Official: Masterflex Calcium Reactor Setup Thread

[Airywhitesoul]

AKA: Learn from all of my (many, costly) mistakes

I was inspired by this thread when I ran into multiple failures of BRS 60mL/min peristaltic pumps. My tank kept crashing and the only way forward was to get a more reliable set of pumps. Unfortunately, there just aren’t pump options in our hobby that are both powerful and reliable for peristaltic purposes. The main problems that was causing pump failures was that I was forced to produce RO and new salt water in my garage and pump it to my aquarium room. The BRS pumps couldn’t handle the long runs from this setup. Additional pump failures occurred from ATO abuse due to Texas climate and my desire for automated water exchanges. On top of this, my lifestyle is so busy that by the time I realized a pump had failed, it was always too late and the unbalanced chemistry would cause a tank crash.

I invested in two big upgrades to improve the reliability and maintenance of my system: a Neptune Apex aquarium controller and ColeParmer peristaltic pumps. Those 4 transducers and wattage monitors on the Apex really give you instantaneous awareness of problems via telephonic means. I also changed all of my 60mL/min BRS peristaltic pumps to Masterflex 7543-30 peristaltic pumps. The process for doing this wasn’t very simple (despite this truly excellent reef central thread), and I’d like to show others exactly how to do this so they don’t waste time, money, and you understand what exactly you are getting yourself into. You should think of these pumps in terms of three components: Pump, Head, and Tubing/fittings.

Noise should be a primary decision point for a buyer of these pumps. it was not a concern for me (and the pumps I eventually chose are a bit noisy so beware if they are attached to a wall with someone sleeping next to it). I actually prefer the standard heads versus the easy loads since they hold the tubing tighter and you don’t have to fiddle with them as much as with the Easy Loads. It does take a bit of math to plan exactly how much fluid you want to exchange and back calculate the tubing diameter (mL/rotation) and RPMs of the pump when you are going with a fixed RPM. Tubing is unfortunately expensive, and there’s really no way around this. The tubing is abused and it needs to be high quality if it is going to handle the forces placed upon it by the pump. You don’t need much of it (12” or so per pump), so that’s a positive.

Structurally, you’ll see I’ve mostly been able to keep the electricity above the liquids. That was intentional since you never know where your next leak will come from. I pump the new salt and RO water from the garage and store them in Davy Jones lockers from AvastMarine, next to my CO2 bottles (always have a backup) that are locked in place. The water level pressure transducer that comes from Avast Marine has never failed me in 10+ years of use. I’m a fan. I use a dual head Masterflex 7543-30 w/ L/S 17 tubing for daily water exchange to accomplish 3-4 gallons of water exchange automatically. The cool thing about the Masterflex tubing is that it is very exacting in diameter, so it’s probably the best way to do an even water exchange without risking over or underfillling the tank. You also need to think about the RO tubing strategy, not just L/S tubing for the pump heads. I wanted the long run from my garage to my small holding tanks for RO and fresh salt water to use large bore L/S 35 Norprene tubing and 3/8” RO tubing to reduce resistance and strain on the pumps. That Norprene is tough and meant for abuse. The rest I used L/S 17 w/ 1/4” RO tubing as suggested on the first page of this thread.

The pump setups are as follows:

Pumps:
Pump: ColeParmer 7543-30
Noise: Loud (maybe 60-70dB)
Cost: $45-$70 on eBay
Size: slightly larger than BRS (see picture). VERY convenient.
Strength: Above requirements for 100’ RO tubing run.
Heads accommodated: 1 or 2 (need appropriate hardware to attach it to pump).
Fluid dynamics: w/ LS17 - 84mL/min ; w/ LS35 - 114mL/min

Pump: ColeParmer 7553-60 (variable speed for Ca reactor)
Noise: Medium (maybe 50dB)
Cost: $41 on eBay
Size: Requires stand. Big and bulky (think toaster)
Strength: Above requirements for 100’ RO tubing run.
Heads accommodated: 1 or 2 (need appropriate hardware to attach it to pump).
Fluid dynamics: wide range due to pump speed variability. Definitely perfect for a calcium reactor.

