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Reactors & Tank Stand

denzil

denzil

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I've been trying to plan for enough space in the stand that I'm going to build for my 40B tank. However, I'm still trying to figure out what equipment besides the 20L fuge-sump and ATO will go in the stand. Currently I have it set up to internally have a two-tier platform for the equipment. The fuge-sump will be right below the DT and all the other miscellaneous equipment will go underneath the fuge-sump. My current planned dimensions for the stand are 38" x 20" x 44" (not including the skinning).

I see that there's a Calcium reactor, Nitrate reactor, and a Phosphate reactor. Out of all the reactors out there, what/which ones do I need? Are there reactors that are combination reactors that do all three? What's the most economic solutions here?

Thanks in advance!
 
I guess it all depends if you want a calcium reactor or dose your chemicals. If you dose then a phosphate/carbon reactor is the most common.
 
You won't need a calcium reactor unless you have a SPS heavily dominated reef. A BRS dual reactor for carbon/GFO should suffice. A doser will meet your alk/calcium/mag needs. Give SFBoarders a shout about the the items he has for sale.
 
For a 40G tank, no need to go too crazy.

My suggestion for additives would be simple 2 part Alk + Calc on a peristaltic pump doser.
Pretty hard to go wrong.
Calcium reactor is nice, but seems overkill.

I would suggest two simple mesh socks in the sump, in a high-flow area, with GFO and carbon.
Cheap, super easy to change/replenish.
Pumps/reactors again seem like overkill.

For nitrates on a small tank - just water changes.
 
gimmito said:
You won't need a calcium reactor unless you have a SPS heavily dominated reef. A BRS dual reactor for carbon/GFO should suffice. A doser will meet your alk/calcium/mag needs. Give SFBoarders a shout about the the items he has for sale.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm planning on running a mixed reef but I don't think it'll be SPS dominated. However, if that does change, I'll pick up a calcium reactor.
sfsuphysics said:
Depending upon your system you don't NEED any reactors. Although some simply like a kalkwasser reactor (mixer) is a nice thing.
Click to expand...
Besides the mixed reef, just the same list of livestock I've been thinking about (Clown, Sixline, Helfrichi, Yellowtail Damsel, CUC).
 
rygh said:
For a 40G tank, no need to go too crazy.

My suggestion for additives would be simple 2 part Alk + Calc on a peristaltic pump doser.
Pretty hard to go wrong.
Calcium reactor is nice, but seems overkill.

I would suggest two simple mesh socks in the sump, in a high-flow area, with GFO and carbon.
Cheap, super easy to change/replenish.
Pumps/reactors again seem like overkill.

For nitrates on a small tank - just water changes.
Click to expand...

So for the doser, do I just put Alk and Calc in separate buckets and use the peristaltic pump doser? I'm not entirely sure how you would set this up.

By mesh socks, do you mean the filter socks? Can't those cause a nitrate factory later down the road?
 
See the BRS videos for setup on dosers. It's easy. Jug of Alk, jug of Calc and two dosing pumps and some kind of timer. Might be overkill for a while. You can also manually add Alk and Calc on a daily basis.

Mesh socks are just a net bag. You put 'stuff' in them, add them to the sump in a high flow area. Not as efficient as a reactor but lots less $$ and takes up no space outside of the sump.

'Mr. Saltwater Tank' has a good video on carbon and GFO reactors.

Calcium reactor is a quite complicated device (IMHO). Reactor, pump, CO2, pH meter/controller and media.
 
I'm guessing having a biopellet reactor is overkill as well? Seems like a pretty small investment relative to the other reactors.
 
At some point nothing is overkill. :)

I've been looking at and reading about biopellets for a while. One of the issues seems to be their ability to over clean the water. The simple reactors, like BRS ($50), require enough flow-thru to keep the pellets tumbling. Others like the ReefDynamics ($250) recirculate the tumbling water and only need to let out a little water. This seems more controllable. It does cost a little bit more. ;)

For the short term you might want to keep it simple and just handle excess N and P with water changes. Simple, cheap and it makes the fish and corals happy! (repeating what rygh said)
 
I guess I just want to know what I may potentially need in the future for this build. I just want to be sure I'm leaving enough space in the stand I'm going to build if I'm going to incorporate reactors in the future.
 
denzil said:
I guess I just want to know what I may potentially need in the future for this build. I just want to be sure I'm leaving enough space in the stand I'm going to build if I'm going to incorporate reactors in the future.
Click to expand...

Leaving enough space is a very good idea!
Leave enough space for auto-top-off reservoir also. It is something that never seems to be big enough.

Looks like the other questions on my post were answered.

Be careful though : A 40G tank does not have a lot of volume, and that means things can go wrong very fast.
So rethink technology that can be a bit tricky, temperamental, or prone to user error.
 
rygh said:
denzil said:
I guess I just want to know what I may potentially need in the future for this build. I just want to be sure I'm leaving enough space in the stand I'm going to build if I'm going to incorporate reactors in the future.
Click to expand...

Leaving enough space is a very good idea!
Leave enough space for auto-top-off reservoir also. It is something that never seems to be big enough.

Looks like the other questions on my post were answered.

Be careful though : A 40G tank does not have a lot of volume, and that means things can go wrong very fast.
So rethink technology that can be a bit tricky, temperamental, or prone to user error.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking of a 5-gallon bucket with a drilled lid or a water container with a drilled cover for the ATO.
 
I don't see a problem with a 5 gallon bucket, however be sure to think about ease of re-filling the bucket. Ideally you would just plumb an RO/DI directly into the bucket with a float valve to shut it off. This way you never have to remove the bucket / break the siphon to re-fill it. However I don't know what your plans are, so if that isn't it............maybe a tube to a funnel that you can pull from the back of the tank and poor water into? Just something to consider.
 
Kmooresf said:
I don't see a problem with a 5 gallon bucket, however be sure to think about ease of re-filling the bucket. Ideally you would just plumb an RO/DI directly into the bucket with a float valve to shut it off. This way you never have to remove the bucket / break the siphon to re-fill it. However I don't know what your plans are, so if that isn't it............maybe a tube to a funnel that you can pull from the back of the tank and poor water into? Just something to consider.
Click to expand...
Well, right now we're in an apartment and we have more than one tank. :)

So the plan right now is to have the RODI system plumb into a 44 gallon Rubbermaid Brute container with a float valve installed. With my current stand plans, I should be able to slide out the bucket/jug without any issues but I may think about mounting some sort of quick disconnect system to both the bucket/jug and the pump to make it even more easy for me.
 
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