Nilsen style reactor - DIY

Hey -

Several of us are planning on building a Nilsen style kalkwasser reactor in the very near future. We have decided to use clear pvc rather than acrylic. (yeah, yeah, I know all the pro acrylic arguments, but pvc is what we want to use). Anyway, I have found a pretty good deal on clear pvc, but you have to order it in 5' lengths. This mean we will have about 4' left over.

Is anyone interested in building one with us? The total cost will be about $100. give or take. We want to get everything ordered this week and build them the following weekend. Should only take a couple of hours. We plan to use a combination of the plans found on these two sites:

http://jjgeisler.com/reeftank/diy_kalkwasser_reactor.htm

http://www.mv.com/users/besposito/nilsen.html

If you're serious - give me a call and we will figure out the what, when and how of this little project.

Happy Reefin and all that.

Shane

(435) 723-6613 - home

(435) 734-6967 - work

(435) 720-1895 - cell

Flaz,

I had planned on using a Maxi-jet pump. The only problems I have heard about are the pumps leaking. We could use an Eheim if it is very small. For the price, I think MJ is the way to go.

I am going to use it for top off water. I have a peristaltic pump that I use to maintain water levels. I pump about 55 mL per hour into my sump currently. I will feed the kalkwasser reactor with this set-up. The effluent from the reactor will be output to the sump.

If you're confident in acrylic to pvc joints, we could order five feet of the pvc and two feet of the acrylic pipe. Also - do you have any idea what the price difference might be for 6" pvc couplers and caps as compared to the 4"? I can also get 6" clear pvc for under $20. per foot. I am limited in the height as I only have about 28" under my stand. I am considering using 6" to gain more volume ...

I'll try to post some pictures of mine tomorrow night. I hope it goes well. It would be nice to have some people to talk to about it though.

Ryan

I got the Clear PVC from Combined Supply on Washington Street (3000 south and a street west of the "Trax" Tracks. $13.60 a foot

The PVC fittings I bought from Conley Company at 4000 South West Temple. They are a pool supply house and therefore the PVC fittings are VERY high quality (not like Home Depot's) and are about $5 a piece. The total for the fittings I purchased there was $19 dollars.

The rest of the parts I got from Home depot for about $20 bucks.

It turned out pretty well I think.

Call me if you have any questions.

Ryan

I'm going to pick up an MJ250 sometime today. Hope it works. I'm thinking of siliconing it to make sure it doesn't leak. We'll see how it works out.

Ryan

I'll have them up tonight. I've figured out a way to make it work without using an expensive dosing pump also. I'll post pictures of how I'm doing it.

Ryan

Nilsen reactors don't use CO2 (C02 is bad for Kalkwasser actually).  I believe the way we will be hooking these up won't require a pH controller since the reactor will be use only for fresh-makeup water.

If you're interested in a Calcium Reactor, which typically would require a CO2 regulator and pH controller you can find good prices at www.marinedepot.com or www.reeffanatic.com I've had great service from both of them.  Once we build these I'll be running both types of reactors (calcium and nilsen).  The main reason I'm adding a Nilsen is to help elevate my pH up to where I'd like it.

Nice pics.  So is your water input and output using standard airline tubing?

What is the regulator for?  Does it prevent backflow when the pump is off?

Sweet setup by the way!