Pump: BRS 1.1mL/min
Noise: Silent
Cost: ~$80 from BRS
Size: Perfect for mounting in a clean line.
Strength: Adequate for short 1/4” RO tubing run. Low flow likely prevents major pressure problems and permits pump longevity plaguing 60mL/min pump.
Heads accommodated: 1 only. Has built-in tubing and fittings, thus cutting down on secondary pump costs dramatically and simplifies things.
Fluid dynamics: fixed at 1.1mL/min. Perfect for Ca/Mg/Alk/Carbon dosing

Tubing:

Type: PharMed® BPT Biocompatible Tubing (L/S 17) 1/4" ID x 3/8" OD x 1/16" Wall PharMed® Tubing 10’ cut into ~12” lengths.
Purpose: Flexible and tolerant of steel rollers in pump head.
Cost: $38.50 ($3.85/foot)
Endurance: medium
Fluid dynamics: 2.8 mL/min/revolution

Type: Masterflex Norprene tubing (A 60 G), L/S 35, 50 ft.
Purpose: Flexible and tolerant of steel rollers in pump head.
Cost: $125.00 ($2.50/foot)
Endurance: Extreme
Fluid dynamics: 3.8-4.3mL/min/revolution (depending on head type)

Technical data on Masterflex tubing:
Tolerance to cuastics/UV/porosity:http://www.coleparmer.com/TechLibraryArticle/700
Sizing chart for L/S tubing: http://www.coleparmer.com/TechLibraryArticle/772
Life chart for tubing: http://partners.coleparmer.com/techi...ing_LSLife.htm

Type: LLDPE (Low Density Polyethylene tubing) 1/4” or 3/8”
Purpose: RO tubing for low cost runs away from Masterflex tubing
Cost: Inexpensive
Endurance: Years maintenance free

Heads:
L/S35 Head: Standard Head 7035-21
Cost: $50 on eBay
L/S17 Head: Standard Head 7017-21
Cost: $50-$75 on eBay
L/S17 Head: EasyLoad 7518-60
Cost: $75-$150 on eBay
Additional Info: Hardware for double stacked heads: http://www.coleparmer.com/Product/SS...ds/EW-07013-05

Purpose: main tank ATO
Pump: 7543-30
Set Up: L/S 17 tubing w/ 1/4” RO tubing from RO water container feeding into a Avast Marine Kalk stirrer. Requires a water level pressure transducer controller to turn ATO on/off.

Purpose: RO or Salt New water supply - sub-station ATOs
Pump: 7543-30
Set Up: L/S 35 tubing w/ 3/8” RO tubing 100’ run from large garage based 60 gallon drums to tank filling Avast Marine Davy Jones lockers x 2 w/ float valve controller to turn ATO pumps on/off.

Purpose: Daily water exchange
Pump: 7543-30
Set Up: L/S 17 tubing w/ 1/4” RO tubing, two stacked L/S 17 standard heads on one pump. Effluent waste water drawn off near skimmer (due to lack of algae or animals) and directly fed into sink waste, new salt feeds from a Davy Jones locker into same area.

Purpose: Calcium Reactor Feed pump
Pump: 7553-60 variable speed
Set Up: L/S 17 tubing w/ 1/4” RO tubing fed through an Easy Load head (to allow a variety of tubing options if flow ends up too high with L/S 17 at lowest flow rate). Calcium reactor set up is complicated. I’d recommend http://reef.diesyst.com/crarticle/crarticle.htm as a good read for the complexity involved in tuning them.

Lessons learned: 1) Almost any of the ColeParmer pumps will work for the peristaltic aquarium applications, even the small ones, like I got. They are WAY stronger than anything on the aquarium trade. 2) Noise - putting pumps and equipment in a closet or remote location allows a lot more diversity in inexpensive options. 3) Model numbers - overwhelming from ColePalmer standpoint. However, it’s the head that you are worried about - all of the pumps that I saw will handle the heads, so model number is somewhat irrelevant. The main thing you should be worried about is to make sure the RPMs and tubing size make for delivery in the 50-150mL/min for ATO/water exchange purposes OR 1-2mL/min for Two part and carbon dosing. Do the calculations with the L/S 17 (2.8mL/min/revolution) and L/S 35 (3.8-4.3mL/min/revolution) tubing and multiply by the revolutions per minute before you buy a pump and make sure the output is in range for your application. 4) 1/4” RO tubing for short runs, 3/8” RO tubing for long runs. 5) Cost - tubing costs a lot! You must consider all 3 aspects of these commercial grade pumps to get a price point figured out. I’d probably start with making sure you get the L/S 17 head and then go from there. Better yet, get a L/S 17 on the pump you want. 6) Size - if you get a bunch of big peristaltic pumps that will always run at the same RPMs (like an ATO), you are probably wasting money and space. Fixed RPM pumps are fine for this purpose and can be rather small.

