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