New Babble Magus Calcium Reactor review

[Oxymoron]

Really have been considering this piece of equip. Thanks for the review and please keep us updated with your progress in the coming weeks.
Hopefully it will be a set it and forget (for a bit) piece.

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by Oxymoron

Really have been considering this piece of equip. Thanks for the review and please keep us updated with your progress in the coming weeks.
Hopefully it will be a set it and forget (for a bit) piece.

So far so good i would recommend this to anyone who still wants to use this old school technology vs dosing.

The only thing so far is that i am very cautious about is pump connection method via soft rubber sleeves instead of hard piping it.
The unit is holding water nicely and now is used externally, but i am watching it like a hawk! Planning a bottom container just to be on the safe side.


One more positive point is that it uses very little Co2 thanks to a very efficient Co2 recirculation feature.

[RuGlu6]

Replyed all PM's, wow lots of interest

[Oxymoron]

Can you take some pics of it all rigged up in action?

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by Oxymoron

Can you take some pics of it all rigged up in action?

Sure no problem it will be massy though, lots of tubes and wires.

A little update:

• the clear "drip chamber" is almost full of water now so cant really see the drops, but still easy to control by the effluent drops.
• i made a little modification to the clear Co2 recirc. line (top pic # 1)by cutting it at the top and incorporating a "Vent" line. Got tired of waiting for all the air to dissolve.
• This reactor is Not for a small tank ! my tank is 65 Gal + sump but to keep SPS corals happy all i need is to keep Ph at only 7.0 to keep high Calcium level. This one is rated for 240 Gal so its a bit oversized for my tank. Should have gotten a smoller one.

I still think this is a very good unit. It is running externally for now.

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by Oxymoron

Can you take some pics of it all rigged up in action?

ok here you go.


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I am pointing to a line that i modified and inserted a "T" to vent the reactor from air bubbles. Got tired of waiting and also when to much air inside it makes noise. But when vented it is silent.
Ph probe is now in.

[Oxymoron]

Thanks for this,
What kind of controller are you using?
I'm very interested of your impression in a couple of weeks with regards to it being a set it and forget type deal device, once it's dialed in and to a certain extent of course.
It would be nice to only have to mess with it on a bi monthly basis type deal.

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by Oxymoron

Thanks for this,
What kind of controller are you using?
I'm very interested of your impression in a couple of weeks with regards to it being a set it and forget type deal device, once it's dialed in and to a certain extent of course.
It would be nice to only have to mess with it on a bi monthly basis type deal.

You are welcome.
I do not use a calc reactor controller, just PH probe. The controller you see on the pic is a Tunze controller for water movement pumps and Wave Box.

The reactor is running very quiet and the only noise from it is when it recirculates Co2 every few seconds. I am running it at Ph 7.3 now and dialing in very slowly to be easy on SPS ( i have lots of SPS). Corals are already responding positively with nice new growth. I will reduce the PH slowly in next few days down to 6.9 and will keep it there for some time and see what calcium level will be
If your tank is 120 Gal or less i would consider smaller version.
This will be set it and forget it device mainly because i feed it from my display tank return pump line. The most unreliable way to feed the reactor is gravity feed, second worst is small power head. So the drip rate is the most PITA in regards of calcium reactors use. As long as Co2 is injected and water circulates it should be very simple to use after that.
You will only attend to it when you need to recharge the media and that will depend on the rate of calcium consumption by the corals. This was the reason i got the larger one, because it takes more media.

Oh, BTW the white layer at the bottom of the chamber is Magnesium, makes it easy to keep the level up.

[Stones]

Originally Posted by RuGlu6

The only thing so far is that i am very cautious about is pump connection method via soft rubber sleeves instead of hard piping it. The unit is holding water nicely and now is used externally, but i am watching it like a hawk! Planning a bottom container just to be on the safe side.

I wouldn't be too worried about the external piping being connected to the main chamber via the soft rubber seals as they appear to be just square uniseals from the posted pictures. I ran an external skimmer for over 3 years that used uniseals to connect the external plumbing to the main skimmer chamber and the only time it leaked was when I had to remove the piping and piece it back together after being in constant use for several years. If you are scared about the quality of the soft rubber sleeves, just order up some replacement uniseals as there are several online distributors that carry them in various sizes.