Need help with Octopus reactor ... anyone have one?

[Mrs Fish]

I checked again and the pump is vaguely humming. I cannot hear it, but can feintly feel it. When I say sludge, I really mean dust and water. I don't know if it's possible to get the pump going again. I suspect not ...

 

[RayD]

Sue for the sake of your sanity try giving the pump a good hard smack.

I know it sounds odd but sometimes they need a good kick in the pants to start them. Of course being a brand new unit I would get a pump replacement anyway.

I use an MJ1200 as a feed pump. It sounds like alot to feed but for me it works perfectly. My reactor is the MRC-1. It's been setup about 2 1/2 years.

 

[Liam]

Sue are you sure its the large media?
You said its deltec media that you have had for a while,that would make me suspect it is the regular rowalith media.
Deltec does now offer a large media but it is not available in many places,primarily only available from D+D,i'm pretty sure it has not been available that long .
Also the media deltec recommends for their reactors is not the large media,they recommend the smaller grade media as the deltec reactor is a fluidised bed type(and thats what causes all the problems with them clogging)
When greg said large media i think he was implying the schuran style media.

Did you rinse the media thoroughly before adding it to the reactor to remove the dust?
it could be that dust from the media got into the impeller shaft housing and caused it to lock up.

 

[Ray]

Those reactors say they dont need a feed pump but I would defiantly use one. A buddy of mine setup a duel chamber one with out a feed pump and had nothing but problems.

The large media is also about 1/2 inch long and as round as your pinky finger, that is what I use in my reactor.

 

[MikeG]

I believe you are right ... although instructions / diagram does not say so.

Those reactors say they dont need a feed pump but I would defiantly use one. A buddy of mine setup a duel chamber one with out a feed pump and had nothing but problems.

The large media is also about 1/2 inch long and as round as your pinky finger, that is what I use in my reactor.

I don't see anywhere that says you don't need a feed pump. It specifically says they do not recommend the syphon feed.

How to Hook Up the Reactor
The preferred method to hook up any reactor is the pressure feed setup.
• Using a small power head, place it in your sump and connect the hose to the outlet port.
• Connect the other end to the John Guest fitting. (See the calcium reactor diagram)
Dual setup only - The effluent hose runs from the outlet on chamber 2 back to the sump. Make
sure the effluent hose is above the water line so you can see the drop rate.
We do not recommend the siphon feed to the reactor because it is not reliable.




Did you have any luck taking out the impeller and cleaning everything up?

 

[Ray]

Maybe they have changed it but it used to say you can set it up to syphon