Now I get your point, sorry for misunderstanding.
I did not keep my receipts, but believe I built my reactor for 10-15 USD. This includes the most expensive part I used, the acrylic, which is not really a necessity.
Journal Tsing's 180 - WIP
- Thread starter SingAlongWithTsing
- Start date
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I did not keep my receipts, but believe I built my reactor for 10-15 USD. This includes the most expensive part I used, the acrylic, which is not really a necessity.
SingAlongWithTsing
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #42
@Yugang @Count Krunk
it's these clamps
www.bulkreefsupply.com
I know there's like the sub $5 horse-shoe looking ones from homedepot but i need something that makes it easy for me to take down the co2 reactor if something goes wrong or if I need to do some maintenance on it. Like I dont want to be screwing and rescrewing if I have to take down the pipe in case something happens with the sump below it.
And I cant go with the J-style pipe hangers due to potential height issues.
I have about 9.5" of space between the top of the sump and the 2x4. I need to converse as much space as possible to make maintenance easy.
As for why Im considering picking sch 80 over sch 40 for some of the fittings:
1. My homedepot and lowes really like swapping/rotating brands for their union fittings. If something goes wrong or if I want to reuse these reactors or make a change to em there's no guarantee I'll find the same brand union fitting locally.
E.g. if I'm using a 3/4" union from the Homewerks brand a 3/4" union from the Apollo brand wont screw on to it. This goes for their 1", 1.5" and 2" unions too.
2. I broke sch 40 ball valves before (broken handle). It sounds stupid but it happened on one of my manifolds on my old 125. Only brought this up cuz I'm considering building a bypass.
3. Aesthetics
As for potentially choosing clear pvc pipe: I just want to see what's going inside over the course of the day. I'm curious if the top half of the pipe is just gonna be a pocket of co2 or not mostly. Honestly this part kinda makes me worried cuz I cracked a 2" clear pipe before on an old reactor (dropped it like 2ft off the ground on accident), not sure if it was actually pvc or acrylic.
it's these clamps
Surface Mounting Clamp for PVC Pipe
Gray Surface Mounting Clamp for PVC Pipe Surface mounting clamps help reduce the strain on your plumbing fittings and bulkheads by properly and securely supporting your aquarium pluming. Designed for durability and ease of use, this clamp utilizes a simple clipping mechanism to hold your PVC...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
I know there's like the sub $5 horse-shoe looking ones from homedepot but i need something that makes it easy for me to take down the co2 reactor if something goes wrong or if I need to do some maintenance on it. Like I dont want to be screwing and rescrewing if I have to take down the pipe in case something happens with the sump below it.
And I cant go with the J-style pipe hangers due to potential height issues.
I have about 9.5" of space between the top of the sump and the 2x4. I need to converse as much space as possible to make maintenance easy.
As for why Im considering picking sch 80 over sch 40 for some of the fittings:
1. My homedepot and lowes really like swapping/rotating brands for their union fittings. If something goes wrong or if I want to reuse these reactors or make a change to em there's no guarantee I'll find the same brand union fitting locally.
E.g. if I'm using a 3/4" union from the Homewerks brand a 3/4" union from the Apollo brand wont screw on to it. This goes for their 1", 1.5" and 2" unions too.
2. I broke sch 40 ball valves before (broken handle). It sounds stupid but it happened on one of my manifolds on my old 125. Only brought this up cuz I'm considering building a bypass.
3. Aesthetics
As for potentially choosing clear pvc pipe: I just want to see what's going inside over the course of the day. I'm curious if the top half of the pipe is just gonna be a pocket of co2 or not mostly. Honestly this part kinda makes me worried cuz I cracked a 2" clear pipe before on an old reactor (dropped it like 2ft off the ground on accident), not sure if it was actually pvc or acrylic.
