changing ca reactor media
- Thread starter carib
- Start date
The_Taz_Devil
New member
I thought the majority of reactors had to be cleaned out every 3-4months.
Henry Bowman
Reefing since '87
There is no easy way to do this, in my opinion. It's the price we pay for having something we only mess with a few times a year.
Take accurate measurements of the current reactor settings. Bbls per minute of Co2, Effluent volume per minute, alk and pH of the effluent. THEN >>>>>>>>>>
Shut it down, disconnect it, dump the media, rinse it out and replace media. I rinse my media in RODI 2-3 times in a small bucket to get rid of all the powder and fine particles and then put it into the reactor. I also fill my reactor with fresh saltwater before closing it up.
Hook everything back up, fire it up to the same bpm and effluent rate, wait a few hours and take alk and ph readings. If the readings are even close to what you had previously, leave the thing alone for 12-24 hours, then test your readings again. You probably will have higher alk than before because of the new media. Make the appropriate adjustments and repeat in a few days !
PITA but FWIW this is how I do it. If someone has a better method, I'd love to know.
Take accurate measurements of the current reactor settings. Bbls per minute of Co2, Effluent volume per minute, alk and pH of the effluent. THEN >>>>>>>>>>
Shut it down, disconnect it, dump the media, rinse it out and replace media. I rinse my media in RODI 2-3 times in a small bucket to get rid of all the powder and fine particles and then put it into the reactor. I also fill my reactor with fresh saltwater before closing it up.
Hook everything back up, fire it up to the same bpm and effluent rate, wait a few hours and take alk and ph readings. If the readings are even close to what you had previously, leave the thing alone for 12-24 hours, then test your readings again. You probably will have higher alk than before because of the new media. Make the appropriate adjustments and repeat in a few days !
PITA but FWIW this is how I do it. If someone has a better method, I'd love to know.
