Official: Masterflex Calcium Reactor Setup Thread

[gus6464]

Originally Posted by slief

You don't need to use any silicone lube on the hose. Is it just clicking you are hearing? If so, it's kind of normal for some units. If you remove the head, you will see the motor shaft has a slot on it. If you look at the back side of the head, you will notice it's keyed to fit into the slot on the motors shaft. There is in some cases enough play between the pump head and the motor that it causes some clicking. Some people get some thin adhesive backed tar like paper from Home Depot and put it into the key slot to tighten the fit between the two parts. Others have used Teflon tape over the male keyed part on the head side to address the noise.

Yeah kinda. I will try the teflon tape trick to see if it works. Thanks.

[royvoss]

hi, just recieved my pump setup, is this the proper L/S 17 tubing to use

http://www.coleparmer.com/Product/Ma...25/WU-06508-17


thanks

[nivram]

Anyone using the Kamoer continuous duty pump with their reactor? If so what are your opinions of it.

[Krazie4Acans]

Originally Posted by nivram

Anyone using the Kamoer continuous duty pump with their reactor? If so what are your opinions of it.

I've wanted to try it but I haven't found any replacement tubing or heads for those units yet. I was worried that I would have to buy a whole unit in 6 months to a year when the tubing wears out.

[zachts]

Originally Posted by Krazie4Acans

I've wanted to try it but I haven't found any replacement tubing or heads for those units yet. I was worried that I would have to buy a whole unit in 6 months to a year when the tubing wears out.

Their website is almost not useful all I found for the model sold at salty supply was:

"KCS peristaltic pump
The wall thickness of the pump tube is 1.6mm or 0.85mm.flow rate could up to 352ml/min."

Salty Supply sells the tubing so you'd probably just have to ask for tubing specs. Looks pretty standard, supports different tubing sizes as long as wall thickness is the same, of course now you have to guess, is it 1.6mm or is it 0.85mm?

I've got a small Watson-Marlow head very similar to that, incredibly easy to change the tubing which is a huge plus over some of the Cole Parmer and other pump heads around.

[AquamanE]

Originally Posted by nivram

Anyone using the Kamoer continuous duty pump with their reactor? If so what are your opinions of it.

I just bought one and am having a hard time setting it up.

My CaRx, MRC 6, has an inlet feed of 1/2". The pump tubing is tiny. Ive managed to reduce it to fit, but now at a setting of 100ml/min I get 28ml out. and yes ive done the available "calibration" option.

regular air supply tubing is to big (3-4mm ID) even with wire ties, but I bought a "mini airline tubing" (2mm), it fit perfectly to fittings. . Im almost sure its related to tubing size.

If i can get this fixed im sure it will be OK. Very well built and is supposed to be ok for continuous use.

I know some have had success with this pump. Please advise.

[daquan44]

I just pulled the trigger on 7553-50 with 7518-00 head. Will this model work for me?

[slief]

Originally Posted by daquan44

I just pulled the trigger on 7553-50 with 7518-00 head. Will this model work for me?

That pump is not going to be ideal. It's minimum RPM is 50 RPM. That's very high high. With LS17 tubing which is what most of us recommend because it's easy to adapt to 1/4" tubing, that would be 140ml/min. To put that in perspective, I run at about 26ml/min on my tank. I don't think you would even want or need over 50ml/min flow and at that, you would be consuming much more Co2 than you need for most tanks just to keep the reactor pH down. 25ml/min is a good starting point for most tanks in my opinion and that wouldn't be a pump I would recommend. Even with LS16 tubing, that's 40ml/min which is still pretty high in my opinion for most tanks. Especially as a starting point. It's also an odd tubing size. At 50 RPM, that pump will also be very noisy. If I were you, I would try to sell that thing or cancel your order. That or use it as an ATO pump. The 7518-00 pump head can be saved as it will work fine with most any Masterflex pump and it supports LS17 tubing.

[royvoss]

i would read this before you purchase a reg,

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2461771

[daquan44]

I see a 7543-30. How about this pump?

[slief]

Originally Posted by daquan44

I see a 7543-30. How about this pump?

Nope. It's fixed speed. You ideally want something that is from 1-600, 6-600 rpm or 1-100 RPM. Variable speed is a must. The higher max RPM pumps use a gear back which reduces the motor speed and reduces wear and tear. I would suggest reading through this thread to get a better idea of what people are using.

[gus6464]

Originally Posted by xvgjhji

I have been waiting for this thread for a while, thanks for all the hard work and links. I will be needing to get the Aquarium Plant Carbon Doser and peri pump From MasterFlex. The peri pumps can be daunting so the links are very helpful.

Don't get the aquarium plant carbon doser. For that kind of cash you can get a dual stage regulator setup that will last you forever and be 100x better.

[Aqualund]

Originally Posted by gus6464

Don't get the aquarium plant carbon doser. For that kind of cash you can get a dual stage regulator setup that will last you forever and be 100x better.

