HOW TO: DIY Aquarium reactor TUTORIAL

Hi everybody, Joey here again and welcome back. So in today's video, I want to show you guys how to build a cheap yet effective reactor. I want to not only show you how to build one, but how it works and I'll also show you it in action. Before we get started though, some of you might not even know what a reactor even is. Vaguely speaking, a reactor is basically a container that allows you to pass aquarium water through a specific media of your choice. Typically speaking, they perform a specific duty. Some examples of reactors would be carbon reactors, phosphate reactors, biopellet reactors, nitrate reactors, GFO reactors, calcium reactors, and many more. All performing specific duties for your aquarium water. We won't have time to cover every type of reactor and break down what each one does, but feel free to do some research and see if one might be right for you. Before we get started with the build, I also want to state that this design may not be the best solution for every type of reactor. However, it will serve to give you a good start or even simply to inspire some ideas of your own. So let's cover materials first. For this build, we will need a container. I went with a glass container that I picked up at my local dollar store. Now I got it for two dollars and it almost holds two liters. I picked this due to its shape and the fact that it had a twist top. The stainless steel rim that you see on the cap wasn't something I was looking for, but since it's only on the outside and the top is actually plastic, this doesn't matter. I did find that the container was waterproof, and if it leaked, I could simply pick up a cheap gasket and add it to the lid. If you're looking for a container that is similar to this one, a good start is to look for spaghetti or other types of pasta holders. Now the one I'm using is actually made out of glass, but whether yours is glass or plastic won't matter. I also used some CPVC pipe. I use CPVC because it's a thinner pipe than regular PVC and it's cheaper. I only used a few dollars worth for this reactor. For some connections, I picked up three couplings and an end cap for two dollars. Then some spare sponge I had, which was about a dollar's worth. Also a small amount of knitting mesh. I only used about a dollar's worth of this as well. I also picked up a couple of half-inch conduit fittings. Now these are basically tiny bulkheads. On average, I see them for around three dollars each. I'll also leave a list of everything I used in the description below so you can get some more information on it. So in total, this reactor cost me about thirteen dollars, which isn't bad seeing as how one this size would generally cost me about a hundred dollars. But we still need a pump, so we'll discuss that later on. So to get started, I drilled two holes in the top of the lid to the container. These holes will serve as the location for the bulkheads. Now one hole does need to be perfectly centered or centered as you can get it, while the other one can go anywhere on the top as long as the lid will actually close. I used a step drill to do this as the plastic was very thin on the lid. From there, I used the lid to trace out a rough idea of the container size onto the knitting mesh. I did this for the sponge as well. I still had to cut the mesh and the sponge down a bit, but this gave me a good start. Then I installed the bulkheads into the lid. From there, I used the pipe to trace out cuts for the centers of both the sponge and the mesh as well. Then cut those out. Now I was ready to begin building the input for the reactor. I started by drilling holes in the end cap, then installed the cap on a two inch piece of pipe that also had matching holes in the bottom. Some sponge and mesh was slid over that, and then a coupling. I then inserted a long piece of pipe into that coupling. The length will depend on the size of your container, but the longer the better. After that was another coupling, and then another two inch piece of pipe again. Then some mesh and some sponge, followed by the last coupling and some more pipe. We're now ready to insert it all into the container. Now if you cut everything just right, the top pipe should slide snugly into the base of the bulkhead. Now this is why the bulkhead gets centered, so we can easily screw on and off the cap while still connecting to the pipe and not pulling everything out. If the pipe is too big for the bulkhead, some heating of the bulkhead to stretch it out slightly, or some sanding of the inside of the bulkhead and on the outside of the pipe can be done. So how does this work? Well, water is pumped into the center bulkhead. Water flows down the center of the pipe and exits the holes at the bottom of the end cap. Since we drilled holes on each side, we have a better chance of the water being distributed evenly. The water flows up through the mesh and the sponge that is being held in place by the couplings. The mesh is a must. It will help contain the media. While the sponge is actually optional, but the sponge does actually mechanically filter the water before it hits your media. Top sponge helps to prevent fine media from being pumped into your aquarium. So use what you feel is best for your situation. Once water passes through your media, it will pass through the top mesh and the sponge, and then out through the side bulkhead and be returned to your aquarium. So let's take a look at this in action. Then we'll talk about pumps and sizing this to your aquarium. So as mentioned, water enters the center bulkhead and flows down the pipe and exits at the bottom. Water will flow through the container and out through the side bulkhead. So obviously leaving this running with or without media still doesn't show much. So I decided to run some colored water through it to give you a better illustration. Sizing the filter and pump for your aquarium will depend entirely on what you're intending to use it for. There is no real rule of thumb based on the vast purposes that this is used for. With that said, I think you'd really enjoy doing some further research on this piece of equipment. So I encourage you to do so. As for a pump, for the most part, reactors don't need a ton of flow. So you can use something as simple as a powerhead or a small pump, or even divert a little bit of flow from your main pump to it while controlling the flow to it with a ball valve. As for placement, these are most commonly set up right beside your sump. If you don't have a sump, I'm sure you're able to come up with a creative way to have one on your aquarium anyways. Ultimately, I just wanted to cover a basic idea on how to build a reactor. The rest is up to you. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the video. I also wanted to thank you for watching and we'll see you guys next week for a new project.