CAD Lights Aquarium BR1 Recirculating Pellet Reactor

[Duke]

before i post the last video on this,i revert back to the video theyangman posted from the CAD Lights web site,if you look close they are running the unit without the recirculating valve,you have to look close,no plumbing to the pump intake and the return plumbing has what looks like no black valve,i have put back all my pellets into the unit and it runs no different than when i first set it up,there is no way i would recomend this to anyone with a tank bigger than 100 gallons or smaller .if you want the tornado look no more than a cup of pellets and no valve.
750 ml of pellets would definatly clock fairly quick .300 gallon tank?......

are you saying you like it better how you have it in your second video with more tumble?

 

[pulpfiction1]

what i am saying is its no different with the same amount of pellets i started with, without the recirculation valve,seems it only preforms like the advertised video with a cup or less of pellets,it feels inexpensive in the hand but for now its in place and i will make due with it,would i recommend it? not a chance,at least not for the money i paid IMO.
the pellets are tumbling,not the whirlwind tornado as advertised.
and i dont think 750 ml of pellets would even tumble

 

[Duke]

what i am spaying is its no different with the same amount of pellets i started with, without the recirculation valve,seems it only preforms like the advertised video with a cup or less of pellets,it feels inexpensive in the hand but for now its in place and i will make due with it,would i recommend it? not a chance,at least not for the money i paid IMO.
the pellets are tumbling,not the whirlwind tornado as advertised.
and i dont think 750 ml of pellets would even tumble

Bummer, sure looks cool tho. Personally I think with just a cup the first video you did with the valve is how I would rather have it tumble but I get what your saying if it came as advertised it'd be nice for that kind of money

 

[pulpfiction1]

its tumbling good,just as good as the straight cylinder style reactor,the recirculating feature sounded good as well as the clog free tumble they posted,I'm hoping it stays relatively maintenance free.the vertex pellets instructions say 50-200 ml per 100 liters of water,i have 10 fish including a couple of triggers and a couple of dozen corals in this system and I'm finding that about 500ml keeps my NO3 under 10.its working ok as a reactor without the recirculating waterflow.i was hoping for more efficiency as well as clog free but clog free will keep me happy

 

[CAD]

Hey guys,

Sorry, I would have replied earlier, but I just got back from MACNA. Did anyone else make it down there?

Nice to meet you all and yes, big kudos to Gary for running a top notch store that really cares about his clients. He was the one that brought my attention to the post.

Dave, from your last post, it seems you have 500mL of pellets running and it's tumbling good, without the recirc valve. If the pellets are tumbling well without the recirc valve, then with the recirc valve on, it should still tumble the same if the valves were completely open. It is how you tune the valves that will affect the tumble. I think you may need to adjust the valve settings. The rear valve controls the amount of flow in the column and the output valve is for fine tuning and can be shut off completely, when the desired nitrate and phosphate levels are reached, while leaving the pellets to keep tumbling to avoid clumping. 

Just a side note on the quality, we do use cell-cast acrylic (which is often 2 to 3 times more expensive) as opposed to extruded acrylic for the body and as a result, the body lasts a lot longer. The plumbing is SCH40 pvc, which is a lot more reinforced than using a plastic polymer plumbing. I have heard that some people have issues with finding the appropriate sized PVC, as it is not exactly 1/2", but others have told me it was, so I'm a little puzzled. In any case, if you are having problems with plumbing pvc parts, simply let us know and we can ship it out to your nearest retailer. I hope the piping you received helped you out.

I did apologize to Dave for not having instructions in the package and will make it a point to definitely have instructions in all future shipments. Also, I just realized that the video you are referring to, is the video of the BR-2, which is the larger 1500G capacity Bio-reactor. I apologize for that and will ask that the link be moved to the appropriate product.

Let me know if you still have any questions,

Brian
CAD Lights Aquariums

 

[pulpfiction1]

who is dave?

 

[pulpfiction1]

and on one further note,with 500 ml of pellets (2 cups) i could not achieve the same tumble  with the valve as i could without it,and i did try all kinds of adjusting with both valves.if i put 3 cups into this it would barley budge the pellets and clumping would be extremely likely,with out the valve i might add,this isnt a high end product but like i said before this is just my own opinion and i documented everything ,the pump changed nothing so i assume the original pump is ok,2 cups are tumbling ok,just ok IMO.as far as quality i dont see much but i do thank you for your efforts

 

[CAD]

Just wanted to add a link to a video of a user posting their BR1 with recirc valve open at 90%:

CAD Lights Conic Reactor recirculating valve open

And another video of it almost closed to tumble slower:

20130701_023057.mp4

 

[pulpfiction1]

both of these are using 1 cup or less (250 ml ) and neither show what is comming out the output,load these up with the 750 ml the website states this will handle and show output

 

[theyangman]

So you are saying that the BR 2 will give me that tidal wave of pellet tumble? I am very skeptical but I am in the market for a new pellet reactor.

 

[pulpfiction1]

I can't say for sure you probably stand a better chance but myself I don't see it being worth the money a reactor with the mod in a good pump you're good to go

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 4

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

So you are saying that the BR 2 will give me that tidal wave of pellet tumble? I am very skeptical but I am in the market for a new pellet reactor.

this is the one im running.  ..no mod needed.  ...if yu look at the pictures on the bottom. yu see it has the bottom like a funnel  and there a arrow shape. in centre.    my return is running it ...http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-octopus-biopellet-reactor.html

 

[theyangman]

Bah, I guess I can just upgrade to another TLF 550, run the mod again and run more pellets. I want to run somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 cups.

 

[pulpfiction1]

Bah, I guess I can just upgrade to another TLF 550, run the mod again and run more pellets. I want to run somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 cups.

mine with 2 cups(500ml) has clogged once already,im pissed about it but have leaned it a little sideways and is working again.

 

[theyangman]

Your 550?

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk 4

 

[pulpfiction1]

no,my BR1 pellet reactor,and i run a pair of 200 micron felt socks so there isn't much free floating debris in my sump

 

[pulpfiction1]

one final video on these units

http://youtu.be/63iTEsFASVA