Calcium reactor effluent , is this value make sense?

[machodik]

Dear All,

As I am a newbie of Calcium reactor , I have a GEO 618 and hooked up another reactor as the second chamber. Photos of the set up as follows;

I have set my Apex controller with PH probe in the GEO 618 at 6.70 (on ) and low at 6.50 .

The ph of the effluent was : 6.90
The alk of the effluent is : 17 dkh
The calcium of the effluent is : 440 ppm
The mg if the effluent is : 1390 ppm

The value of the display tank are;
PH : 8.20
Alk : 11 dkh
Calcium : 420 ppm
Mg : 1320 ppm

Now my questions is : are the value of water parameter of my tank and the value of effluent is just reasonable ? I wonder and expect that the value of calcium and alkalinity and Mg should be far higher than what I got . I am using API kit for alk and calcium and salifert for Mg.

Your kind advises will be a good help for a newbie like me and other as well .

Cheers,


MD

 

[gregr]

The value of the display tank are;
PH : 8.20
Alk : 11 dkh
Calcium : 420 ppm
Mg : 1320 ppm

Only the alkalinity seems a tiny bit high but not critical (in my opinion- others may disagree with that). The reactor effluent also seems a little high- I think most people aim for 6.6-6.8 depending on what media is in the reactor.
My tank runs with just about the same pH (8.05-8.25 approximately), Ca and Mg too but the alk is usually right about 9.5 dkh. Corals seem very happy and grow well. The one thing I did that helped enormously with stability was connect a kalkwasser reactor to the auto top-off system so that all top-off water is kalk-saturated. If your tank isn't heavily stocked it's probably not worth the trouble.

 

[machodik]

Calcium reactor effluent , is this value make sense?

I wonder if the high alkalinity is due to the fact I add dolomite aside from ARM aragonite and Reborn dead coral Skelton as media to my calcium reactor? I add dolomite in my wish to stabilize Mg .

 

[gregr]

I don't know about that but I like the idea since magnesium is something I have to supplement every so often. I use Reborn media myself. I contacted the manufacturer and asked what was the ideal pH for effluent with their media. The response was 6.4-6.5 so my reactor is set up so that the effluent is 6.45-6.6.

 

[machodik]

Are you also using Apex controller ? Because I set 6.70 (on) and low (6.50) in my apex with ph probe in my GEO 618

 

[gregr]

I am a fellow Apex user
Here's what I've got on the calcium reactor solenoid outlet:
Fallback ON
Set ON
If pHEFF < 6.35 Then OFF
If pH < 7.90 Then OFF
If Outlet CaRxPump = OFF Then OFF

It's adjusted (via drip and bubble rates) so that the controller never has to turn the solenoid off. Since you have the mixed media in your reactor I suspect that if you ran the effluent pH at the same rate as mine the ARM would quickly turn to mush and clop the reactor. I used ARM for a long time and like Reborn a lot better- it seems to dissolve well and go longer before it melts enough to clog the output.

 

[machodik]

Thanks for your advise. I wonder you set fall back : on? I am also using apex and a newbie to this technology . I set on at 6.70 and low at 6.50 but I have seen on the display that ph of the reactor plays between 6.54/6.55 and my aquarium plant carbon regulator never went "off". I don't know if I set it right ?

 

[gregr]

Fallback is set to ON so that if/when there's a power outage or communication failure between the controller and outlet the outlet will be in the ON position. Some things, like an auto top-off pump, you would want to be OFF in the case of an outage or communication failure.

I set on at 6.70 and low at 6.50 but I have seen on the display that ph of the reactor plays between 6.54/6.55 and my aquarium plant carbon regulator never went "off". I don't know if I set it right ?

That kind of stability is awesome. What is the exact programming you have for the regulator outlet? Also, in case you didn't know- the regulator should be on one of the Triac outlets.
I'm a little surprised that the reactor pH isn't fluctuating hardly at all. Since the display does I would expect the reactor to as well. Mine does- about 6.45 to 6.65.