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Your project - I just scrolled through your thread and the impressive pictures - is a masterpiece of engineering. I take my hat off, and look forward to seeing your reactor @SingAlongWithTsing@Yugang @Count Krunk
it's these clamps
Surface Mounting Clamp for PVC Pipe
Gray Surface Mounting Clamp for PVC Pipe Surface mounting clamps help reduce the strain on your plumbing fittings and bulkheads by properly and securely supporting your aquarium pluming. Designed for durability and ease of use, this clamp utilizes a simple clipping mechanism to hold your PVC...
I know there's like the sub $5 horse-shoe looking ones from homedepot but i need something that makes it easy for me to take down the co2 reactor if something goes wrong or if I need to do some maintenance on it. Like I dont want to be screwing and rescrewing if I have to take down the pipe in case something happens with the sump below it.
And I cant go with the J-style pipe hangers due to potential height issues.
I have about 9.5" of space between the top of the sump and the 2x4. I need to converse as much space as possible to make maintenance easy.
As for why Im considering picking sch 80 over sch 40 for some of the fittings:
1. My homedepot and lowes really like swapping/rotating brands for their union fittings. If something goes wrong or if I want to reuse these reactors or make a change to em there's no guarantee I'll find the same brand union fitting locally.
E.g. if I'm using a 3/4" union from the Homewerks brand a 3/4" union from the Apollo brand wont screw on to it. This goes for their 1", 1.5" and 2" unions too.
2. I broke sch 40 ball valves before (broken handle). It sounds stupid but it happened on one of my manifolds on my old 125. Only brought this up cuz I'm considering building a bypass.
3. Aesthetics
As for potentially choosing clear pvc pipe: I just want to see what's going inside over the course of the day. I'm curious if the top half of the pipe is just gonna be a pocket of co2 or not mostly. Honestly this part kinda makes me worried cuz I cracked a 2" clear pipe before on an old reactor (dropped it like 2ft off the ground on accident), not sure if it was actually pvc or acrylic.
SingAlongWithTsing
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #44
Reactor built
Space was really tight at the front. The horizontal reactor is about 1"~1.5" away from the manifold, 1.5" ~ 1.75"away from the doors, and about 2mm from the euro hinges LOL
Each chamber is approximately 44" after the fittings so I have a total of 88" of 2" pipe giving me about 176" sq in. I only needed 141 sq in or so.
Using my old jbl proflora inline reactor without the ceramic as the injection point. Gonna see how well this works before I decide to drill a 3/16" hole into the reactor and pull 1/4" co2 tubing through it.
This is a $300 gamble (cuz I'm ocd and went with fancy stuff), if any of the unions leak or if the reactors somehow fall down there's a good chance I cant my sump and display tank on the floor. To remedy this I'm thinking of getting a leak detector and setting it front of the sump so if things start spilling it'll auto shut off CO2 Pump and Solenoid. If I had more room both reactor chambers would of been above sump and if anything leaks it'll just go back in the sump.
Space was really tight at the front. The horizontal reactor is about 1"~1.5" away from the manifold, 1.5" ~ 1.75"away from the doors, and about 2mm from the euro hinges LOL
Each chamber is approximately 44" after the fittings so I have a total of 88" of 2" pipe giving me about 176" sq in. I only needed 141 sq in or so.
Using my old jbl proflora inline reactor without the ceramic as the injection point. Gonna see how well this works before I decide to drill a 3/16" hole into the reactor and pull 1/4" co2 tubing through it.
This is a $300 gamble (cuz I'm ocd and went with fancy stuff), if any of the unions leak or if the reactors somehow fall down there's a good chance I cant my sump and display tank on the floor. To remedy this I'm thinking of getting a leak detector and setting it front of the sump so if things start spilling it'll auto shut off CO2 Pump and Solenoid. If I had more room both reactor chambers would of been above sump and if anything leaks it'll just go back in the sump.
