Calcium Reactor HELP!

[BBoley24]

I knew I needed a Calcium Reactor so I took a shot at it. I bought the PM CR422 and CO2 tank.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=PM3111

I need a regulator valve... but to be honest... not only do I not know what it is or how to work it... I have no idea how to set this thing up... Could anyone point me in the right direction before I overdose my tank and potentially screw everything up?

 

[Weatherman]

A regulator valve looks like this:

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idProduct=CO3111


Or this:

Once your CO2 tank is full, you can attach the regulator (use Teflon tape to ensure the connection is air tight, you can get Teflon tape from a place like Home Depot).

Open the valve on top of the tank and the gage on the left should jump to around 1100 psi. Then, slowly turn the regulator valve until the gage on the right reads around 20-30 psi.

The regulator will have a solenoid (which is, essentially, an electric on-and-off switch). Plug that in, then close off the needle valve if it isn't already closed.

Attach a tube from the needle valve to your calcium reactor CO2 input and you'll be ready to start playing around with bubble counts and all that other good stuff.

 

[BBoley24]

wow that was excellent information! Now whats with this bubble count action?

 

[Yinger]

the bubble counter is a clear tube that is either on the regulator or sometimes built onto the CA reactor. It allows you to see how much CO2 is going into your reactor. If you can get one that comes with the regulator, i'd actually recommend that. The ones on that are built onto the reactor never seem accurate.

 

[Weatherman]

Your calcium reactor should have a clear tube near where the CO2 is fed in from the CO2 bottle/regulator/needle valve. As show in this picture of my GEO reactor, the clear tube is on the left. The CO2 feed is the black tube coming up from the lower right.

The purpose of the clear tube (bubble counter) is to allow you to see how much CO2 you are feeding into the reactor. The number of bubbles can be adjusted using the needle valve on the regulator attached to the CO2 bottle. A good starting point is somewhere in the 20 bubbles/minute range.

 

[rpeeples]

Weatherman,

I have the same regulator (Reef Fanatic) however I am confused about the regulator valve? Where is this located? Are you talking about the needle valve or am I missing something? I am perplexed on how to drop the pressure to 20 psi.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Weatherman]

That's one of Reef Fanatic's fancy new "Deluxe" regulators.

It doesn't allow you to specify the pressure on the gage on the right. It sets it for you. Mine runs about 30 psi.


Most regulators have nob between the two gages you can use to regulate the pressure yourself.

 

[rpeeples]

Same here....

I kept looking for a regulator nob

Mine is consistent with yours...thanks again!

 

[lcdrbrentcarrol]

Can someone help me out with this?

I received no instructions with my new Knopp reactor and was hoping someone could tell me how to move water to/from my sump? I am also new to calcium reactors!

(and if you know where I can get some instructions for a Knopp-HD I would be forever indebted to you!

I see the inlet/outlet here, but do I need a pump? If so, what kind of pump?

Or do I T off a return line from the tank and let gravity do the work?

And how do I fill the reactor initially? Oh jeez, many questions.

Thanks!!