 

[machodik]

I just set thru the display of my apex by programming the outlet : fall back on, on at 6.70 and low at 6.50. I think that the stability of the ph in the reactor may be due to the aquarium plant regulator I used , it's different from solenoid.

 

[gregr]

I've got that regulator too. The biggest difference between our setups is I don't have a probe in the reactor chamber. I have the effluent dripping into a cup that overflows into the sump and the probe just sits in the cup- so that could account for some or all of the difference.
If you ever have questions about the controller I highly recommend the Apex forum. You won't find a more helpful and knowledgeable group of folks.

 

[machodik]

Thanks Gregr,

Now I got it.

By the way, My high Ph (6.90) at the effluent may be due to the 2nd chamber that my GEO 618 hooked up. it is infact can be consider an individual calcium reactor but I make it as 2nd chamber, it has its own recirculating pumps so perhaps the effluent coming out from GEO 618 (of which I presume the Ph is about 6.50) goes another roundof recirculation that excess unused CO2 was further dissolving media on it and thats make the effluent to be that high.

cheers,

 

[machodik]

Dear All,

allow me to keep this topic be discussed further for the benefit of calcium reactor Newbies like me and perhpas other memebers too. I hope some if not most of the calcium reactor specialist here will also contribute much of your valued comment and experience as well.

I have been close monitoring the values of my water more specifically Calcium , Alkalinity and Magnesium since I starting few weeks ago of setting up my new GEO 618 and hooke up with my old DIY calcium reactor (now as second chamber).

I have notice water parameter in the sump:
1) my Alkalinity stays between 11 dkh to 12 dkh for the past couple of weeks till now.
2) my calcium as well stays 420 ppm until now
3) my Magnesium have climb a little bit from 1320 ppm to 1390 ppm (today's testing).

My Calcium reactor Ph probe value stays at 6.53 / 6.54 range as controlled by apex set 6.70 (on) , 6.5 (low).

Media use: ARM ARAGONITE, REBORN DEAD CORAL SKELETON AND DOLOMITE

Now, My questions:

1) why my Alkalinity stays as high between 11 dkh to 12 dkh
2) will my calcium eventually be increase further as days go by? as of now only 1 corals (LPS) was in the tank plus fish. I am preparing my tank for heavy SPS to be added in the next couple of months that is why I am setting up calcium reactor.
3) although there is a distinct climbing on the magensium, will it further increase or maintain as dolomite or dead coral skeleton seems to be starting to supplement this elelment?

for those calcium reactor specialist, I wonder in case as of now this value maintain consistently ,if the time I have heavy stocks of SPS then this reactor will no longer support the needs of the tank? I wonder normally, it tooks how much time for a reactor like GEO 618 to kicks in? is the ph of 6.50 inside the reactor is good enough to dissolve more media or its too much to causing media becoming muddy soon?

hope your kind comment will coming soon and sorry for a long note.

cheers,

 

[machodik]

dear All,

After a long trial and error, and also working on the fine tunning of my calcium reactor, I should say now that I am able to stabilizes my KH at 8.60 , so I beleived I got the right numbers to set my carbon dosing regulator, My Apex control and the # of drip per minutes of my reactor.

but I am having some problem due to the drip of my calcium reactor will varies due to some clog. I have to set at 15 ml / minutes to maintain the right number. but every 3 or 4 days I have to re-adjust the valve of the effluent end or else the drip rate will be going 10 ml / minutes or even lesser. this has been a very annoying task for me and contradict my earlier concept of seleting calcium reactor vs dosing pump.