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SingAlongWithTsing
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #45
degassed pH 7.93 | kH 8 | gH 14
Speece cone + Cerges | Plumbed into a T-fitting into the main pump | Injection Rate 116 cc/min | 0.8~0.86 pH drop in 2hrs
DIY Yugang reactor | Just an elbow in front of the main pump intake | Injection rate 100 cc/min | 0.86 pH drop in 2hrs
Yugang reactor is already a 16% improvement over my old set up, just need to tweak my injection rate to get a 1.2 pH drop.
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You're not experiencing Fe deficiency with this high kH/pH? I have half your kH/gH and the same pH but chlorosis on several plants. What is your micros/iron dosing regimen? I'm even considering an auto doser to dose iron 24 times a day.
SingAlongWithTsing
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #47
This is what Im dosing right now
It's basically a tropica specialized clone with boosted B and Zn to counter act my tap water. I have enough NO3 coming out the tap so I can run with a lower amount if I needed to.
Havent seen any serious chlorosis so far.
SingAlongWithTsing
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #48
Hardware updates:
cable organizing
Jebao EP 1000M for the reactor, tort figurine for scale
Built a mini cabinet for the doser and containers
and of course the dosing container would leak into the other chamber lol
plant updates:
not much to say, it's a bit of a mess lol
cable organizing
Jebao EP 1000M for the reactor, tort figurine for scale
Built a mini cabinet for the doser and containers
and of course the dosing container would leak into the other chamber lol
plant updates:
not much to say, it's a bit of a mess lol
gjcarew
Active Member
Holy smokes, dat limnophila aromatica 
SingAlongWithTsing
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #51
Redid the left side a bit
Downsized the Rotala orange juice, there's still a bunch in the back that idk what to do with
Buce bouncing back slowly
Random shots
FTS:
Downsized the Rotala orange juice, there's still a bunch in the back that idk what to do with
Buce bouncing back slowly
Random shots
FTS:
SingAlongWithTsing
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #53
Changed the recipe about 2 weeks ago. Dropped from 7ppm PO4 per week to 5ppm
Need a hedge trimmer for the tank.
Need a hedge trimmer for the tank.
Unexpected
Well-known Member
When I look at your tank, I want to drink a rum runner. Beautiful.
Count Krunk
Active Member
Looking beautiful for sure. Just needs some centerpiece fish now 
SingAlongWithTsing
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #57
Jan 5th 2024
Decided to split my return since I have 2 return pumps.
Flow from each side went from 330gph each to 440~448 gph each. Lowered my wattage consumption from 110 watts to around 94 watts too.
Previously I had the 2 pumps on a wye barb fitting and didnt have check valves on the pumps so they were fighting each other to get the flow out if that makes sense lol.
Jebao 6500 EP-M is on the left, 10000 EP-M on the right.
I split the return line in case one pump fails I'll still have flow with the other one. Haven't had a Jebao return pump fail yet though.
If I was setting a new tank I wouldnt bother with EP-M series due to the wifi controller's signal being kind of weak + Im already controlling the on/off
with the coralvue hydros. If the EP series (the non wifi variant) was on amazon I would of rolled with that.
If anyone is wondering about the release order of the Jebao pumps
DCP 2016? -> DCS -> MDP/ADP 2021 -> EP/EP-M 2023.
More shots with the Canon EOS M50 before the maintenance on Jan 11th
Funky algae, dunno if it's regular hair algae or some type of kleb. It's easy enough to clean off with a tooth brush
Maintenance shots with my phone
dont really have an FTS of what it looked like at the end lol. forgot to grab one
Might need to build a guard for my overflow box in case the rotala gets too tall and blocks it again.
My bedroom is on the other side of the wall of the back tank so anything that messes with the flow I can hear it.
Smarter idea would probably to replace all the rotala at the back with the limnophilia hippuroides, they look sturdy enough.
As for how the horizontal reactor is going, it's been fine so far.
