Grrr. My biopellet reactor died

[FishyFishy!]

Sorry to hear that brew. But if you're thinking of continuing the use of BP, I would suggest you chuck the obviously flawed reactor and go for a better design. Sounds like nothing but problems for you.

[Reef Pilot]

Never could get why the circulating, when these reactors first came out. Bought my Vertex UF20 several years ago and has been totally hassle free ever since. I have it T'ed off my return pump and it has a ball valve on the input that allows easy control of the tumbling. Only maintenance was topping up pellets every few months. I have had as much as 1000 ml bio pellets running in it. Never requires cleaning or maintenance. But with zero nitrates for so long now, my bio pellet reduction has drastically slowed, so haven't touched mine now since Nov/2012, and still has about 1/2 cup tumbling in the bottom.

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

Never could get why the circulating, when these reactors first came out. Bought my Vertex UF20 several years ago and has been totally hassle free ever since. I have it T'ed off my return pump and it has a ball valve on the input that allows easy control of the tumbling. Only maintenance was topping up pellets every few months. I have had as much as 1000 ml bio pellets running in it. Never requires cleaning or maintenance. But with zero nitrates for so long now, my bio pellet reduction has drastically slowed, so haven't touched mine now since Nov/2012, and still has about 1/2 cup tumbling in the bottom.

If I can't get this thing modified to work the way I want, that's exactly what I'm going to have to do, though I've no way to T it off my return pump so It would mean buying another pump. I'm trying to spend as little money fixing this as possible first.

[Delphinus]

Sorry to hear. I'm with others on this thread, that outlet sounds too small.

To be honest, I find the whole trend of "recirculating this or that" (skimmers, reactors, etc.) to be a little bit of needless overcomplication. The fact that these units sit in sumps means that water is recirculated even on one-pass designs anyhow. Generally speaking, KISS principle is the way to go.

[asylumdown]

yah the only logic behind it is the setting tumbler ate independent of flow, but these problems with mulm building up inside the reactor (let alone clogging parts) just doesn't seem to happen with one pass reactors, as the water moves at such a clip it's evacuated as soon as it's produced.

I wouldn't buy one again, but it was 4 or 5 hundred bucks and I don't want to replace it it so I'm going to try and work with what I have. I'm 99% certain I can address it's most serious design flaws.

Tony, you know anyone in Calgary that's got a drill press? I will even supply my own drill bit...

[Spyd]

I have read about numerous issues with multiple recirculating reactors. IMO they are not worth it at all. Stick to the easy to use, hassle free reactors like the Vertex models. All I did for the reactor was made a DIY screen at the top of the reactor to prevent the pellets from leaving the reactor as they shrunk. It is truly set it and forget it from there...

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by Spyd

I have read about numerous issues with multiple recirculating reactors. IMO they are not worth it at all. Stick to the easy to use, hassle free reactors like the Vertex models. All I did for the reactor was made a DIY screen at the top of the reactor to prevent the pellets from leaving the reactor as they shrunk. It is truly set it and forget it from there...

Yes, that is what I did initially with mine, with material from Michaels. But now Vertex makes that screen filter and I bought that, too. Works good.