I heard that some people have make use of a dosing pump to maintain the dripping rate of the reactor, incidentally, I have a Jebao DP4 unit and I think if needed, I will make use of one of the 4 pump to dose the effluent of my calcium reactor. but question are:
1) I need 15 ml/ minutes or 900 ml / hours ---can I set my dosing pump to pump 15 ml / minutes ? will these be causing the serious wear and tear of my dosing pump as it is pumping every minutes / day / week / month / year?
2) or perhaps I can divided the 900 ml / hours into 50 ml / 3 minutes ? in this regard, I wonder if this will affect the concentration of the effluent as compare to the 15 ml/ minutes? and if this is dripping every 3 minutes , will it affect the flow of the effluent as well that causing reactor intake water unable to flow freely into the reactor then?

well, I supposed my questions has been also your questions whne you started to fine tune your reactor, so you may have the answer to share with me and other prospect newbie of the calcium reactor.

thanks in advance and hope to have your valued comment and suggestion.

cheers,


MD

 

[gregr]

Greetings,
The problem you're seeing seems to be common to a lot of calcium reactors. I had the same issue with my Korallin 1502. Some people use peristaltic pumps (not dosing pumps because they aren't designed to run 24/7 like the Masterflex pumps are) to pull water thru the reactor instead of using the standard feed pump method. You can read about that here in this thread. I tried it- worked great but then I came across a calcium reactor that didn't need anything extra to work consistently- an MTC Minical. I love this reactor- it's been running consistently for many months now and it does not get clogged- the drip rate stays consistent and I don't even pay attention to it anymore.

 

[machodik]

HI!

I think the MTC minical main success is its: "High quality needle valve for precise output control" , as the reactor itself are almost nothing different with the rest. I wonder if I installed the same needle valve , may be it will be functioning the same?

by the way, where can I find this kind of needle valve? does home depot has? masterflex pumps are way expensive for me....I think?

 

[gregr]

It definitely is a pretty high quality needle valve- I don't know what kind it is though. You could try emailing Jeff at MTC (mtci@optonline.net) to see if he can help you with a name, or maybe sell one to you if it's not available in Taiwan.

 

[scottwhitson]

Is your tank somewhere that noise is a real issue or do you have an equipment room? If noise isn't a issue then you should check out LMI Unidose pumps. I have been using one for many years now and it works great but is a little noisy but much cheaper than a peristaltic pump.

 

[SoloGarth]

Greetings,
The problem you're seeing seems to be common to a lot of calcium reactors. I had the same issue with my Korallin 1502. Some people use peristaltic pumps (not dosing pumps because they aren't designed to run 24/7 like the Masterflex pumps are) to pull water thru the reactor instead of using the standard feed pump method. You can read about that here in this thread. I tried it- worked great but then I came across a calcium reactor that didn't need anything extra to work consistently- an MTC Minical. I love this reactor- it's been running consistently for many months now and it does not get clogged- the drip rate stays consistent and I don't even pay attention to it anymore.

I also use a MiniCal. Great reactor. Far more stable than my previos reef octopus. I do use an aquarium plants regulator and ph control as well as a master flex feed pump. Dialing in the reactor just requires entering a new value into the controller. Interesting that you are able to run the MiniCal that way. To be honest I didn't try it as I already had the rest of the equipment.

 

[tlp]

Simplest method is to use peristaltic pump and "push" water into reactor. Ideally the flow rate of the pump is controllable (speed). If you try to control the flow via restricting the outlet it will vary a lot, due to input pressure and also build up of calc deposit on the valve.

pH inside the reactor depends on the media and how hard you want to drive it.

Test the tank's alk @ calc levels, say weekly, if you find it dropping, either increase the flow through the reactor or lower the pH in the reactor a little to disolve more media. Consumption depends entirely on your corals and their growth rate. One LPS wont consume much with their slow rate, a forest of fast growing Acros on the other hand will need a lot more.

If you are not able to control the feed peristaltic pump to reduce the flow then use timers, ie, turn off CO2 but keeping the water flowing to avoid stagnent water. This is less efficient because it takes time to drive pH down again when you turn it on.