Fittings are another problem for another write up. L/S 17 uses 1/4” barbs and we conveniently always connect it to 1/4” RO tubing with a John Guest fitting. L/S 35 uses a 3/8” barb and we conveniently always connect it to 3/8” RO tubing with a John Guest fitting.

Best of luck! I hope this helps!

[awais98]

Originally Posted by Airywhitesoul

AKA: Learn from all of my (many, costly) mistakes



I was inspired by this thread when I ran into multiple failures of BRS 60mL/min peristaltic pumps. My tank kept crashing and the only way forward was to get a more reliable set of pumps. Unfortunately, there just aren’t pump options in our hobby that are both powerful and reliable for peristaltic purposes. The main problems that was causing pump failures was that I was forced to produce RO and new salt water in my garage and pump it to my aquarium room. The BRS pumps couldn’t handle the long runs from this setup. Additional pump failures occurred from ATO abuse due to Texas climate and my desire for automated water exchanges. On top of this, my lifestyle is so busy that by the time I realized a pump had failed, it was always too late and the unbalanced chemistry would cause a tank crash.



I invested in two big upgrades to improve the reliability and maintenance of my system: a Neptune Apex aquarium controller and ColeParmer peristaltic pumps. Those 4 transducers and wattage monitors on the Apex really give you instantaneous awareness of problems via telephonic means. I also changed all of my 60mL/min BRS peristaltic pumps to Masterflex 7543-30 peristaltic pumps. The process for doing this wasn’t very simple (despite this truly excellent reef central thread), and I’d like to show others exactly how to do this so they don’t waste time, money, and you understand what exactly you are getting yourself into. You should think of these pumps in terms of three components: Pump, Head, and Tubing/fittings.



Noise should be a primary decision point for a buyer of these pumps. it was not a concern for me (and the pumps I eventually chose are a bit noisy so beware if they are attached to a wall with someone sleeping next to it). I actually prefer the standard heads versus the easy loads since they hold the tubing tighter and you don’t have to fiddle with them as much as with the Easy Loads. It does take a bit of math to plan exactly how much fluid you want to exchange and back calculate the tubing diameter (mL/rotation) and RPMs of the pump when you are going with a fixed RPM. Tubing is unfortunately expensive, and there’s really no way around this. The tubing is abused and it needs to be high quality if it is going to handle the forces placed upon it by the pump. You don’t need much of it (12” or so per pump), so that’s a positive.



Structurally, you’ll see I’ve mostly been able to keep the electricity above the liquids. That was intentional since you never know where your next leak will come from. I pump the new salt and RO water from the garage and store them in Davy Jones lockers from AvastMarine, next to my CO2 bottles (always have a backup) that are locked in place. The water level pressure transducer that comes from Avast Marine has never failed me in 10+ years of use. I’m a fan. I use a dual head Masterflex 7543-30 w/ L/S 17 tubing for daily water exchange to accomplish 3-4 gallons of water exchange automatically. The cool thing about the Masterflex tubing is that it is very exacting in diameter, so it’s probably the best way to do an even water exchange without risking over or underfillling the tank. You also need to think about the RO tubing strategy, not just L/S tubing for the pump heads. I wanted the long run from my garage to my small holding tanks for RO and fresh salt water to use large bore L/S 35 Norprene tubing and 3/8” RO tubing to reduce resistance and strain on the pumps. That Norprene is tough and meant for abuse. The rest I used L/S 17 w/ 1/4” RO tubing as suggested on the first page of this thread.



The pump setups are as follows:



Pumps:

Pump: ColeParmer 7543-30

Noise: Loud (maybe 60-70dB)

Cost: $45-$70 on eBay

Size: slightly larger than BRS (see picture). VERY convenient.

Strength: Above requirements for 100’ RO tubing run.

Heads accommodated: 1 or 2 (need appropriate hardware to attach it to pump).

Fluid dynamics: w/ LS17 - 84mL/min ; w/ LS35 - 114mL/min



Pump: ColeParmer 7553-60 (variable speed for Ca reactor)

Noise: Medium (maybe 50dB)

Cost: $41 on eBay

Size: Requires stand. Big and bulky (think toaster)

Strength: Above requirements for 100’ RO tubing run.

Heads accommodated: 1 or 2 (need appropriate hardware to attach it to pump).

