Building Calcium reactor questions

[ziggy]

Building a calc. reactor that is 26" tall and has 4" inner diameter I was looking for opinions on the water's path and the pump size.

Do you think the water should circulate from the bottom and go up, or come in the top and circulate down. I'm leaning 99% toward bottom up due to CO2 rising.

The second part: I have a mag 5 =500gph and a Quiet one model 3000 which is at 780gph. Which would be better suited for the job?

Any "Boomer" type links and advice are appreciated.

Thank you in advance,
Chad#2

 

[trido]

Sounds about like my DIY reactor. I built mine with a top down flow and reversed it. Bottom up helps to keep the media from settling. Also, a mag 3 or similar pump rated for around 160GPH should be plenty of flow helping reduce heat and electrical costs.
And... if you can drill and tap your chamber with pipe threads for the fittings the reactor will take much more abuse and leak alot less in its life span. Simply glueing PVC to acrylic works but leaves alot of room for leaking in those joints due to lack of chemical bonding.
Have fun with it.

Take a look here for a quick pic reference if you like.

 

[ziggy]

Thanks Duane,
I was going to buy yours but our commercial pool and spa division had something so close to a calcium reactor that I couldn't help but make it into one. Plus it was free including 95% of the schedule 80 and R/O fittings.

The reason for the bigger pump is due to a larger water mass and 3/4" pvc line than what wasn't stated above. I will post pics but there is a fluted area of water on the bottom that I think needs more flow,but its too hard to describe so I will post pics in a couple hours.

 

[Katchupoy]

i prefer bottom top flow myself.... to keep media from not setting at the bottom.