Reactor guage/needle valve/solinoid's

[Jack]

Hey guys/girls how's it goin,

Getting a reactor up and running in about a month or two if all goes well. I've never had one and I was wondering what specific/good qualities I should look for when purchasing reactor accesories; Involving all three mentioned in the title of the post. Thank's for any help.

I hope this isn't a dumb question, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Also there seems to be three sources that I can find:

(I think this is for the kit dual guage/needle valve/solinoid)

Titus 150$
Jayson SWC 150$
J&L Aquatics 190$

Please let me know if my price quotes are off, or you know of a place to get them cheaper. Do I need another needle valve to adjust the effluent ml/hr?

Have a good one..

-Jack

[Aquattro]

Jack, I use Titus' setup and I'm happy with it....especially considering I paid a lot more than that!

[StirCrazy]

refurbished at Air Liquid 85.00
Needel valve from J&L for 20ish I think and I don't use a selanoid.

Steve

[Jack]

Thanks Steve and Brad. So the solinoid turns off the Co2 when the power goes out, big wup. I was thinking I could get away with one aswell. Is there an important saftey feature we are loosing if we don't have a solinoid?

I can't see excess Co2 entering the tank if the pumps don't work cause the power is out!

That's my last question, you guys nailed all the other stuff, thanks.

[Canadian Man]

Originally Posted by Jack

Thanks Steve and Brad. So the solinoid turns off the Co2 when the power goes out, big wup. I was thinking I could get away with one aswell. Is there an important saftey feature we are loosing if we don't have a solinoid?

I can't see excess Co2 entering the tank if the pumps don't work cause the power is out!

That's my last question, you guys nailed all the other stuff, thanks.

He Jack,
I use Jason's unit from SWC and it's a slick unit for 150. I was thinking of not using the solenoid but when I found the unit from SWC and it came with it I figued I would obviously use it cause it is there.
In the 6 month's now of running my reactor it's saved me 2 time. Each power outage was over an hour. I like the idea of a solenoid. With out it the co2 will keep bubbling into your reactor but not be used. Depending on the design of the reactor, when the power comes back online you may have a huge drop in ph which may cause problems and it may not.

For the extra $40 or so I say go for it if it's going to save your tank, Maybe

[StirCrazy]

the CO2 will only bubble till it is equalized at you regulators set pressure, if you have a cheep regulator you might get pressure creap and this could cause problems.. a good regulator will shut the co2 down befor thjat point.. as for a dose of super low PH water,,, you are feeding at a very small rater and into a high flow arera.. shouldent be much of a problem at all.

Steve

[Aquattro]

Jack, get the solenoid. It's worth the extra $40.

[Jack]

Yah, why not eh? How many times in this hobby have we all said that ?!

Thanks guys for all your replys, appreciated as always.

later..