Fluid dynamics: wide range due to pump speed variability. Definitely perfect for a calcium reactor.



Pump: BRS 1.1mL/min

Noise: Silent

Cost: ~$80 from BRS

Size: Perfect for mounting in a clean line.

Strength: Adequate for short 1/4” RO tubing run. Low flow likely prevents major pressure problems and permits pump longevity plaguing 60mL/min pump.

Heads accommodated: 1 only. Has built-in tubing and fittings, thus cutting down on secondary pump costs dramatically and simplifies things.

Fluid dynamics: fixed at 1.1mL/min. Perfect for Ca/Mg/Alk/Carbon dosing



Tubing:



Type: PharMed BPT Biocompatible Tubing (L/S 17) 1/4" ID x 3/8" OD x 1/16" Wall PharMed Tubing 10’ cut into ~12” lengths.

Purpose: Flexible and tolerant of steel rollers in pump head.

Cost: $38.50 ($3.85/foot)

Endurance: medium

Fluid dynamics: 2.8 mL/min/revolution



Type: Masterflex Norprene tubing (A 60 G), L/S 35, 50 ft.

Purpose: Flexible and tolerant of steel rollers in pump head.

Cost: $125.00 ($2.50/foot)

Endurance: Extreme

Fluid dynamics: 3.8-4.3mL/min/revolution (depending on head type)



Technical data on Masterflex tubing:

Tolerance to cuastics/UV/porosity:http://www.coleparmer.com/TechLibraryArticle/700

Sizing chart for L/S tubing: http://www.coleparmer.com/TechLibraryArticle/772

Life chart for tubing: http://partners.coleparmer.com/techi...ing_LSLife.htm



Type: LLDPE (Low Density Polyethylene tubing) 1/4” or 3/8”

Purpose: RO tubing for low cost runs away from Masterflex tubing

Cost: Inexpensive

Endurance: Years maintenance free



Heads:

L/S35 Head: Standard Head 7035-21

Cost: $50 on eBay

L/S17 Head: Standard Head 7017-21

Cost: $50-$75 on eBay

L/S17 Head: EasyLoad 7518-60

Cost: $75-$150 on eBay

Additional Info: Hardware for double stacked heads: http://www.coleparmer.com/Product/SS...ds/EW-07013-05



Purpose: main tank ATO

Pump: 7543-30

Set Up: L/S 17 tubing w/ 1/4” RO tubing from RO water container feeding into a Avast Marine Kalk stirrer. Requires a water level pressure transducer controller to turn ATO on/off.



Purpose: RO or Salt New water supply - sub-station ATOs

Pump: 7543-30

Set Up: L/S 35 tubing w/ 3/8” RO tubing 100’ run from large garage based 60 gallon drums to tank filling Avast Marine Davy Jones lockers x 2 w/ float valve controller to turn ATO pumps on/off.



Purpose: Daily water exchange

Pump: 7543-30

Set Up: L/S 17 tubing w/ 1/4” RO tubing, two stacked L/S 17 standard heads on one pump. Effluent waste water drawn off near skimmer (due to lack of algae or animals) and directly fed into sink waste, new salt feeds from a Davy Jones locker into same area.



Purpose: Calcium Reactor Feed pump

Pump: 7553-60 variable speed

Set Up: L/S 17 tubing w/ 1/4” RO tubing fed through an Easy Load head (to allow a variety of tubing options if flow ends up too high with L/S 17 at lowest flow rate). Calcium reactor set up is complicated. I’d recommend http://reef.diesyst.com/crarticle/crarticle.htm as a good read for the complexity involved in tuning them.



Lessons learned: 1) Almost any of the ColeParmer pumps will work for the peristaltic aquarium applications, even the small ones, like I got. They are WAY stronger than anything on the aquarium trade. 2) Noise - putting pumps and equipment in a closet or remote location allows a lot more diversity in inexpensive options. 3) Model numbers - overwhelming from ColePalmer standpoint. However, it’s the head that you are worried about - all of the pumps that I saw will handle the heads, so model number is somewhat irrelevant. The main thing you should be worried about is to make sure the RPMs and tubing size make for delivery in the 50-150mL/min for ATO/water exchange purposes OR 1-2mL/min for Two part and carbon dosing. Do the calculations with the L/S 17 (2.8mL/min/revolution) and L/S 35 (3.8-4.3mL/min/revolution) tubing and multiply by the revolutions per minute before you buy a pump and make sure the output is in range for your application. 4) 1/4” RO tubing for short runs, 3/8” RO tubing for long runs. 5) Cost - tubing costs a lot! You must consider all 3 aspects of these commercial grade pumps to get a price point figured out. I’d probably start with making sure you get the L/S 17 head and then go from there. Better yet, get a L/S 17 on the pump you want. 6) Size - if you get a bunch of big peristaltic pumps that will always run at the same RPMs (like an ATO), you are probably wasting money and space. Fixed RPM pumps are fine for this purpose and can be rather small.