Uh, it's not that bad. I have a SS regulator I assembled from used parts on ebay and it cost me nearly $500, and of course it will work for the rest of my life.

However, I have the Aquarium plants doser installed in 6 separate installations right now going on about 7 years without having to touch them. The clippard solenoids along with the analog circuitry inside of them make them a very reliable piece of equipment that I will always recommend to people who don't want to spend $500 on a regulator.

I dunno, I've never seen any reason not to recommend them as a viable, reliable option for hobbyists.

[gus6464]

Originally Posted by Aqualund

Uh, it's not that bad. I have a SS regulator I assembled from used parts on ebay and it cost me nearly $500, and of course it will work for the rest of my life.

However, I have the Aquarium plants doser installed in 6 separate installations right now going on about 7 years without having to touch them. The clippard solenoids along with the analog circuitry inside of them make them a very reliable piece of equipment that I will always recommend to people who don't want to spend $500 on a regulator.

I dunno, I've never seen any reason not to recommend them as a viable, reliable option for hobbyists.

I got my Victor dual stage setup for 200 all in. Sure its brass but that doesn't matter. People sell full dual stage units for 250-300 all the time. Dropping $500 for a setup is quite rare nowadays. What I'm saying is that for the price of the carbon doser a much better setup can be had.

[Aqualund]

I'm quite surprised you were able to get a decent dual stage setup for $200 all in when the burkert valve alone is $100 shipped (with the power cord, and new), and a worthwhile needle valve is anywhere from $75 to $200 used. That is nearly your total, and thats without the rest of the apparatus.

The only thing I wouldnt buy used in these setups is the burkert valve. That's $100 right there, maybe $80 if you're lucky. Getting the rest together with decent used equipment that will last longer than the carbondoser, for less than the remaining $100, is very rare indeed.

[gus6464]

Originally Posted by Aqualund

I'm quite surprised you were able to get a decent dual stage setup for $200 all in when the burkert valve alone is $100 shipped (with the power cord, and new), and a worthwhile needle valve is anywhere from $75 to $200 used. That is nearly your total, and thats without the rest of the apparatus.

The only thing I wouldnt buy used in these setups is the burkert valve. That's $100 right there, maybe $80 if you're lucky. Getting the rest together with decent used equipment that will last longer than the carbondoser, for less than the remaining $100, is very rare indeed.

This is my breakdown.

Victor VTS-253B regulator - $90
Fabco NV55-18 needle valve - $35 brand new
Burkert solenoid - $50 brand new aquarium plants
Misc fittings - $25 mcmaster carr

I did luck out on the regulator but deals like that can be found. I know of people who have scored on pretty much brand new Matheson SS ones on ebay for not much more. You do not need a $100 needle valve. The Fabco is more than good enough for our needs.

If I wanted to save a little more I could have gone with Clippard mouse solenoid but those are harder to find.

[swk]

Meh - id rather buy something for 300 and have it be plug and play then sourcing all these parts and pieces on eBay. Maybe a worthwhile project when I'm retired, but as a parent of 2 young kids and owner of a small business, I'll take plug and play any day vs the alternative. Especially when the plug and play is so solid and reliable. If I have to replace it once or twice in my reefing career, I'm ok with that.

[Aqualund]

Originally Posted by gus6464

This is my breakdown.

Victor VTS-253B regulator - $90
Fabco NV55-18 needle valve - $35 brand new
Burkert solenoid - $50 brand new aquarium plants
Misc fittings - $25 mcmaster carr

I did luck out on the regulator but deals like that can be found. I know of people who have scored on pretty much brand new Matheson SS ones on ebay for not much more. You do not need a $100 needle valve. The Fabco is more than good enough for our needs.

If I wanted to save a little more I could have gone with Clippard mouse solenoid but those are harder to find.

Ah okay so you were lucky. And you knew what you were doing. Also, I disagree on the needle valve...but that's fine.

Additionally, you went with the brass burkert instead of the SS. Here is where I will point out that the aquariumplants.com clippard valve is SS. So right there, in one of the major areas of failure (the solenoid), the aquariumplants.com is already going to last longer against corrosion than the brass burkert.

My point is here, when we are offering guidance to less experienced, new people within the hobby, we should not be so quick to outright dismiss some products because of personal opinion.

The aquariumplants.com regulator is not 100X less as good as the lucky deal you got on ebay. In fact, I would say it either the same, or a little better (for an entry level user), and it comes with a warranty and easy repair/replacement options if something goes wrong.

Wanna dismiss the milwaukee regulators? Be my guest =P But the aquariumplants.com is a damn good regulator, especially for those like SWK that just want it to work for their time in the hobby, and not build it themselves.

[gus6464]

How on earth is the carbon doser which is not even a dual stage regulator the same or better than a Victor VTS? They're nowhere close to the same league.

I have had this regulator for 3 years now. It was until now on numerous planted tank systems with no controller of any kind. That kind of environment requires an even more foolproof unit as if something goes wrong it will kill all livestock on the tank in an instant. The fabco valve never strayed even once from my initial setting.

