I would like to give credit to Bill and Ken for the suggestion that I make a frag tank myself. Thanks guys. I have bought the acrylic sheets I need to start and all the accessories to weld my frag tank. The frag tank will measure 48" x 24" x 12". Still waiting on some black acrylic coming from Texas, was delayed due to severe weather conditions down there.
Before I start building the frag tank, I was checking out Marc Levenson’s website and saw this effluent resovoir he uses for his PH monitor. What a great source of info he has compiled on his site. Thought this would be a excellent way to get some practice working with acrylic before attemping the frag tank.
So here is a pictorial of what I constructed, thanks Marc.
Here is the effluent line in place. There is a second page of pics
The idea of the resevoir is that a calcium reactor needs to reach a certain PH in the effluent drip in order to break down the media.Too low of a ph level in the drip and the reactor will melt the media. So when used in conjunction with a PH monitor , which when set to the proper PH level, will turn off and then back on your CO2 tank. This makes it so much easier to control the effluent drip from the reactor because the PH monitor controlls the amount of CO2 going into the reactor.
John if you use a second chamber which is not connected to the main chamber in a closed loop and used to further eliminate free CO2 and increase the pH of the effluent then it would not be possible to tell the pH in the main chamber by measuring the pH of the effluent. 6.2 is a pretty low pH for the main chamber of your reactor. If the pH of your effluent is greater then what is in the main chamber then your main chamber may be very low. If this is the case I would highly recommend increasing the pH on your controller and slowly increasing your your effluent rate. On a system your size I would be surprised to see a drop rate of effluent as opposed to a steady stream measurable in mL per minute. Ultimately up to you and if what you have is working fine you may decide not to fiddle with it.
I have some spare fittings that will allow you to mount the pH directly into the main chamber of your reactor and all you would need to do is tap the chamber, add the fitting, and slide in your probe.
Very nice job on the acrylic work. I haven’t been brave enough to try something like this and have to say it’s a wise choice for a first project as if it leaks then it doesn’t matter. I have always used cheap specimen cups/“Convalescent Homes” for my effluent(not to measure pH, but to measure the level of Ca, Mg, and Alk) and when I use them it is a pain to keep the tubing in the container and with your little hole to slide the tubing into… I may be copying.
What type of media are you using again? Do you find that it alone keeps up with the Mg needs of your system? (sorry to side track your system, but just curious)
Nice little project to practice acrylic on John. thats a good idea for a reactor. Where did you get your Acrylic glue? Just checking to make sure you got the right stuff. WELDON 3 or 4 in a can, and WELDON 16 in a tube. we cant use anything sold at the hardware stores for PVC, its just the wrong solvents.
Also, it sounds like you are going with a longer, wider, deeper frag tank than we discussed here. as the long side gets longer, and the water deeper, the weight of water increases and will bow the side much more. you might have to put a brace accross the center line on top. to prevent spreading if your are making it rimless. I have noticed that when the top long edge bows out, it tends to pull the corners up and off the table top. putting lots of stress on the seams. Thats why i have 1 1/2 - 2 inch gussets around the top of my tanks.
Jon, I am not running a second chamber on my calcium reactor. The 6.2 ph reading in my effluent is at that point because at 6.2 the kh reading in the effluent is between 25- 60, which according to the specs of the reactor, is where it needs to be . I am using ARM coarse reactor media in the calc reactor. Maybe this media is a little harder to breakdown. And no this setup alone doesn’t keep up the need of my tank demand for calc, mag and alk, that is why I am going to run the kalk reactor for my TOW.
I did have a small leak in the bottom back, I used #16 solvent to seal it up. The seams are not that great because of my cuts. The saw blade was set to high up when I made the cuts, didn’t read about saw height until after I started the cuts.
WHEW
Hey Ken, the solvent I bought from Tap plastics, and I got weldon #3, #16 in tube , squeese bottle with long thin needels on the top for running the seams.
I am going to used 3/8" acrylic for the frag tank.
Do you think this is strong enough to keep it from bowing?
I swore you posted a DIYS article saying you added a second chamber. I think it would be a good call to add one to get the most out of your CO2 and lessen the negative side effects of using a reactor. ARM media was a staple for the longest time, but many people discovered it released a lot of phosphates into the system. I’m experimenting with other medias now. Elos, Brightwell, and TLF have all released media in the last year probably inspired by the rumors Carib Sea’s ARM media released phosphates.
All you would need to do is tap your reactor to add this fitting so your pH probe could read the pH inside the reactor and then run your effluent through some media. If you had the space you could throw any kind of bucket or tub or whatever in your sump and run rigid air line to the bottom of the bucket and connect the effluent line to that. CO2 is exhausted, pH is increased and your Ca, Alk, and Mg will be higher with out having to keep the pH so low.
I’d certainly recommend running the kalk reactor still, but increasing the pH a little bit and then greatly increasing your effluent from a drip to a steady stream will certainly help maintain higher levels. Just keep a close eye on all the levels daily for the first week and then at least weekly for a month or two. Just some pointers I think will help, but it’s up to you. The compression fitting for a pH probe is yours for free if you plan to use it. I bought a bunch and won’t be using as many as I thought.
You are correct.I did post a DYI for building a second chamber, but have since removed it. Filling 2 chambers and replacing the media is very costly. thanks for your input. Having already ordered the kalk reactor, I will be moitoring my params very closely once it is on line in the system.
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