Fittings are another problem for another write up. L/S 17 uses 1/4” barbs and we conveniently always connect it to 1/4” RO tubing with a John Guest fitting. L/S 35 uses a 3/8” barb and we conveniently always connect it to 3/8” RO tubing with a John Guest fitting.



Best of luck! I hope this helps!

Excellent summarized write up.
Thank you!!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[soulpatch]

New to this all but selling dosing gear to set up calcium reactor. I will either build my own regulator or buy the carbon doser but it makes sense to use a masterflex to handle the dosing to the tank so that it is constant and exact.

So while looking through items it seems there is an abundance of economy drives and the digital 7550-60 drives online for decent prices. I think I woudl lean towards the digital since I can dial it in as opposed to turning a knob but open to thoughts either way or for someone to say "NO Dont get those"

Both come with a variety of heads so I can read back through for which heads to get but curious if these would be decent options and secondly if either woudl be fairly quiet. I am already having issues with sound running a DOS unit for my Auto Water Change which might need to be moved to another room because of this.

[vhuang168]

Originally Posted by soulpatch

New to this all but selling dosing gear to set up calcium reactor. I will either build my own regulator or buy the carbon doser but it makes sense to use a masterflex to handle the dosing to the tank so that it is constant and exact.

So while looking through items it seems there is an abundance of economy drives and the digital 7550-60 drives online for decent prices. I think I woudl lean towards the digital since I can dial it in as opposed to turning a knob but open to thoughts either way or for someone to say "NO Dont get those"

Both come with a variety of heads so I can read back through for which heads to get but curious if these would be decent options and secondly if either woudl be fairly quiet. I am already having issues with sound running a DOS unit for my Auto Water Change which might need to be moved to another room because of this.

If noise is going to be an issue, make sure to pickup a brushless model.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ostrow]

Set up my 7524-40, not brushless.

I wanted to post on noise. Understanding that perceptions vary from person to person, and pumps vary as well, I can say this for sure: if you have a fish room, if you run Iwaki or similar pumps, if you have a downdraft or a beckett skimmer, if you have run ReefFiller or similar diaphragm pumps, you will find this to be extremely quiet at anything less than 150ml/min.

One question I have: the l/s17 tubing has a flow range from 17 ml/min minimum to over 2000 ml/min maximum. Why are we using this tubing? While the pump is virtually silent, isn't that tubing overkill? The pump is at about 5%. Or, why have the 6-600rpm pumps when up to 100 will clearly suffice? Just not seeing the logic of the higher (for many) expense? I got my pump for $100 but still...

[ClownsRCoo]

Longer pump life for one. Would you rather drive your 5 speed car down the freeway everyday in 3rd or 5th gear? Which do you think will ruin that transmission first?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ostrow]

I get why you don't want to run a pump at 90%. But generally running under 10% is not a great idea either. 30-70 is the sweet spot

[ClownsRCoo]

For a peristaltic pump? Why would it not be a good idea to run this type of pump under 10%?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ostrow]

My question asks the converse of this: what makes it a good idea to do so, given it is ill-advised for diaphragm and other pumps.

[ClownsRCoo]

Some diaphragm pumps can have difficulty with priming at low speeds and peristaltic's don't. Some types of pump motors are fan or oil cooled so the slower it's running the less effective their cooling becomes. The curve of a peristaltic pump is a linear line so you don't have sever inefficiencies on the low flow side or have to really worry about running the pump down to its shut off. Other pumps have a curve and a best efficiency point along that curve. A peristaltic doesn't.

