1.99$ DIY Bio Pellet Reactor

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Duke

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I wanted to get pellets online asap, so rather than make the trip to London for a reactor I decided to make my own, I used a 99 cent orange faygo 710ml pop bottle, a piece of needle point screen I got for 60 cents from micheals crafts(40% off with the android app coupon) and a spare 240gph pump I had laying around, I added a needle point mesh screen into the pump output to keep the pellets from ending up in the pump if the power goes out or the pump shuts off, also this restricts flow a bit. I used another piece of the needle point stuff to make a screen for the top and used zipties as support for the screen and to keep it from coming out. What do you think? is this too much flow?

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd462/dukester_/VID_20121023_145016_zps45d3ee9b.mp4
 
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Duke

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Im going to go pick up a valve, I should have did that in the first place, but I didn't have one handy. I do still have 100ml of pellets im going to add in a few weeks but I think the 2 screens could be too restrictive after some time running so better to just do that now and be done with it, I realize the output isn't going into my skimmer but its close enough i hope.
 
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Duke

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thats where I got the idea of using a pump on the bottom instead of just a line tee'd off my return.. keep in mind to that that reactor is a recirculating type. the nice thing Is the pump holds the reactor upright fairly well on its own.. and yes a pump would add to the cost but since its only running the reactor I didn't include its price.
 
teebone110

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Duke link said:
thats where I got the idea of using a pump on the bottom instead of just a line tee'd off my return.. keep in mind to that that reactor is a recirculating type. the nice thing Is the pump holds the reactor upright fairly well on its own.. and yes a pump would add to the cost but since its only running the reactor I didn't include its price.
Click to expand...

I was wondering if it was a recirculating type, that's a lot of flow!
 
davesolo29

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i love that cad lights reactor.  i made up my mind a couple weeks ago that it would be the way im going.. i have been waiting to see if anyone local is going to stock this product but it doesnt appear to be in the works anywhere.  I will be ordering mine from JLaquatics as soon as i move.
 
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reeffreak

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davesolo29 link said:
i love that cad lights reactor.  i made up my mind a couple weeks ago that it would be the way im going.. i have been waiting to see if anyone local is going to stock this product but it doesnt appear to be in the works anywhere.  I will be ordering mine from JLaquatics as soon as i move.
Click to expand...

dave j&l would be the best place to get it anyways .. taxes arent as high and it will be free shipping plus the initial price onthe reactor is probably cheaper then anyone in Ontario would sell for
 
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Duke

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Day 2 and my skimmer seems to be skimming really wet today, not sure if its related or not. I'll keep this updated as time goes on,

IMG_20121024_142346_zps3a9e4b56.jpg
 
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Bill@IA

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reeffreak link said:
[quote author=davesolo29 link=topic=3361.msg28443#msg28443 date=1351046539]
i love that cad lights reactor.  i made up my mind a couple weeks ago that it would be the way im going.. i have been waiting to see if anyone local is going to stock this product but it doesnt appear to be in the works anywhere.  I will be ordering mine from JLaquatics as soon as i move.
Click to expand...

dave j&l would be the best place to get it anyways .. taxes arent as high and it will be free shipping plus the initial price onthe reactor is probably cheaper then anyone in Ontario would sell for
[/quote]

Oops. I am sure you meant well Pat but it's the other way around. When I ship my products to BC I add their % of tax to the order..but if products are being shipped from BC to Ontario they have to add our Tax, 13% H.S.T, to the order.
.......and when I ship to the USA......I don't add ANY taxes to the order.

:)
 
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reeffreak

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i ordered vertex in-100 4 years ago still have the receipt on the computer and the tax was only 7% sales tax added on. $199.98 has $13.99 sales tax is whats on my receipt , maybe I just got lucky and saved myself the other $13 on taxes. But i see now it says to residents of BC only , Im 100% positive that was never one there site previous to the HST change over.
 
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Duke

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it was different when it was GST/PST, I order all my computer hardware from ncix, which is BC based, and back in the day yes you would only be charged GST, but now you get charged HST
 
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reeffreak

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I didn't think about that when I first mentioned it to davesolo  my bad sorry to de-rail the thread on you duke . So are you noticing anymore differences today with pellets, still skimming kind of wet ?
 
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Duke

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ya still skimming like that, rather than adjust it im just emptying the cup daily, im going to leave it for a few days and see what happens. On a second note I did the full range of testing and noticed my calcium is quite low and my alk is dropping also, looks like waterchanges aren't going to cut it anymore to keep my levels up, anyone know where I can buy some kalk in sarnia?
 
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reeffreak

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Order brs 2 part works great, I'm not sure where to in Sarnia has some I know Bill carries some I forget which brand it was I used it for a while in my top off water, just dripped it in
 
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