Peristaltic Feed Pump for Ca Reactor

Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum

Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:

piercho

Mackerel
Joined
Jul 1, 2003
Messages
80
Location
Bremerton WA
Are there brands of peristaltic pumps that are known to be reliable for years of continuous duty (with tubing changes)? Thanks.
 
cole-palmer make some great pumps that seem to last forever. Mine I got used and it's been perfect. Tubing lasts much longer than the hospital feeding pumps and they are designed to run for extended periods of time. Also you can change the flow rate by putting in different tubing sizes. Great pumps (pricey, but great) and quiet, plus they can be switched on/off with a float switch or X10 controller.
 
Reed,
Thanks for the feedback. That is the kind of inputs I’m looking for. Is it common to use peristaltic pumps to feed calcium reactors? Most Ca reactors seem to let the recirc pump also pressurize the vessel and then have a fine adjustment valve to control the flow rate through the reactor. It seems to me you could have a simpler reactor and get a more reliable flow rate using a peristaltic pump for feed and a separate pump for recirc, but I was not sure if any peristaltic pumps were up to continuous duty.
 
There are people who use peristaltic pumps as feed pumps and they rave about them making the reactor effluent consistent. Makes it easier to dial in and leave it alone.

Good luck!
 
Peri pumps really seem to be a better way to feed the ca rx. Ive been using a cheap aquamedic on the output side for awhile now and restrict the input with a tiny valve.

Don
 
Thanks for the help so far. A couple more questions:
1. What is the prefered tubing material and where do you source your tubing from? From masterflex it looks like silicone is ideal, but I'm thinking a softer tubing like surgical tubing would cause less wear on the pump and be OK for a non-caustic fluid like SW.
2. Have y'all been inspecting/replacing the motor brush for pumps in continuous duty, such as for CA reactors? Watson Marlow and Masterflex show a motor brush part. Watson Marlow calls it a field-servicable part and estimates the minimum life at 7500 hours at max RPM for one pump I looked at.
3. Is there a source for tech data for discontinued Masterflex pumps? I've found user's manuals for current pumps on the Masterflex web page, but I'm not finding discontinued models. Mainly I'd like to know the RPM range, compatable pump heads, max current draw/motor torque.
 
I use the recommended tubing with my pump and it seems to hold up really well. I don't see a reason to mess with the manufacturers recommendations (they should know best).

If you have the pump (or pump head) model number you can search for it on the masterflex site and find the spec sheets that will show the RPM and equivalent flow of diffferent heads and tubing combos.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top