It's a very different style of pump so what's good/bad for others may not be the same for this style


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ClownsRCoo]

Also you increase the life of your tubing by running at slower speeds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Airywhitesoul]

The reason that L/S 14 heads are so ubiquitous is that they take IV tubing. That is a very cheap option for variable speed Ca reactor pumps that require titration at low flow.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Airywhitesoul]

I just put some IV tubing on one of my easily load heads and the barb or spike for the IV tubing fits perfectly in 1/4" RO tubing. It worked perfectly in the head. This may be a low cost solution for many of the uses that L/S 17 is being used for. The flow rate is probably 1/2 of L/S 17 but that's by my guess only. Didn't measure it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ClownsRCoo]

Sleif, you mentioned before that you packed the uniseal area of you geo reactor with grease to try to make it air tight. What kind of grease did you use for that?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[slief]

Originally Posted by ClownsRCoo

Sleif, you mentioned before that you packed the uniseal area of you geo reactor with grease to try to make it air tight. What kind of grease did you use for that?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thick Silicone grease. I think it's the same as this stuff.
https://www.amazon.com/Trident-Silic...dp/B00V2G7IH4/

[ClownsRCoo]

Thanks, just picked that up. I can't get my reactor to stop pulling so much air so I'm hoping this solves it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Surf_and_Turf]

Not trying to hijack any threads. I have a masterflex L/S MN-7524-50 with a Model 7518-00 head connected to a GEO CR618 Reactor coupled with a Carbon doser regulator(30ml effluent drip-5 seconds between bubbles). I am having issues with air being pulled into the reactor because of the masterflex pulling water through the reactor instead of pushing through it. Anyone else have any issues with this? I've replaced the factory barbed fitting's with nylon compression fittings. Thank you!

[ClownsRCoo]

That's my issue too. I chose to pull air though because if I use the effluent like to pull water from the reactor it's in the next area to actually suck the air out vs the stock setup when you push water in. I couldn't really get it to purge much air when. I pushed water in. I want to drill and tap the lid and pull from there but am nervous of screwing up the lid.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Surf_and_Turf]

WOW! In the midst of writing my last post I just realized my questions were answered two post above mine! Ive got some grease from my bubble king skimmer. THANK YOU

[Surf_and_Turf]

Its pretty simple to drill and tap acrylic. I just drilled and tapped my skimmer lid and put a float switch, and connected it to my apex.

[slief]

Originally Posted by Surf_and_Turf

Not trying to hijack any threads. I have a masterflex L/S MN-7524-50 with a Model 7518-00 head connected to a GEO CR618 Reactor coupled with a Carbon doser regulator(30ml effluent drip-5 seconds between bubbles). I am having issues with air being pulled into the reactor because of the masterflex pulling water through the reactor instead of pushing through it. Anyone else have any issues with this? I've replaced the factory barbed fitting's with nylon compression fittings. Thank you!

Originally Posted by ClownsRCoo

That's my issue too. I chose to pull air though because if I use the effluent like to pull water from the reactor it's in the next area to actually suck the air out vs the stock setup when you push water in. I couldn't really get it to purge much air when. I pushed water in. I want to drill and tap the lid and pull from there but am nervous of screwing up the lid.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I switched my masterflex over to pushing instead of pulling. I would also suggest removing any teflon tape and using teflon paste on all threaded fittings. I use Oatey Great White with PTFE. Lastly, if the output pressure is too high, you may get excess CO2 in the reactor. I keep mine at 3 PSI. Also note that with a flow rate of 25-30ml/min, the bubble rate should be around 1 bubble every 5 seconds to maintain a reactor pH of around 6.5-6.6.

[ClownsRCoo]

My output pressure is right at your recommended settings, I chose to pull for the reasons I stated above. It seemed like when I pushed I couldn't purge the initial air enough that was in the reactor from when I first set it up. My bubble rate is just about that and keeps my reactor at 6.7.

The air in the reactor just builds and builds until the pump is constantly sucking air in and starting to cavitate.

The effluent line is a barb and has flexible tubing coming from it. It seems to be 1/4 so all I did was connect that line into super speedfit connection which is the #2 item on the recommended parts list in this thread at the start. It holds and doesn't leak water but I'm thinking it's probably not an air tight seal either with it basically being airline tubing and not rigid RO tubing. Can I switch that barb thread on the reactor out with one of those male speedfit fittings also and use RO tubing from the reactor to the pump? I'm not sure what size the threaded male end of that barb even is


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Surf_and_Turf]

My output pressure and masterflex settings are identical. I will set it up to push through the reactor instead of pulling. I know the reactors don't handle being in a slight Vaccum very well:/

[Surf_and_Turf]

The John guest fittings aren't designed for a Vaccum. I learned the hard way! I picked up some nylon compressionxthread adapters.

[ClownsRCoo]

Do you have a link for those?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk