Picture of my 2nd Maco Calcium Reactor

[Anonymous]

Below is a picture of the 2nd reactor I built. It isn't as large as the first one . This one has an 18" tube and stands just under 24" tall. I hard piped this one and really like the way it turned out. The ball unions were requested by my buddy. I like them. This reactor will be going on his 125G reef.

The stuff inside the tubes is a spare gasket, spare nylon thumb screws and wing nuts, and the bag that the foam filter came in (he'll need to know what to buy to replace it one day).

I can't wait to get started on the skimmer course!

Louey

 

[Kabob]

That looks great Louey! I can't wait either. This is going to be a lot of fun.

Jason

 

[ChrisRD]

Excellent job Louey!

 

[tld]

Hey Louey,
Nice job. What kind of valves are those on the 1/4" tubing - looks like they control in flow and out flow...
Teresa

 

[Anonymous]

Yes Teresa, those are flow control valves to help control the through-put rate. I believe they are called 1/4" John Guest needle valves.

Louey

 

[tld]

Hey Louey,
Where did you get them and were they expensive?
Teresa

 

[Anonymous]

I got them at http://www.aquaticreefsystems.com/. I believe they were 9 or 10 each.

Louey

 

[tld]

Are they needle valves or ball valves? They look like needle valves in the picture, but I could only find ball valves on the website.
Teresa

 

[Anonymous]

They are needle valves. I remember now, they aren't shown on their website. Call them or send them an email. They are really good people. They have helped my out several times when I was having a problem with an RO unit that I bought elsewhere.

Louey

 

[dgasmd]

Looks great. What is MACO anyway?

I have a rather large MRC dual chamber reactor that I ahve considered changing for a number of reasons. Do you take orders? If you do, this is what I would like:

Dual chamber
No pump required (have a little giant 2MD)
chambers 8" diameter and 28" tall
All john guest fittings except for feeding tube (1/2" to be used)
incorporated bubble chamber (like yours)

Let me know,

Alberto

 

[tld]

heh heh, - looks like you have some business Louey! Thanks for the info about the needle valves.

dimaggio: MACO is the acronym for these on-line courses through reefs.org. Brian Ferguson taught a course on how to work with acrylic. The first course was building a calcium reactor. His second course will be building a protein skimmer. If you are a DIY kind of person, I highly recommend taking these courses.

Teresa

 

[guara]

Hi...is there somebody that could help me to build one likes this????

 

[Anonymous]

Check out this thread. MACO will be starting a new course soon. They may or may not make a CA reactor, but if you took the course and learned to work with acrylic, you could make just about anything IHMO.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Yes Teresa, those are flow control valves to help control the through-put rate. I believe they are called 1/4" John Guest needle valves.

Louey

Louey, the last time I looked into these needle value is that it is not saltwater safe. Great for RO/DI, but not for tank water.

 

[Anonymous]

I haven't had any problems with mine so far 7E.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Well, don't say I never warn you about the metal in the needle valve may not be saltwater safe.

(And don't edit this thread to make yourself look any wiser a few months later )

 

[Anonymous]

The metal in the needle valves still looks perfect when I clean them when they get clogged. They have been in use for a couple of years not. I have no idea what kind of metal it is though, so you may be right in the long haul.

Louey

 

[thesaent14]

i have made this one i dont know how to put it to work i sure know how to make it but i need to know how the lines go o where can you help with this

 

[Anonymous]

Yes Teresa, those are flow control valves to help control the through-put rate. I believe they are called 1/4" John Guest needle valves.

Louey

Louey, the last time I looked into these needle value is that it is not saltwater safe. Great for RO/DI, but not for tank water.

mines been running for a little over a year now, and it still works great. Maybe I need to pull the valve apart and see if it's pitted. I have an extra to throw on it, so why not?