Oddly enough I think my flow meter might be lying to me cuz there's no way in hell I should be pushing 146 days at 116 cc/min with the 20lb co2 tank and still be able to get my ph drop. I know my ph probe is still calibated and hasnt drifted yet.
Theoretically I should of ran out of co2 at around 83 days.
Math is based on the assumption that there is approximately 231 liters of CO2 per lb.
Dont mind the L/day thing is just based of what Tom Barr injected in his 180 gallon 10 years ago.
Decided to split my return since I have 2 return pumps.
Flow from each side went from 330gph each to 440~448 gph each. Lowered my wattage consumption from 110 watts to around 94 watts too.
Previously I had the 2 pumps on a wye barb fitting and didnt have check valves on the pumps so they were fighting each other to get the flow out if that makes sense lol.
Jebao 6500 EP-M is on the left, 10000 EP-M on the right.
I split the return line in case one pump fails I'll still have flow with the other one. Haven't had a Jebao return pump fail yet though.
If I was setting a new tank I wouldnt bother with EP-M series due to the wifi controller's signal being kind of weak + Im already controlling the on/off
with the coralvue hydros. If the EP series (the non wifi variant) was on amazon I would of rolled with that.
If anyone is wondering about the release order of the Jebao pumps
DCP 2016? -> DCS -> MDP/ADP 2021 -> EP/EP-M 2023.
More shots with the Canon EOS M50 before the maintenance on Jan 11th
Funky algae, dunno if it's regular hair algae or some type of kleb. It's easy enough to clean off with a tooth brush
Maintenance shots with my phone
dont really have an FTS of what it looked like at the end lol. forgot to grab one
Might need to build a guard for my overflow box in case the rotala gets too tall and blocks it again.
My bedroom is on the other side of the wall of the back tank so anything that messes with the flow I can hear it.
Smarter idea would probably to replace all the rotala at the back with the limnophilia hippuroides, they look sturdy enough.
As for how the horizontal reactor is going, it's been fine so far.
Oddly enough I think my flow meter might be lying to me cuz there's no way in hell I should be pushing 146 days at 116 cc/min with the 20lb co2 tank and still be able to get my ph drop. I know my ph probe is still calibated and hasnt drifted yet.
Theoretically I should of ran out of co2 at around 83 days.
Math is based on the assumption that there is approximately 231 liters of CO2 per lb.
Dont mind the L/day thing is just based of what Tom Barr injected in his 180 gallon 10 years ago.
Unexpected
Well-known Member
Seeing the stepladder adds scale to this project. Wow lol!
SingAlongWithTsing
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #59
So I figured out why the math is off and it's user error in this case lol
my flow meter reads in LPH but for O2 specifically, that wont directly translate to CO2 injection rates directly. so what I thought was 7 LPH -> 116 cc/min was wrong.
My injection rate measured via the reverse counter method is 45 cc/min. Arowana Planted Tank - CO2 Flow Checker – More Precise than a Bubble Counter
I think inverting a measuring cup and running the co2 line under it might be about the same amount.
Well anyway here are the readings for about the past month. Unfortunately the coralvue Hydros system doesnt have a way to export data yet so I had to do it manually lol
my flow meter reads in LPH but for O2 specifically, that wont directly translate to CO2 injection rates directly. so what I thought was 7 LPH -> 116 cc/min was wrong.
My injection rate measured via the reverse counter method is 45 cc/min. Arowana Planted Tank - CO2 Flow Checker – More Precise than a Bubble Counter
I think inverting a measuring cup and running the co2 line under it might be about the same amount.
Well anyway here are the readings for about the past month. Unfortunately the coralvue Hydros system doesnt have a way to export data yet so I had to do it manually lol
SingAlongWithTsing
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #60
Dude I think I built my stand too high LOL
stand is about 32" tall + 24" high tank. Ladder is 48" tall. I'm only 5' 6," every maintenance day could end up being a small workout