

A quick question about Seaclear...

We dont get this stuff in Aus, our local equivalent product is sold at a concentration of 150 gm/litre of La Cl (15%)

When you say Seaclear is 66% diluted , do you mean 66 gm/litre La Cl or is it 66% water and 34% LaCl ??...I am just trying to get my dose rates aligned with yours.

Thks

[insomniac2k2]

66% water to 34% LaCl3, but yes.

Originally Posted by Heliman

A quick question about Seaclear...

We dont get this stuff in Aus, our local equivalent product is sold at a concentration of 15 gm/litre of La Cl (15%)

When you say Seaclear is 66% diluted , do you mean 66 gm/litre La Cl or is it 66% water and 37% LaCl ??...I am just trying to get my dose rates aligned with yours.

Thks

[insomniac2k2]

I use the tubing to get the water and LC blend down to the bottom of the reaction chamber, so I'd say yes. I dont know what size the tubing was. I just found a piece laying around that fit over the little lip that is inside the reactor. You will have to experiment with it.

If you dont do a 1.1 ml doser, you will have to adjust your total water volume accordingly. I can only go off what I have had experience in being successful. So far, success has been from dosing a total of 2.5-5ml an hour and spread out over VERY small doses. The lager the dosage, the more water you will need to dilute with. You will need to figure out your own dosage rate in order to keep it safe.

Originally Posted by terri_ann

Questions: Do I need to have a tube running the solution into the bottom of the reaction chamber?

What size tubing are you using?

Where does the check valve go?

Is it absolutely necessary to use the doser (1.1ml)?

I'm sure I will have more questions...sorry! Thanks!

[bmanzie]

Could you post your code? I am curious to see if my brs doser drops liquid at 15 seconds.

Originally Posted by insomniac2k2

Present rate is about 3.5ml per hour. I dose for 15 seconds at a time with a 1.1 mm doser. I will post up my apex code tomorrow, but you get the idea.

[finrod2]

Insomniac posted the code I'm using on page 4 of this thread. So for my reactor setup is working great with no clouding or adverse effects. I use an apex to control my BRS doser.

[bmanzie]

THanks I see the code.
I was hoping for a little more explanation on what is going on in the code.
If I break 3:30 + :15 down into the hour, I get 60/3:45 which should give the how many times it is dosing. If I did that write, it is dosing about 17 times an hour.
I wanted to see how much is dosing both at the 15 sec level and the hour lever in case I want to adjust the dosage. I can't seem to figure that part out.
insomniac2k2, could you please give me some insight on the math you used?
Thanks a bunch.

[bmanzie]

Good morning, I thought I would try again and ask for help with the math.

[finrod2]

I'll give it a try:
I have set my apex to turn my BRS doser on every 3.5 mins for 15 secs. That equates to 411 doses per day x 15 secs or 102minutes

My BRS doser is 1.1ML per minute which means I does 113ML/Day of solution

My solution is 1 gal (3786ML) of RODI water plus 20ML of Seaclear CR, that is a .00528 solution so at 113ml/day is doses .6ml of seaclear per day. I am lowering my PO4 very slowly and I may increase the frequence of my dosing but I am trying to be careful so no free LACL gets into my system. Hope that helps.
Mike

[bmanzie]

So if the doser delivers 1.1ml a minute,15 sec would be a quarter of that (.275). Understood
3.5 minutes + 15 secs = 411 doses per day. How? I take 3.5 + 15=3.75 and devide 60 buy that. 384 ml per 24 hour period is what I am getting. What am I doing wrong?

[jerpa]

Originally Posted by bmanzie

So if the doser delivers 1.1ml a minute,15 sec would be a quarter of that (.275). Understood
3.5 minutes + 15 secs = 411 doses per day. How? I take 3.5 + 15=3.75 and devide 60 buy that. 384 ml per 24 hour period is what I am getting. What am I doing wrong?

I'm getting 384 doses per day with a total dose of 105.6ml

60min/hr x 24hr = 1440min/ 3.75 = 384 doses x .275ml per dose = 105.6ml dosed per day.


I believe the poster above had his 15 second run time included in the 3.5 minute timeframe.

60min/hr x 24hr = 1440min/ 3.5 = 411 doses x .275ml per dose = 113ml dosed per day.