DIY Hang On Calcium Reactor

[dngspot]

A friend has asked me to build a reacotor. So we worked out the idea for a hang on unit. It will be a single chamber unit with a small pump for recirculation, something like a Maxi 1200 or a Mini 600. I have just started the project and this is what it looks like so far. The first pic has the freshly cut tube. Next to the tube is the remaining piece that I cut a section out so it can be fit in the tall tube. The little white disk will be the media plate. I still need to cut the holes in it. The tube is 3 inch O.D. and 2.75 inch I.D



Assembled



The flange and top have been drilled and tapped for 1/4X 20 screws. 8 of them will fasten to the flange.



The flange setting up in Weldon 14.



This is a pic of the tube sitting on the bottom plate. I do not know what this plate will look like when finished. I need the pump to fit and do the final cut.



The routed the flange.



This is the plate that the media will sit on. It is easy to make but takes a long time to drill and clean each hole. I first traced the out side edge of the round acrylic onto a piece of paper. I then find the center and set lines at the diameter, 90, 45, and 22.5 degrees. I then used a compass to set the smaller rings, seen in the pics below. Where each line crossed another that was a drilling point, except the inner most ring, it was drilled at every other line. I used rubber cement to fasten the paper to the acrylic and drilled away.





I had a scrap of material that I thought would do the job for the hanger. It will be mounted right under the top flange. It will also use two of the lid screws but, will not depend on them for support. It will be heated and bent at the end; this will be the part that will hang on the top rim of the tank.



I am waiting on a pump when it gets her I will post the rest.

[OneDummHikk]

Originally Posted by dngspot

The flange and top have been drilled and tapped for 1/4X 20 screws. 8 of them will fasten to the flange.



The flange setting up in Weldon 14.

I have some Dumm questions

1) Is "Weldon 14" a typo?
2) When you make the flanges, do you leave them solid, glue them to the tube, then rout the inside out? I ask because of this site:
http://reefersaquariums.com/main.sc

They don't show the flanges in a picture. I have a few people that want some things that site offers that I want to offer as well.

But, from your pics, you leave them solid, glue the tube on, and then rout the inside to make it smooth and it makes perfectly good sense to me. Now, the really Dumm question:

How do you ensure that the tube is centered on the flange?

3) What size holes did you drill in the plate?

I probably have more Dumm questions but those will suffice for now.

Nice looking reactor so far though.

[dngspot]

1) Is "Weldon 14" a typo? Yes it is Weldon 16

2) When you make the flanges, do you leave them solid, glue them to the tube, then rout the inside out? I ask because of this site:
http://reefersaquariums.com/main.sc That is exactly how I do it, glue then rout from the inside out.


How do you ensure that the tube is centered on the flange? I use a compass and mesure from the center and make small marks. I then turn it over and place it on something white, makes it easy to see the marks. Then I put Weldon 16 on the edge of the tube and turn it over and place it on the soon to be flange.

3) What size holes did you drill in the plate? 1/8 inch

My buddy decided not to make this thing a hang on, he is going to put it under his tank in the stand.

The plate that I was going to use was too small. Shane , the soon to be owner, went with a small Ocean Runner pump that does not have standard pipe threads, so I have to use barb fittings at the pump. This might work to the positive, the pump sets on suction cups and with a soft mount to the hard plumbing the pump should be isolated. This should reduce vibration noise.

This is what I have so far.

$25 acrylic + $20 pump + $28 in fittings. Still pretty cheep

[dngspot]

Just finished the unit. Went through a couple of problems, one of them was I broke the tube. The calcium reactor is now 20 inches tall, it should have been 23 inches tall. The leak test went pretty well, as normal a few leaks had to be repaired. The pump has to be one of the quietest ones that I have used, Shane made a good choice. At first I had reservations because of the barbed fittings, I like to work with hard plumbing and the barbs forced me to spend a bit more time at the hardware store finding fittings that converts from barb to NPT. The side effect of the rubber feet and nylon hose was a very quiet unit.

I have finished pics sorry that I did not get much of the build.

The pump sits on a 1/4 inch plate; the reactor is also fixed to the same plate. All hard pluming is 1/2 inch; the barbs are 1/2 also.



The next pic is the business end of the plumbing. The first fitting on the left is Jaco, this will be the tap that CO2 enters. The second tap will attach from the display feed pump. The tap below the 1/2 inch pluming is the effluent line. All of the tube fittings are tapped into the reactor or 1/2 inch plumbing are set with 1/4 National Pipe Threads. The 1/2 inch pipe enters the reactor tube via 1/2 National Pipe Threads.



This is a pic of the top of the reactor. The screws are 1/4X20 nylon screws. The flange below the gasket is drilled and tapped to accept the nylon screws. The gasket is made from hobby foam. It is closed cell and sold in sheets, found at Wal-Mart. The pipe and elbow are the return loop. This unit will blow down on the media. The Guest fitting will have a tube attached to it with a valve. Its only purpose is to vent air when filling the unit with water.



Shane has changed his mind and decided not to hang this thing on the back of his tank.