REACTORS- Filtration for stingrays

[DIDYSIS]

I hear tons of people talking about their reactors and how simple they are to make and how absolutely great they are in regards to filtering allot of food throw into a tank for consumption. I am looking for a little advice in taking my filtration a step further. And when people say things like you read below, I really am interested in setting one up and trying it out. Please help with designs, filter media type(brand) (amount), pump or air driven, all the details to help make a very successful reactor as I am not 100 percent new to the idea but what some advice from those that have been running them for years or even are new to it as well. I saw this on the internet as a buy it already made setup which is nice but I believe I could build my own to be as good or better, heck I even have a couple canister filters hanging around maybe I could rig up to use.

Not rely sure how u can beat a bio reactor...The amount of media in my 35 gal reactor is rated to handle like 10+ lbs of food per day for a large koi pond or something crazy like that.

As far as reactors, it's not simple as media and bubbles. It doesn't "just have to boil" it also has to survive being shut off, restarted, power outtages, and the most important thing is an alternative means to keep the media moving aside from air. Meds seem to alter specific gravity or something, most of us have used Prazi. This is not good for a reactor. Without a means to keep the media down in the water, the media surfs the foam right out of the container. Just dumping the water into the reactor from a few inches above seems to work great. More flow = better media tumble even without air. BUT this directly contradicts the flow rates K1 is designed for. It's not designed for the 10-20X flowrates raykeepers like to use on thier tanks. The reactors you buy run off much slower flowrates. Along with higher flowrates comes the media sticking to drain of the reactor. Real easy to reach disaster there too.... K3 is designed for higher flowrates but you give up surface area.

K 1/3 is designed to be used with thier bio chips..... Intresting stuff, bio animals that eat stuff up to like 5 micron?!?

The big deal with reactors is maintainance. It's the ability to remove all the "mum" by cracking a valve instead of tearing apart a bio tower or rinsing out rings. It's easy to clean which means it actually gets done and NOT slacked off. My rays used to get sick a lot. Everytime the filter appeared it could have contributed. Nothing wrong with bio towers or rings but if not kept clean then pores plug up, efficiency is compromised. Reactors knock off the ineffecient bio, only keeping new strong going, the rest gets sluffed off after it dies with the crack of the valve.

Here is my system:
1. 50 gallon K-1 reactor.

its always good to have different surface types in your sumps and filtration so different types of bacterias can grow. in my sump i have scrubbies, bioballs, ceramics, and as soon as my pump gets here then the reactor.

"Free floating scrubbies that tumble in the water are the same concept as a bio reactor. I have a DIY moving filter bed/sump with K1 (again, same concept as a bio reactor).

 

[coyotethug]

I was wondering about this too. I am making a couple of filters for my up and coming 1000 gallon system. I was going to go with a wet dry tower config but after I saw a 400 gallon biotower running on a clients system (6000 gallon artificial reef) I wondered how this could be set up in my system. I already have two pondmaster air pumps which are enough to run the system and have a backup. Anyone make their own and anyone use bioballs? I have 50 gallons of bioballs already, using them is a priority.

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[Silent Bob]

DIDYSIS here you go. This should help you some on a simple to make reactor. Very cheap and effective. This was originally built by Pat at Amazonrays.com out in Michigan.

1 estimated 30 gallon Tuffguy round trash can.
1 Easypro EPW4 air pump
2 cuft of ultimaII tube media
4 square airstones
Misc. items like tubing and bulkheads



Pretty simple setup with 1" feed T'ed off one of my return pumps Danner Hy-Drive 4800. Feed goes into the reactor about 1.5" above the gravity fed return back to the sump. The huge white pvc parts inside the reactor are just there to prevent any media escaping the reactor.

Air pump is fed straight down the middle of the lid to the 4 airstones at the bottom at 1.8cfm. Also in the lid is another fitting to let air bleed off.

There are some other pictures that I don't have on my phone in my 600 gallon build thread. Hope this helps a little for you.

 

[scott s]

Very simple, very effective.

 

[gangster]

More pics and examples please. Pics are worth a 1000 words.
Silent bob is that reactor return back to your sump or back into the tank? And is this trash can just filled w/ bio balls that crash around in super airated water?
I love the idea an simplicity but would love to see a few more examples.

 

[T1KARMANN]

If I was setting one up again I would do air run

I tried it with both air and pump pump is much better and you get much better movement long term

Air stones get blocked with bacteria after a short time if the reactor is working

I would also make sure you have a good pre filter that can be clean easily

For me its not a great idea the reactor it looks great if you want to look at things moving but I feel you can get much better results with sand which is also a reactor just with a different type of media

Give it a go the media most people use is K1 or K3


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[Silent Bob]

More pics and examples please. Pics are worth a 1000 words.
Silent bob is that reactor return back to your sump or back into the tank? And is this trash can just filled w/ bio balls that crash around in super airated water?
I love the idea an simplicity but would love to see a few more examples.

Here is a lousy picture of the media in the reactor.

The stuff is tiny. Similar to a straw with honeycomb inside and about 1/2" long. The return from the reactor flows right above my other pump that flows back to the tank.

 

[Energy]

I built this 55 gallon K-1 Reactor out of an old aquarium.

[video=youtube;hsxm5AT6qJw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsxm5AT6qJw[/video]

 

[DIDYSIS]

This looked intersting to me looking through a couple videos, different media type. But I plan on doing something on a much much larger scale. I have a spare 30 gallon tank around or other stuff I think would be a good option for me to use.



[video=youtube;BwNhEvouMDw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwNhEvouMDw&feature=player_embedded[/video]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwNhEvouMDw&feature=player_embedded

 

[Silent Bob]

If I was setting one up again I would do air run

I tried it with both air and pump pump is much better and you get much better movement long term

Air stones get blocked with bacteria after a short time if the reactor is working

I would also make sure you have a good pre filter that can be clean easily

For me its not a great idea the reactor it looks great if you want to look at things moving but I feel you can get much better results with sand which is also a reactor just with a different type of media

Give it a go the media most people use is K1 or K3


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To me K1 or K3 is pointless. Less square footage then other media out there. Also costs more then other media that do the same exact thing.
Now I am jealous at all the people who get to look at moving things.
You want to go a cheaper route and produce the same results? Check into Stoney Creek Fisheries for media similar to the UltimaII.