Cookiemonster CR

[ZeRoC00l]

Just hooked up newest equipment today... after a long long long wait Good things are worth waiting for

Anyway, here are some pic first. Will be posting my review in the coming days, pls be patient Hold the questions for a few weeks

First thoughts:

(1) Mine was a custom size ** gota squeeze into my cabinate under my 2ft

tank

but boy was it BIG, same 6" dia main body: clean and scratch free

(2) Joints were clean and upper sleeve was welded for strength. Lower joint

can be welded for xtra $$ BUT will lose it's clean look On the bright

side, it will be a STRONG joint

(3) All pipe joints were clean without any glue drips / stains. However, my unit

had a small leak at the output "L" joint. A one off slip? But it was sealed

after i reglue it, and place a clamp on the hose

(4) Good support as all required items were provided: CO2 hose, check valve,

silicone pipes for CO2 recycling/effluent input/output.

Initial evaluation: /

[ZeRoC00l]

Pix 1

Aquaz phyto bottle for comparison

[ZeRoC00l]

Pix 2

CO2 recycling links

[ZeRoC00l]

Pix 3

Union joints & clean base (glue not welded)

[patrick123]

I agree. It is top notch workmanship. I know, coz I have one too.

I believe mine is the same size as yours, since I also have the same constraint that the CR has to be able to fit into my cabinet. In my opinion, the CR is really value for money. 4.5 stars from me.

BTW, do you have the problem of the bubble dancing inside the bubble counter? Mine is doing that quite a lot which I believe is because the pump I use (Eheim 1050) is too powerful for the size of my CR.

What I did was to attach an exteral bubble counter. This is my only complaint.

Cheers,

Patrick

[ZeRoC00l]

Day 2:

Leaking joint is fixed

Pump used: Ehiem 1250

>>>> Agree, kinda strong. Can see a bit of my top ARM jumping ard... a

fluidising reator?!?! Isn't it the whole idea to increase the overall

efficency of the CR?

Overall, still think it's good to have a little stronger pump for circulating the

dissolve CO2 ard the ARM.

Current setting:

Bubble count: 1b/ 6sec

effluent: abt 60 drops/s

Haven test effluent, awaiting reactor to settle down as I only run my CR in the day (on 4 hr after first lights, off 2 hours before last light )

[ZeRoC00l]

Up my bubble count to 1bubble per 4sec. My KH seems to be dropping after i stopped dosing Seachem KH...

do you have the problem of the bubble dancing inside the bubble counter?

Finding it a bit of a hassle to switch on and off just to tune the CR... But we can't have the best of both worlds can we??

2 point to note:

(1) It seems that CO2 bubbles are collecting in the effluent out pipe

Have to fully open the valve to flush out the bubbles collecting along the

pipe line

>>>>>>>>> Perhaps Cookiemunster can verfiy this.

(2) The check valve supplied by Cookiemunster is not tt effective. Water

still back flows after my solenoid valve switches off for the night.

>>>>>>>>> Invest in a quality check valve for those using solenoid valves, else

risk damaging the valve

[patrick123]

Bro,

What brand of solenoid and needle valve do you use?

Cheers,

Patrick

[Cookiemunster]

Up my bubble count to 1bubble per 4sec. My KH seems to be dropping after i stopped dosing Seachem KH...

Finding it a bit of a hassle to switch on and off just to tune the CR... But we can't have the best of both worlds can we??

2 point to note:

(1) It seems that CO2 bubbles are collecting in the effluent out pipe

Have to fully open the valve to flush out the bubbles collecting along the

pipe line

>>>>>>>>> Perhaps Cookiemunster can verfiy this.

(2) The check valve supplied by Cookiemunster is not tt effective. Water

still back flows after my solenoid valve switches off for the night.

>>>>>>>>> Invest in a quality check valve for those using solenoid valves, else

risk damaging the valve

Hi bro,

thanks for the review.

I wish to clarify some points you mentioned.

1) Regarding the trapped air in the hose clamp, its not CO2 gas. At your bubble rate, its not possible for CO2 gas to be trapped and not dissolve in the liquid instead. More likely its due to the backsyphoning of air from the outside when the water squirts out from that clamped point. Otherwise its also possible its from the remaining normal air trapped in the ARM media. Once you shake the whole cylinder you'll see what I mean. Lots of bubbles raise from trapped air pockets in the media. These will disappear in a few days of running.

2) The backsyphoning into the CO2 tube only happens cos you're using solenoid valves. When it stops, it should still have a slight CO2 back pressure. I suspect your solenoid valve is leaking slightly or your CO2 cylinder is low on gas. And in any case the only type of check valve that can prevent backflow are the industrial brass types. I have tried every brand including the stainless steel ones sold at fish shops and they turn out worse.

3) with regard to your dropping kh. Could it be you turned off your solenoid too often? With a reactor this size it has absolutely no problems maintening kh and calcium for up to 5 ft tanks even. I would strongly recommend you remove the solenoid valve and stay with 1 bubble every 4 secs which is actually very very very low bubble rate already. Customers using my 10kg capacity calcium reactors only use 1 bubble every 10 sec and still manage to maintain calc at 440 and dkh of 10 with a 5ft tank with high sps stocking. Your effluent drip rate is also too slow. Please double it as I recommended otherwise you are not maximizing its effectiveness.

However I would strongly recommend my new calcium reactor design if not for your space constraints. It solves the dancing bubble counter problems, has true fluidizing effect, has no troublesome centre pipe blocking media refills and has better CO2 recirculation.

[ZeRoC00l]

1) Regarding the trapped air in the hose clamp, its not CO2 gas. At your bubble rate, its not possible for CO2 gas to be trapped and not dissolve in the liquid instead. More likely its due to the backsyphoning of air from the outside when the water squirts out from that clamped point. Otherwise its also possible its from the remaining normal air trapped in the ARM media. Once you shake the whole cylinder you'll see what I mean. Lots of bubbles raise from trapped air pockets in the media. These will disappear in a few days of running.

Okie, it's still new. Will have to wait for a few weeks to show it's true potential.

2) The backsyphoning into the CO2 tube only happens cos you're using solenoid valves. When it stops, it should still have a slight CO2 back pressure. I suspect your solenoid valve is leaking slightly or your CO2 cylinder is low on gas. And in any case the only type of check valve that can prevent backflow are the industrial brass types. I have tried every brand including the stainless steel ones sold at fish shops and they turn out worse.

My CO2 tank is just refilled.. maybe not full?!?

I dun think tt there is a absolute leak free solenoid valve, so that's y a check valve is always recommended

3) with regard to your dropping kh. Could it be you turned off your solenoid too often? With a reactor this size it has absolutely no problems maintening kh and calcium for up to 5 ft tanks even. I would strongly recommend you remove the solenoid valve and stay with 1 bubble every 4 secs which is actually very very very low bubble rate already. Customers using my 10kg capacity calcium reactors only use 1 bubble every 10 sec and still manage to maintain calc at 440 and dkh of 10 with a 5ft tank with high sps stocking. Your effluent drip rate is also too slow. Please double it as I recommended otherwise you are not maximizing its effectiveness.

Point noted, will go back and adjust once i get out of camp...

Thanks for the advice