Colorado Reefs
here fishy fishy ::…
H&S 90 Calcium Reactor first thoughts.
Thanks to an AWESOME Friend, I made a trade, and we both got what we needed 
. That said, this post will be about the H&S 90 Calcium Reactor I just received. The H&S 90 Calcium reactor is rated for a 100 Gallon tank, which should fit my tank quite well at a combined size of 95 Gallons. The system consists of a 4′ long 75 Gallon Acryllic tank, and a 14 Gallon Biocube, modded to allow for inlets and returns from the shared sump. The Calcium and Alkalinity requirements are quite low currently, so we’ll get to see how this reactor does with the growth of the tank, having started out from a small load. Since this was a freebie(in relative terms) to me, I had to supply a few parts of my own, that were missing or not included with the original reactor. There are a few accessories that help quite a bit in running and maintaining a calcium reactor:
H&S 90 Calcium Reator (90CRX-01)dfds
The reactor feels solid, and is built well. It came very well recomended, and the ease of use is very pleasing. If anything it’s more accomodating to a beginning user, as there are few things that can go wrong. The reactor features a built in bubble counter, which as can be seen in the picture to the left is mounted higher up on the side, making it easily viewable.
Effluent is fed off of the top of the reactor, and the provided valve is makes for easy control of the drip rate. The only minor gripe I had was that there is no re-circulation of co2 built in, but in this configuration, would be hard to do.
The reactor also features a built in pH probe inlet, which, when not in use, seals well. I’ve opted to run a Milwaukee SMS122, and the probe installation was very simple, and made setting up the reactor a breeze.
The Reactor has a twist lock top which is very sturdy, and makes mainenance and resupply of ARM on the reactor very simple. The base is also very sturdy, consisting of an upside down T, which the pump of the Aquabee 500 pump mounts to. Once set up and running, the system seems quite quiet and matches the hum of the rest of the pumps in my tank’s cabinet.
The only reactor I had before this was very hard to work with, and did not have the probe slot, which I think, besides the sturdy build to be it’s best point.
Tags: 90, Ac Voltage, alkalinity, Amp, calcium, calcium reactor, Calcium Reactors, Circulation, Co2, Co2 Reactor, Dfds, Drip Rate, Effluent, First Thoughts, Freebie, Gallon Tank, HS, inlet, Inlets, Milwaukee, Modded, pH, pH controller, Ph Probe, probe, reactor, Relative Terms, Seals, Shut Down, solenoid, Twist Lock
Suggested Modifications for the Seaclone Skimmer
SeaClone 100
Given my cheap budget(in relative terms), I’ve stayed with the skimmer that came with my 75G Show tank, since I got it. Main reason, it didn’t cost anything, and has worked, very well actually. I originally got my 75G Show tank from a friend who works in the aquarium business, and had a customer who wanted his out. I took it, with the low low cost of moving it out of his house. Not a bad price, given I’d have to do that w/ a used tank anyways.
I should preface this page with first, by saying that there is a little bit different setup to my skimmer: It’s not setup HOB(Hang on Back) style. I’ve taken off the necesary pieces, and connected the Maxi-Jet 1200 directly to the skimmer body. While this reduces the bubble’s contact time with the water, it hasn’t seemed to make any difference in the performance of the skimmer. The skimmer sits in the bottom of my sump, in about 4″ of water. I should also mention, this is the SeaClone 100, not the Seaclone 150. Here we go:
- Pump/Impeller: If you’re not using a Maxi-Jet 1200 with this unit, get one. Take out the impeller and drill three tiny holes(1/16″) in each blade of the impeller. Even better, make a mesh wheel for the maxi-jet 1200. I haven’t done this, but I would expect it would help even more with performance, by making the bubbles even tinier, creating more surface area.
- Inner riser tube: I cut mine down by 3 1/2″ – 4″. There have been other pages which say you can pull this out, after taking out the inner column, but I have never been able to get either of mine out(I have 2 of these skimmers). I have a dremel with the flex shaft attachment, which made cutting this pretty easy using a smaller size cutting wheel. Given my big hands, I did putz around with it a bit, but with a little patience I got this done pretty easily. Take your time here, as breaking this would render the whole skimmer pretty much useless.
- Collection cup riser tube: Reduce the height of the riser tube in the collection cup by about 1/2″. Given the total height the foam has to go to get into the collection cup, this can only help, as it allows it to flow over into the collection cup easier.
- Replace the provided “air adjustment” valve with a real air adjustment valve. The one provided with the Maxi-Jet just doesn’t have enough control over the amount of air you want going into the skimmer.
These are the four changes I have made to the two of my SeaClone skimmers, and it has made all the difference. On average I’d say both pull out about 1 Cup per week from my Show tank cluster and my frag cluster of tanks.
Tags: Aquarium, Big Hands, Blade, Bubbles, Coral Tank, Dremel, Flex Shaft, Hob, Little Bit, Patience, Preface, Reef System, Reef Tank, Relative Terms, Riser Tube, Saltwater, Saltwater Aquarium, Seaclone 100, Seaclone 150, Seaclone Skimmer, show tank, Skimmers, Surface Area, Tiny Holes, Wh, Wheel
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