The only needle valve I would trade my fabco for would be an ideal 52 series with vernier dial and that's only $90. No swagelok or hoke or whatever can even come close to the ideal.

[Aqualund]

Originally Posted by gus6464

How on earth is the carbon doser which is not even a dual stage regulator the same or better than a Victor VTS? They're nowhere close to the same league.

I have had this regulator for 3 years now. It was until now on numerous planted tank systems with no controller of any kind. That kind of environment requires an even more foolproof unit as if something goes wrong it will kill all livestock on the tank in an instant. The fabco valve never strayed even once from my initial setting.

The only needle valve I would trade my fabco for would be an ideal 52 series with vernier dial and that's only $90. No swagelok or hoke or whatever can even come close to the ideal.

Right, and I'm telling you have have 6 of these carbon dosers installed for 7 years with the same amount of reliability. They are good for like up to 10 billion cycles or something crazy like that. They have simply never failed. None of them.

So first off, your premise that you can get something better for the same price is based on ebay "luck" and building it yourself.

Secondly, it seems you've never used a carbondoser for an extended period of time, so you have no frame of reference to know whether it works better or worse than your setup.

Lastly, it's cool that you are using your setup for a planted tank. However, since this is a reef forum, most of the people here looking for advice are building these for their reefs. Therefore, considerations need to be taken so that these can be used in conjunction with a ph controller to inject into a calcium reactor...like corrosion, and specific ph metering.

Taking all of this into consideration the carbondoser is still not 100X less as good as your lucky buy on ebay, and you shouldn't say it is.

[MikeTR]

Hopping on the bandwagon. I was immediately turned off by the prices of the new pumps, but after a little more research was able to score a used pump (listed below) on ebay for $399 after making an offer. I've had too many issues with instability with dosing pumps/manual dosing. Will be feeding a GEO 618. I too am going the AP carbon doser route. Have a newborn in the house so truly need a set and forget.

Cole-Parmer Masterflex L/S 7523-60 Digital Pump Drive EasyLoad Pump Head 7518-10

[MikeTR]

Originally Posted by royvoss

hi, just recieved my pump setup, is this the proper L/S 17 tubing to use

http://www.coleparmer.com/Product/Ma...25/WU-06508-17


thanks

Can someone confirm, will need as well.

[slief]

Originally Posted by MikeTR

Hopping on the bandwagon. I was immediately turned off by the prices of the new pumps, but after a little more research was able to score a used pump (listed below) on ebay for $399 after making an offer. I've had too many issues with instability with dosing pumps/manual dosing. Will be feeding a GEO 618. I too am going the AP carbon doser route. Have a newborn in the house so truly need a set and forget.

Cole-Parmer Masterflex L/S 7523-60 Digital Pump Drive EasyLoad Pump Head 7518-10

That pump will work just fine. LS17 tubing is what you want to use like the stuff in your link. You can find by the foot online but if you look in the beginning of this thread, there is also some generic stuff listed from US Plastics if I am not mistaken.

[slief]

Originally Posted by Aqualund

Right, and I'm telling you have have 6 of these carbon dosers installed for 7 years with the same amount of reliability. They are good for like up to 10 billion cycles or something crazy like that. They have simply never failed. None of them.

So first off, your premise that you can get something better for the same price is based on ebay "luck" and building it yourself.

Secondly, it seems you've never used a carbondoser for an extended period of time, so you have no frame of reference to know whether it works better or worse than your setup.

Lastly, it's cool that you are using your setup for a planted tank. However, since this is a reef forum, most of the people here looking for advice are building these for their reefs. Therefore, considerations need to be taken so that these can be used in conjunction with a ph controller to inject into a calcium reactor...like corrosion, and specific ph metering.

Taking all of this into consideration the carbondoser is still not 100X less as good as your lucky buy on ebay, and you shouldn't say it is.

Like you, I too use the Carbon Doser and love it. I've had all kinds of regulators over the years including expensive dual stage ones and I really like the carbon doser for it's simplicity and set it and forget it nature. It works and it works very well. I haven't had to touch the regulator in over 7 months since dialing in my CaRx and my 30 point Co2 tank is still nearly completely full. Between the consistency of the Co2 rate and the consistency that my Masterflex provides, my reactors pH is always consitent and never varies more than my tanks pH variance from day to night. It's always spot on and my Apex never has to intervene with the regulator. Best of all is that I don't have to look at a bubble counter to adjust the reg. Just turn the dial and it does it's think very accurately. That said, having the Carbon Doser connected to a dual stage regulator would certainly be nice but I haven't seen a need for the dual stage with this regulator. Even as my pressure drops in my Co2 tank. With the output side set to 3 PSI, the bubble rate has changed in several months as evidenced by my reactors pH consistency.

[swk]

I've ran my half full 5lb tank down to maybe 100 psi, I mean, down to one or 2 hash marks on the tanks volume gauge and my calrx PH has remained at the set point without any fluctuation, or gas dump of any sort. It's really been a perfect regulator.